Noise is a fact of life. Noise is something that city dwellers learn to live with. Then, they go to the country to get some peace and quiet only to find out that the birds chirp, the wind howls, the trees creak, the cows low, the dogs bark, they coyotes yip and the doors slam.

Slamming doors is the most incongruous noise of all. Just when you least expect it WHAM! The door has your attention, front and centre, and it’s not singing wake me up before you gogo.

Slamming doors are an issue in nearly every setting. Open your doors to catch that summer breeze and soon enough, they have all closed themselves with a fright. Go to a hotel and the heavy fire doors slam closed, causing you to have disturbed sleep. Life in a multi-family building can pose both problems at the same time and bring in a whole host of new issues.
More people live in multi-family units today than ever in history. We now chose a place to live, in conjunction with dozens of people that we have never met, and hope for the best. When we don’t get along with our neighbours, life can be hard on us as an individual, a family, and even affect us at work. There are a lot of reasons that you may not get along with your neighbour but a shocking article from The Guardian states 10 million Brits have had issues with their neighbour:
(They) found that noise tops the list of neighbour complaints, with about three in five people annoyed by loud voices or arguments, blaring music and TVs. A quarter of those affected are irritated by door slamming, a similar percentage have been disturbed by their neighbours' noisy pets (that could be me – I have a cat that can miaow for Britain), and one in five by regular parties. Then there is the 5% who can hear their neighbours having sex. Eew!

https://www.theguardian.com/money/blog/2011/jun/16/neighbours-problems-noise-complaints

We have heard it time and again in office buildings, hotels, schools, … wherever there are doors, there are doors slamming. It doesn’t have to be that way.

It’s time to take the bull by the horns and stop the slamming doors before they start damaging your relationships with your neighbour, your family, and your employer.

Starting a business is not easy. I didn’t know how hard it would be. I told Nick that I didn’t want to do it because it wouldn’t be easy. I gave in. I did it. It’s not easy. If anyone ever tells you that it is, roll your eyes and move on.
Is it worth it? I think it will be. This year was probably the hardest. We had a lot of hurdles to jump. We got tangled in a few but I think we finished the race and now, we have a lot of things to be grateful for.

• Manufacturing – after several runs of prototypes to get the product “out there” we have finally completed our tooling and with it, a complete manufacturing run. In the end, we were 8 months late on our originally scheduled production run. The hardest thing to do when you are starting a company is to survive without product. The bills don’t stop when the income does.
• Fire testing – our first fire test was a resounding success and we now have a SoftSlam installed in a fire door undergoing live testing.
• Orders – While we love our residential customers, we are always looking for that big order to ease the overhead costs of doing business. We found them. We have two major orders from major hotel / motel customers. Both have been a testing ground for SoftSlam throughout the year while we were awaiting manufacturing and that fire test. They deserve a special thank you for their patience and belief in us as a company and as individuals.
• Signature Homes – Soon, you will be able to find our product in their home selection catalogue. Until then, if you are in the Nelson, New Zealand area, you can see our product in their Show Homes on Daelyn Drive.
• Parkwood Doors – while they don’t sell hardware, they have generously offered to put us in their monthly newsletter because they believe that a safe door is a good door.
• Patents – The issuing of our New Zealand patent is HUGE. The other patents are going through the process as we eagerly await the outcome of each and every patent search.
• Investor - And finally, we found that super critical investor who agreed with our business plan, matched our personality, loved our product, and made it all possible.

We love all of you that have helped us get this far. We don’t know what we will eat next week. We don’t know how we will pay our bills but we continue to have faith that soon, very, very soon, we will have enough cash flow to pay the electric bill AND the company bills!
Merry Christmas,
Elizabeth