Ka Hao i te Ao; dedicated to transforming 10 million indigenous households worldwide through eCommerce, is pleased to announce that Martin Howard Coromandel was named the winner of the 2021 Highest Earner Award (with business experience). Proving Ka Hao’s system provides the right business know-how; all a go-getter needs to do is implement it to see success.

“While entrepreneurship begins with a brilliant idea, success is measured by the obstacles faced, and how the entrepreneur applies a solution to overcome those obstacles.” Travis O’Keefe, Ka Hao’s CEO, expressed the importance of this honour, “Martin stuck to ‘learning the knowledge’, and ‘implemented the learning’ when problems occurred - setting the stage for his ‘launch and growth’. This isn’t rocket science, and this can be you.”

When Martin, whose primary tribe is Tainui, co-founded L. Eyes Eyewear with his wife, they had $350 in their pockets and a simple passionate idea - sleek quality sunglasses with a blend of Polynesian culture.

The stories of Māori legends, Ranginui, Tane Mahuta, and Tongariro shape the Tangata (people) of New Zealand (Aotearoa). So it is no wonder, the stories that influenced Martin’s sense of purpose, also breathed life into L. Eyes Eyewear.

“My wife and I started on Facebook Marketplace [in 2017]. We advertised as a Māori couple wanting to share our Polynesian designs, and it resonated. We used our experiences and cultural passion to connect with our community,” Martin explained.

However, there were gaps in knowledge which led to missed financial opportunities. Looking for solutions they stumbled upon Ka Hao i te Ao’s eCommerce programme.

“Initially, there was a lot of adversity within our business …“If I had to put a dollar figure on Ka Hao’s impact, I’d say we have surpassed the $250k mark for 2022, with a goal of $500k [by July].”

Ka Hao taught him how to identify his target customer and analyse back-end data, but the significant learning tool he was encouraged to implement was Email Marketing through Klaviyo.

“Auto-Responder and Klaviyo email marketing; I started by testing it on the 40k member community [Feels Like Home Bro]. Just by implementing auto-responders, we were able to capture roughly $200k in abandoned cart purchases alone!”

You can check out the website https://www.leyesstore.com/

Be sure to head over to the Ka Hao I te Ao website for further information on applications and the programme itself, visit: www.twh.co.nz

The application for the Ka Hao i te Ao Programme is really simple. You must be of Māori or Pasifika descent and be able, and willing to commit at least 8-10 hours a week over 18 weeks. Eligibility for a scholarship is based on completing the application form, and all five of the ‘Comfort Challenges designed to stretch and grow participants’.

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