Tabitha Potts, founder of children’s eco clothing outlet Mimimyne.com takes us through the perils of DIY web-builds and explains why you should prepare for a re-launch every five years.
What were you up to before Mimimyne?
Before I started Mimimyne, I had taken a career break to spend time living overseas with my husband (in California and Spain) and look after my small children.
Previously to that, I had worked as a researcher in TV and radio drama – a career I loved but which is fiendishly hard to combine with family life.
I taught myself HTML while I lived abroad (learning to create websites and blogs) and went on to work as a web content editor, which combined my editorial and writing skills with my new passion, the Internet.
Why start an eCommerce business?
I was looking on the Internet for eco-friendly products for my children.
I love good design and interesting products and I noticed that a lot of the ‘eco’ products for children were quite dull and worthy looking, while the designer ones usually used a lot of unsustainable materials.
I wanted to create an online boutique that would showcase the best sustainable design in children’s products. I’m lucky enough to live in East London which is a hub of creativity and great designers, so was able to source some fantastic products right away.
Why did you choose children’s clothing and why eco-friendly?
I wanted to create a boutique that was suitable for the whole family, so while children’s clothing is the core of my range, I also sell gifts for adults, wallpaper and wall stickers and children’s artworks.
The idea is that the whole family can grow up green. As for being eco, I try to live in a way that’s not too taxing to our natural resources, and a great deal of families out there feel the same way that I do, that we need to preserve our planet for future generations.
I wanted to sell products to people with the same ideals as me!
What was the hardest thing about starting a shop online?
I worked with some great designers and they came up with a wonderful look and style which the website still today.
However, I made some mistakes with the functionality: I should have had overseas shipping straight away, as well as one page checkout and a few other things that would have helped my sales figures.
All I can say is that you must always think very carefully about what functionality you want and try and future proof your site as much as possible.
In the end, eCommerce evolves quickly and you may have to prepare yourself for change every four or five years. Every system has advantages and disadvantages.
How hard was it to get the business moving?
Very! I launched just as the recession began in 2008 and I didn’t realise how tough it was going to be to get good PR, either.
I had a small advertising budget that helped me in the first few months but after that was gone I had to start thinking very creatively.
Did you use social media and did it help?
I got on to Twitter in 2008 and it’s been fantastic to raise my profile. I also set up a Facebook Business Page and linked back to my site from as many directories and lists as I could: I think I set up a listing a day for about three months.
This was to help with my search engine optimisation and it definitely had a good effect. I also had a ‘soft launch’ in a private house in Spitalfields where I displayed my products and gave away goodie bags to the Press.
More recently I’ve moved onto Youtube and Google Plus as well as creating an Android App for Mimimyne and selling my blogs on Kindle. I do everything and anything I can to reach potential customers!
What software did you opt for?
My site is in OS Commerce and is quite heavily customised. I use Worldpay and Streamline (I got a special deal through the Federation of Small Businesses) and I use Paypal as well.
I am planning to move to a different ecommerce platform in the future, though, as OS Commerce is hard to upgrade and expensive to customise, although it is very reliable and secure.
Have you always used these?
I’ve used the same website since my start up, with some minor changes to design and functionality, but am planning a full scale revamp soon, retaining the main design elements but upgrading the functionality to make the site more social media friendly and increase usability.
What plans do you have to grow the business in future?
I am expanding the business to ship overseas and have created my own brand of up-cycled baby clothes with designer Sally Hemphill.
I have a regular market stall at Spitalfields Market (I won the Greenest Trader 2011 award given by the National Market Trader’s Federation) and I do my best to always offer good customer service, as word of mouth is a huge help.
If you could have done anything differently what would it be?
I would have built overseas shipping and easy checkout into my website right away.
I might also have tried to ‘bootstrap’ the business more rather than taking out a loan, but I felt at the time that a very professional website would be good for my business and I still think that it has been a great help in terms of the company’s image.
What’s your best sales tip for other business owners?
Always look out for contacts and carry your business cards – you never know who is a potential customer.
Similarly, use social media as much as you can, or hire someone to do it for you – it’s a free and fantastic resource to build contacts and raise your profile. Finally, take full advantage of any resources available to you.
I went to the British Library’s Business & IP Centre and would recommend any new business start-up to do the same.
The expert advice and ongoing business support given, as well as the amount of information readily available is something that helped me hugely.
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