Thursday, January 27, 2011

Mumpreneur in the UK

Becoming an online entrepreneur is a process and experience that is common in other parts of the world.

Although the means to sell is different (blogshop vs EC site), their motivations and rationale are very much the same, as can be seen in this article.

One particular note is that it appears that many if not most of the women who sell online in the West are moms!  This contrasts the younger aged females and teens in Malaysia and Singapore.

From: http://www.openpr.com/news/159698/Why-Did-Mumpreneur-Set-up-a-Children-s-Discounted-Clothing-Boutique.html

Why Did Mumpreneur Set up a Children's Discounted Clothing Boutique

Fashion, Lifestyle, Trends
Press release from: Bambino Boo
Mumpreneur sets up childrens clothing boutique
Mumpreneur sets up childrens clothing boutique
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(openPR) - I class myself as one of the growing communities of mumpreneurs. I am in my late 30s and am married with 2 children under five years old.

I decided that I wanted to set up my own business around 6 years ago, but it has taken me a long time to decide the type of business to set up.

I set up Bambino Boo, a children’s online boutique in July 2010, so I have only been trading for a few months, and so far it is going well and I am really enjoying it.

Before I set up the company I was a freelance marketing analyst. I had been working in marketing for 15 years and I think that because I was already freelance it was easier for me to make the transition and set up on own business as I was used to not having a steady income.



My idea for setting up a children’s online boutique started when a few people started asking me about a pair of shoes my son was wearing, I had bought from a boutique on the high street. They were different to anything that could be bought from a chain store as they were 100% leather and hand-stitched and I realised that most people were not aware of brands other than those found on the usual high street.

I then came up with a few different types of company I could set up all around children’s clothing, and started to do some research to understand what people were buying and if there was anything they would like to buy that was difficult to track down.

I also found that quite often when I took my son to his pre-school there were other children wearing the same clothes as my son.

I then realised that most people were not likely to buy boutique clothing as it tends to be expensive and it is seen as somewhere to buy clothes for a special occassion. This is when I decided to sell gorgeous and luxurious boutique clothing at high street prices. I thought why not bring boutique clothing to the masses by selling them at Gap, Next prices. In this way, children will be almost uniquely clothed and you would be most unlikely to find other children wearing exactly the same clothing.

I have funded the business myself and promote the business in various ways. These include having a facebook page, putting flyers in independent shops, and search engine optimisation, so that I get a better ranking on Google. I also sell on Amazon and through Google shopping. I think the whole marketing mix that I use is important to my business.

My biggest challenge so far has been getting a good ranking on Google and this will take time but I am getting there! Google Adwords has been a great help in starting to drive traffic to the website.

I have found that this style of working is perfect for me. I am able to be flexible, which allows me to take my daughter to school and collect her. I can also attend any school event without problem, and am basically able to be around a lot more than if I was employed.

The buzz when a new order comes in is great as is trying to build the business up to aim towards certain goals on a month by month basis.

To anybody out there who is seriously thinking of starting their own business, who thinks they have a good idea and who can motivate themselves, I’d say ‘Go for it!’

Since I have set up Bambino Boo, I have had a number of friends that have decided that they could do it to and are now in the middle of setting up their businesses. It is really useful to then meet up and discuss how our prospective businesses are doing.

Bambino Boo is a family run business, operating in the UK. Our mission is to provide gorgeous and luxurious boutique clothing for girls and boys at high street prices. We specialise in clothing for toddlers and pre-school children from ages 0-5 years, although we do sell a small selection of baby clothes and clothes for children aged 6 years and over.

We offer British and European brands, including Petit Bateau, Lego wear, Kenzo, Indi Jo, Pomme Framboise and Mayoral. Our clothes are discounted by up to 70% off RRP.

How can our prices be so low? Bambino Boo stock is either last season, samples or liquidated stock. A lot of the stock comes from boutiques and our clothes are 100% genuine. We do not obtain our stock directly from the manufacturer. All items are tagged. We operate online only and are able to offer a large variety of brands. The vast majority of our items are washable and a large proportion of them are manufactured in Europe.

Bambino Boo
3 Edith Road
London
SW19 8TW

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