Melissa of Castles and Rainbows at the NEC

Name of Business: Castles and Rainbows

Tell us about your family:  I live with my husband and 2 children, aged 4 and 2 so I have my hands full! We live in Lichfield, Staffordshire.

When did you launch?

I left my job to begin working on the business in October 2007 and launched it properly in January 2008.

How did you go about getting started?

My business is 2 part. The first is a retail site selling Children’s bedroom furnishings, furniture and accessories which has expanded to cover clothes, gifts and other paraphernalia. I’m lucky that my husband is in IT and was able to do the vast majority of the technical work himself so all I had to do was design the site and find the content. I went to a number of trade fairs etc before I started and worked out a realistic stock level. I also have an eBay shop where I sell off slower moving lines. The temptation to carry too many things has been great but I think we have quite a good balance now. I stock a few things on a dropship basis too which works well. I don’t make the same margin on these but it saves on capital investment, particularly with things like furniture.

The other part of the business is providing and interior design service to design, source and install children’s rooms. This is the part that I really want to grow further as I love it and I get to use my skills more (project management and artistic). Initially, I have had to use advertising in glossy mags (Junior, Vogue etc) to build this but I am now starting to get word of mouth recommendations which is great.

To advertise both parts, in addition to having various presences online, we have done a number of baby shows including the NEC one.

What has worked well about your business?

It fits well around having a family and being 2 part, I can schedule jobs to allow me to reduce my hours during the school holidays which is great. It has also allowed me to get back in touch with skills I had forgotten.

What has been your biggest challenge so far? How have you dealt with it?

My biggest challenge has been working with some suppliers who won’t take you seriously if you work from home. Being tenacious and plugging away has been the best approach!

How do you fit in work with the family?

My daughter is at school part time and my son goes to nursery for similar hours although I engineer it so that I have a 3 hour slot with each once a week for one-one time. I have to be organised but inevitably do end up doing stuff in the evening and at weekends. I also have been known to ask friends and relatives for help with the kids.

What advice would you give to someone else wanting to work in this area?

Building a website takes time and effort.

Don’t jump at every advertising opportunity and negotiate hard on rates.

Stay flexible and be willing to take things on even if they are out of the norm.