ideas | my business
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fter having her second child, Lesley found venturing to the shops with two little children too stressful. The next viable option was to shop online, but she soon discovered that while online stores catered to their own fields such as fashion and interiors well, there wasn’t an individual website that stocked everything she needed. This inspired Lesley to establish The Little Kidz Closet, a onestop online shop for children’s clothing, decor, bedding and more. Now in its sixth year, The Little Kidz Closet successfully operates with a small team, with Lesley herself as the driving force behind the daily workings of the company. ‘I do everything from product selection and marketing to packing parcels,’ she explains. ‘I’m also fortunate to have a great team that pulls together to get the most out of the business.’ The online store gives Lesley a lot of flexibility when it comes to her family life. However, this
wasn’t always the case during the early days of the business. ‘Juggling a family and setting up a company was difficult,’ she says. ‘It took a lot of late nights and long hours but it was all worth it in the end.’ The only lesson Lesley wishes she’d known from the beginning was that websites require more marketing than she’d expected for them to really take off. However, she made up for this by networking with different magazines and blogs, which has proven a successful method as The Little Kidz Closet has recently won a Gold award for Favourite Online Store in the My Child Excellence Awards 2014. Lesley’s advice for other mums looking to start their own business? ‘Be prepared for a lot of hard work, get a business plan together so you can plan ahead and seek the advice of a marketing expert to gain some useful tools to “sell” your idea. It also helps to have a few trusted friends to bounce your ideas off.’ *
Visit thelittlekidzcloset.com.au for these Kip & Co products and to browse the rest of the store
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mychild | july 2014