Mandy of Lait D'Amour

Name of Business: Lait d’amour

 Your Name and Age: Mandy age 30
 
Tell us about your family: I am a single mum of 2 boys aged 4 and 6 and I live in Oxted, Surrey, I do have a partner but we don’t live together yet.
 
What did you do before coming up with your business idea and how was it making the transition?
 
Before Lait d’amour I worked as a deputy manager for a wine merchants. I have also worked in other retail outlets. I was new to computers / internet when I began Lait d’amour so it’s all been a trial and error thing really, I started of on ebay before moving on to an ebay shop and then opening my main webshop www.laitdamour.eu 
 
When did you launch?  4 years ago this June
 
How did you get started?
 
I started out by adding breastfeeding info to all of my ebay pages (general sales etc) as I wanted to promote breastfeeding and took advantage of the ‘free’ ebay description space underneath my auctions. Then I thought it would be appropriate for me to sell something ‘breastfeeding’ so came up with the idea of selling nursing necklaces, my older son loved my designs and so I began advertising them. I really didn’t expect the business to take off, it was only a hobby, and when I started to get wholesale orders I thought it was about time to register as self-employed!
 
What research did you do before launching?
 
None
 
How have you funded the business?
 
My own money
 
How do you promote your business? What has worked best?
 
Mainly word of mouth, but also baby cafes, surestart, leafleting, forums etc
 
What has worked well about your business?
 
I have been fairly fortunate in that the business took off with a mind of it’s own *laugh*
 
What has been your biggest challenge so far? How have you dealt with it?
 
Sorting out and registering designs, trade marks etc. Legally tackling another person who blatetly copied my ideas. I had to use the services of a patent attorney to have that particuler business closed down.
 
How do you fit in work with the family?
 
I can work whilst the children are around, playing etc

If you have a wholesale/dropshopping opportunity, please explain briefly what you offer and how people find out more.
 
We offer good wholesale rates and a dropshipping alternative so their is no financial outlay. For information please email me mandy@laitdamour.eu   

www.laitdamour.eu