This is the story of how a hobby became a business.
Becky Peabody, of Somerset, has always designed and made her own greetings cards. Ten years ago, following the arrival of her first child, Becky created a personal Christmas card combining her artwork with a family photo. She had 100 copies printed locally.
This became a tradition that led to a friend asking Becky to create a Christmas card for a small business. The opportunity for a larger print run, with its economies of scale, led Becky to start selling the card to others. So Dots and Spots was born.
With an initial investment of just £500 Becky has built up a range of unique and distinctively styled cards, pictures and gifts which she sells online and to a number of shops.
Getting into the market meant Becky had to approach a number of small, independent retailers directly and persuade them to take her stock. It was a thrill to have a first repeat order because it meant her creations were selling and soon other retailers were contacting her to buy stock.
Becky does not have a business background; she's worked for about ten years as a teacher and taken time out during her career to have her own family. In 2009 she took the brave decision to leave teaching to concentrate full time on Dots and Spots, which had a turnover in its first year of about £10k.
Leaving work has meant a cut in income for Becky and her husband, who has a full-time job but runs the Dots and Spots website. She's confident that business, and income, will pick up in 2010. Two agents now represent Dots and Spots products and she is hoping to participate in one or two trade shows. Turnover targets for the next year are around £20-30k and these appear realistic based on recent activity.
These are still early days for Dots and Spots. In common with most entrepreneurs Becky is investing a considerable amount of time and money (about £2k to date) in her business. She says that one of the main lessons she's learned is that "the trade element is the main 'earner' for the business and this is the area I really want to grow, but the retail provides a nice residual bit of cash, too!"
Visit their website if you'd like to know more about the Dots and Spots original and unique range of cards, gifts and pictures.
If you set up a business in late 2008 or 2009 and have a story to share drop me a line via email or make contact with @biz_oh via Twitter.
