Some business genres are evergreen, meaning they never really go out of fashion. Take anything baby related for example people will continue to have babies no matter what the economic climate. Evergreen doesn’t mean it’s easier though, running an eCommerce business is hard work. The idea of baby showers is so lovely but it is also still a fairly new phenomenon here in the UK and perfect business ideas for mums.
Know Your Market :
Jo Frazel started Best Baby Shower in 2007 says “After some research it became clear that although baby showers were huge business over in the US, and also popular in South America & Australia, that there weren’t many places in the UK that had picked up on the trend. Certainly you couldn’t find baby shower themed partyware on the high street. I’d also noticed whilst researching that there seemed to be a trend taking off for nappy cakes and baby bouquets – lovely new baby gifts that were made from baby clothing & other baby items. These gifts also weren’t often found on the high street but would make fantastic baby shower centrepieces and gifts. I had a go at making my own nappy cakes & baby bouquets and found that not only could I make really beautiful ones but I enjoyed the creativity – something that had been lacking from my usual, somewhat routine days with my baby. Then came some serious hard graft – months researching products, setting up the company, finding an accountant, writing a business plan & generally learning everything I needed to know to get going. I started out with a basic website, a friend of a friend did my logo and I invested the money I had into buying stock.”
When you organise your product range ensure you cater to all budgets from high end, handmade, personalised and bespoke to off the shelf cards and wrapping paper.
Grow Your Business Via Reinvesting :
You can always buy and create new product lines along the way this is what I did with Charlie Moo’s. Jo agrees “The next year was all about trying to increase my product lines, both items that I made myself and those that I bought from suppliers. I had realised at that point that handmade and personalised gifts sold really well as customers often wanted something a bit different.”
“If people can find an item on the high street easily why would they order it from the internet?” Jo Frazel
“What they wanted was something more unique. I came up with a line of new unusual gifts such as baby clothes ‘smoothies’, baby sock cupcakes & candy box socks. I also found that many of the handmade & quirky gifts I was sourcing externally were made by other work-from-home mums and it felt totally natural to champion these very talented women.”
“All the profits went straight back into the business so that by 2009 I was ready to invest in a completely new design website. By this time I had built up a huge range of products – over 20 party themes & literally hundreds and hundreds of different gifts – not just for baby, but for mums, dads, siblings & grandparents too. I continually strive to stand out from competitors and so a couple of months ago I also launched my own exclusive range of baby shower games. I wanted a range of fun but also classy games that party hosts would be proud to run at the baby shower.”
Have you ever considered starting a Baby Shower Business? I believe the popularity is rising now with bloggers doing gender reveal videos and blog posts aswell as our obsession with pretty things on Instagram.