I started a baby brand - ask me anything

[designonaut]

I'm the founder and original designer for a brand of baby products, which is on sale in leading retailers in the UK and internationally. This has been my living for a few years now and it's been non stop work. I've learned a lot and am still learning. Anyone interested in doing something similar, I may be able to answer your questions.

Anything?

Did you start the business alongside your job, or did you give up work when it took off?

Where are your products manufactured?

What is your brand?

What type of products do you sell?

Ooooh - interesting. Would you describe your product as a need or a want? Do you have kids yourself and was that how you came up with the idea?

I carried on doing other work until investors asked me to focus solely on the business; I was often doing nights as a carer in the first few years.

They are mostly large products so are manufactured in China. I don't know of any similar types of products that are manufactured anywhere else, although some brands do final assembly in Europe. We tried to see about manufacture in the UK but could not even get factories to give us a quote.

Perhaps I shouldn't say the name of the brand - would be like advertising. We make mostly large products but have lots more in development

Did you ‘invent’ or ‘develop’ a product (like a baby cream or baby equipment) or did you brand an existing ‘thing’ (Ie clothes or fabrics)

Do you work with influencers? If so, how does it work financially? If not, why not?

I think the products are needs rather than wants. I do have children and I studied design/innovation and the insight I had from caring for my own children led me to design baby products.

We invent our own products but expect as we grow bigger we will look to brand other products as our own

Do you consult with health professionals about safety?

I see so many baby items that completely disregard safe sleep or safe feeding guidelines for example.

I love working with influencers, everyone we have worked with has been great. Usually they will post for a free product if they like it. Some with a big following expect payment but are happy to take a small payment and a free product as long as they genuinely like it. There are one or two with very big followings who accepted a free product and never did anything, but perhaps it wasn't their favorite. This is much better for us than advertising in magazines and patent sites as that's often extremely expensive.

Yes we do consult with experts and do thorough safety testing. For our newest product we tested multiple mattresses to get the best one. There are some not very safe products out there.

How do you track whether it's worth giving out a free product to an influencer? Do you see an impact on sales somehow?

(Not an influencer but very interested in how it all works and how people make a living).

We need to get the products seen so we look to see if an influencer has a reasonable following, but more importantly that it's active ie lots of comments on posts. And that their style is good. We can do some measuring with Analytics.

How did you start the business?

Did you ever think you would make a living off it? And what is your background career or education in did it help?

I started the business by drawing up a business plan and getting advice from my local business Centre. I got help with designs, got some funding and filed a patent. Mothercare buyers were happy to meet and give their advice. So sad that they're gone.

My main living has been from this for a few years now. I used to be an artist among other things; I studied a Degree as a mature student and learned about design and innovation. It took many years.

Do you feel guilty about animal testing?

Not goading, but anything manufactured in China has to be tested on animals.

@Loveablers cosmetics etc have to be tested but as the OP says they manufacture large items and then mentioned testing mattresses I doubt she's developing baby lotions.

OP do you still have a lot to do with how the business is run or have investors got a lot of the say?

How easy was it to break into main stream high street stores and convince people that they needed your new product?

I imagine there's a lot of "didn't need that in my day" when it comes to baby things in particular!