If you've been to any event or festival on the Gold Coast, Brisbane or Northern NSW over the past six years then chances are you've come across Paddy Skicko of Wiener Haus. We wanted to take five to have a chat and see how our mate has been doing since his entire event calendar was wiped, courtesy of the COVID-19 pandemic. Grateful for his warehouse space in Burleigh Heads where he managed to trade and keep in touch with his loyal customer base, we chat about customer communication and engagement, his favourite local hiking spots - and he shares a killer wiener recipe! Enjoy the read...
Hey Paddy! Tell us, why did you start Wiener Haus?
Wiener Haus started from having an average job that I wasn’t enjoying.
I was working in air-conditioning and crawling around in roof spaces sweating all day long, basically working hard to make someone else’s dreams and goals come true. It just wasn’t for me. That’s the main motivation that got me going and the drive to start something up for myself.
Twelve years in this game will tell us that stallholder success is largely built around how they interact with customers and their community. You are definitely a friendly and communicative lad - tell us, how important has building good relationships and engaging with your community, been to your business?
Honestly, I think it has had a huge impact on our business and the success that Wiener Haus has had. I’ve always prided myself on customer communication and engagement.
If COVID-19 has taught me anything, it’s that relationships are everything. The support that we have received during this time is wild and I’m beyond stoked. There’s been people from our first ever events turn up with their families (Paddy was trading out of his warehouse space in Burleigh Heads until recently) and people who used to come for date night who now have babies, it’s just unreal.
People are saying they’ve used this time to get creative and come up with new ways of doing business, a lot of others have said they have struggled to find any clarity and had to just take time out. How have you come out of this pandemic? Any key learnings, as a small business owner?
It’s been something else that’s for sure. Having the calendar completely wiped was a bit hard to swallow and I’ve definitely had some flat and down days. But like most, I've tried my best to stay positive and just keep at it, complaining doesn’t pay the bills that’s for sure.
We have done our best to adapt as things have changed. In small business you don't often have spare time, so being able to think about ‘what’s next?’ has been really good.
Personally, I've been developing my skills by studying online and learning some new graphics and computers skills which will hopefully come in handy down the track.
What else were you doing with your time during social distancing?
Lots of beers have been consumed haha, also golfing as often as I can.
Any favourite local small businesses you’ve been dialing for home deliveries or pickups?
I can’t narrow it down to just one. I've been trying to use my morning bike ride to get around all the different local cafes for my morning fix, as always Nook at Burleigh Hill, The Yard and All Time has had a fair nudge from me.
I know you love a good hike outdoors, tell us why that is and can you share your favourite hiking spot?
I do love a good hike, especially a solo one. There’s heaps around here we are super spoilt. I really enjoy the outdoors and exploring, you just never really know what’s around the corner and if you're lucky you'll stumble across something epic that day!
Mt.Maroon is pretty special and challenging. More locally the Pinnacle Ridge Line in Springbrook National Park is a great hike. It takes about 4hrs return with multiple waterfalls and an unreal climb to the lookout spot for lunch.
Ok so back to wieners, can you please share with us a killer weiner recipe?
Hmmm killer recipe …honestly there’s so many epic combo options but if I had to pick a go-to, it would be; fresh white roll, spread seeded mustard each side of the bun, drop the dog in, shredded pastrami, some sweet pickles and then, finish it off with some American mustard. Tastebud party!
Will we see you back at TVM on Sunday 7 June and beyond?
You sure will! I can’t wait, really looking forward to seeing all the familiar faces again.
You can follow Paddy online, here.
