Starting A Business From Home

[KaranB]

Hi, I'm Karan. Mummy to 2 little people M aged 5 and H who is almost 3. In between working part-time and the school-run, I have set-up my own website http://www.handmedownkid.co.uk, which is a FREE listings site for gently used children's and babies items. Basically you can list unlimited items to sell without paying commission or but quality items at a bargain price and be part of the Recycling Revolution! The site has been live for just over 5 weeks and I have only promoted it through a few fb pages and a local leaflet drop. I have had a fairly good response, but most people will create a new account, but haven't actually listed any items to sell. I would really appreciate it if you could take a look and give some feedback on my website and would also appreciate hearing from anyone that has launched their own business from home and any sound advice they may have. Look forward to hearing from you soon.

[clairetalkingtots]

Hi Karan. Congratulations on your new venture! Thank you for contacting me through this Forum - having read your message and description of current status I'd like to advise on two main areas if I may:
* MARKETING - Target client base *
It is so important to define your target market and to align your marketing strategy accordingly. In your case your target market should be fairly easy to identify, I.e. parents of children up to x age who would be prepared to take the time to post items on your site in the interest of earning a bit of extra cash (and potentially who like the concept of recycling but this may not be a key driver for some who will just be keen to sell their items without having to pay a listing fee).
Once you have your target market clear in your mind you need to explore all marketing avenues enabling you to reach out to those potential clients. With the baby / toddler / child market you have a whole host of options open to you - baby / toddler / child website directories and advertising space, baby / toddler / child magazines, school event programmes, leaflet distribution (in person or through relevant baby / toddler / child contacts and goodie bags) and attending networking meetups to promote your business in person. As I'm going through this at the moment launching my toddler classes I would be more than happy to provide you with more detail on this if needed, some of which I have posted on the Essex Business Community FB page.Social Media is of course now a core marketing tool and there are companies out there offering training specifically focussing on the use of Facebook and Twitter for business if you are not already familiar with this. As with any marketing your core messages and selling points need to be clear. You need to appeal to both potential sellers (free listing / part of recycling revolution) and potential buyers (good condition purchases at bargain prices / part of recycling revolution) and these messages should be crystal clear and consistent in all your marketing.
* WEBSITE - Feedback *
As per the above your website needs to clearly present what you are offering. In my opinion the core messages as described above need to be more prominent on the site, particularly the homepage. I think the look and branding of the site is very good actually and represents the right theme for the market you are in - I would just think about the information and therefore content that really matters and how clear and user-friendly it is. As it happens I am able to offer a full and thorough website review service, providing documented feedback assessing client focus, clarity of offering including key messages, content review & editing and general functionality review from a client perspective however there is a fee for this (as would take 2-3 hours). I must stress that the purpose of my role as business expert for this forum was most definitely to provide free advice and not to drum up business in this way however just wanted to make you aware that this more detailed service was also available as you had specifically mentioned a website review. Please email me on info@togetherbusiness.co.uk if you would like more information on this service.
I hope this has been helpful and look forward to hearing back from you with any further questions you may have.
Claire

[clairetalkingtots]

Karen I would also add that if people are registering but not listing it may just be down to being busy parents and not getting the chance or possibly listing isn't as easy as might seem? Might be worth asking for feedback from those who have registered but not yet listed....

[KaranB]

Hi Claire

Thank you for your feedback.

Regarding marketing I am doing all the above and the listings are starting to come through. I'm also about to launch a competition through my fb page, so hopefully this will encourage more people to list. I am also in the process of updating the home page of the site so the message is clearer (but this takes time and money).

Also, most listings do come in over the weekend when (apparently) we have some extra time.

Invaluable advice - thank you again.

Karan