[vc_row][vc_column][vc_message]Niche : Home and Living
Shop link : https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/KidsKIT
Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/kids_kit_store/
Website : https://www.kidskit.store/[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Tell us something about yourself. What is your niche? Why did you start your business?
KID’s KIT is a small family-owned and family operating a business based in Toronto Canada. We have started our business with a vision of creating inspirational designs for children’s activity toys. We were working on colourful designs for notebooks when pandemic happened and I started searching for useful activities for kids staying at home all day. One month in pandemic I came across popularity in having sensory swings at home, However, I could not find any nice cheerful designs. Mostly they were solid colours or basic fabric patterns. My sister is an Artist, and at the same time, she was working on digital paintings. The most popular item in our Etsy shop is a design she was working on at the time. When she showed it to me first thing that came to my mind was how wonderful sensory swings would be at home with this colourful magical design. So the idea ignited.
What type of products do you sell? How does your manufacturing process look like?
Among our first products is our uniquely designed therapy sensory swing for kids 3 to 14 years old. Therapy swing does wonders, not only it is extremely fun for kids but also, its Flexible and stretchy fabric is great for occupational sensory integration therapy, vestibular stimulation, spatial awareness to name a few. The deep pressure creates calming effects. Kid’s KIT swing was designed in Toronto, In order to make the product more secure, more perfect, we tried a dozen different fabrics, we finally selected the most appropriate fabrics. The material is in a way that shows the colourful design in a most live version of colours and yet the inside fabric is 100% cotton and soft for kids to be comfortable in.
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What are some challenging aspects of your business? How did you overcome them?
I wanted my product package to be a complete package for customers not to worry about installment accessories and buying them separately. This has always been an issue for me when I buy something that needs installment, not everything is in the package, and its time consuming buying them after. That is one of the reasons I love shopping at IKEA you are set to go. That’s why I made it my challenge to include installation accessories in my packages, which made my product wrapping a little bit heavier and increased my shipping costs to customers as well. However it seems to be working, I might eventually limit it to the most popular accessory rather than having both options in the package. This is something that we are working on still in cost analysis.
What do you enjoy most about being an entrepreneur? What’s the hardest about it?
I come from a family of entrepreneurs and always deep inside I knew this would be the way I choose as well. The fact that you look at everything and every event as an opportunity to present or create a new product or idea for a better lifestyle. There is nothing hard about it, if you love it and you got it, you will definitely enjoy all the hardships in the way as well.
What are some beginner mistakes you made? What advice or words of inspiration would you like to share?
A very common mistake for me was underestimating the shipping cost and process, I can say it with confidence now that my first few sales were a complete loss cause of my shipment planning. Then I searched a lot about all options of shipping for different parts of the world and detailed costs. Now I ship to Cyprus, Germany, Uk, US and not only I am not losing money I still make some profit.
What inspires you while designing and/or creating new products.
My childhood attractions, Modern Mothers home style, and how their kids day to day activities can fit into their lifestyle and yet be stylish too. Happier look at stylish concepts.
How did you get the background and skills necessary to run this type of business?
My business is still small, but I studied Global Management and Entrepreneurship at University, and also I worked in Kids retail for 7 years. So I was one on one with a lot of moms and kids as customers that helped me shape some of my current ideas and also a better understanding of my customers.
What are some of the most effective ways in terms of marketing products to your customers?
With my experience is a combination of all available elements, Having an up and running social media that is constantly updating and keeping up with the trends is a must. Another tool that helped me a lot was my Etsy Adds and carefully budgeting them made me more visible among targeted customers.
What would you say are the key elements for starting and running a successful online business?
Determination, determination, and determination.
How do you personally define business success? Is it money? Freedom? Influence? Creative expression and innovation? Something else?
Well, Money in terms of well-sustained business is always a major factor in measuring success. Nobody is reaching enough to not think about profit when they do Business. But for me, the most satisfying part of my day is getting good reviews and feedbacks from customers bout how happy they are with the product they received. This inspires me to invest more of my time and resources to keep on making it better.
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Describe your day-to-day operation. How do you manage your time?
First Thing in the morning is shipping all the product that was wrapped and ready from the night before. It’s a fresh start to a day and it’s good to get out and enjoy my cup of Hot-chocolate while getting the shipments done. Then we are back behind the desk, Coordinating stock level, add results and promotions. This part is time-consuming you look at the clock and it’s already 5 and you have no idea how. Evenings are a time for sorting out all the orders from the day, Packing them, and making them ready to ship for the next day.
How do you plan on growing your business? What is the biggest impact on your profitability?
By adding more variety, Our swings have been so popular that we are adding 4 more designs for next season and we are working on adding more sensory products with beautiful yet calming designs.
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