Remote Work at Soi Books: Navigating Summer Challenges
At Soi Books, we operate as a remote team with members in Belgium, Indonesia and the UK. This setup offers unique opportunities and challenges, especially during the summer months when family commitments and regional business practices come into play.
Summer Slowdown in Europe
For our European team members, summer can be a slow period. With schools on break and many businesses taking holidays, balancing work and family life becomes a priority. Brussels and London experience a significant slowdown, which can impact our usual business pace (which to be honest we are happy about). Many of our partners and clients and collaborators are also on holiday, making it challenging to progress on some projects.
Shaz's suitcase at Jakarta Airport after an 18-hour flight to work remotely with Steve Aston.
Constant Activity in Asia
In contrast, our team in Jakarta, Indonesia stays active throughout the summer, handling meetings and development. The business culture in Asia keeps things running smoothly, unlike Europe. Asia generally slows down for Chinese New Year, which falls between January 21 and February 21, with the Spring Festival lasting 23 days and a public holiday of 7 days.
To manage these schedules, we balance our workloads to account for Chinese New Year, Western Christmas and New Year, and the summer months. This way, we keep things moving and stay on top of essential projects, even when other parts of the world slow down.
Steve Aston (r) and Natasha Pardede (second from right) in Jakarta - thrashing out ideas
Focus on New Commissions and Getting Work Done
Despite the seasonal slowdown, we're focused on finishing what's on our plate and securing our next commissions. These projects will bring exciting new additions to our portfolio. The quieter summer months in Europe give us the chance to concentrate on these creative tasks without the usual rush, allowing us to improve the books we're making and refine our direction.
Stickerbombworld Shop Update
With so much remote work, we have to take the rough with the smooth, which means pausing fulfillment on our e-commerce shop. Please note that while our Stickerbombworld shop won't be fulfilling orders until we're back in early September, we are still taking orders. We'll make sure to include stickers as ever. This break allows us to regroup and prepare for a strong relaunch in the fall with new books and products.
Stickerbomb World sticker seen in Makassar, Indonesia
Looking Ahead
As we navigate through the summer, it's about self-care for both us as individuals and the business. We have a lot of great projects in the works, and we'll be spending August really finessing them. Thanks to our remote work setup, we get to develop relationships with colleagues across the ASEAN region.
Will be sharing more info very soon.
