Please give your honest opinion on a business idea

[lovemynathy]

Hi, I am sahm and tossing around ideas to bring some income in as not ready to leave my little pumpkin yet. I notice that there are not many places in UK you could buy tights for boys and hats that tie underneath a chin to stop them sliding off. I came from Ukraine and those are very popular in there, tights are comfy and keep legs warm for winter to wear underneath trousers or just snowsuit. Hats saved us from ear infections. I was thinking to bring some in. They are not just useful but very cute too, made from natural materials. They could be light up to very warm. How much would you be prepared to pay for them? I know you could get some on eBay, but some people prefer quick buys. Thanks a million for taking time to answer me

I bought DSs tights from primark for a pound or two, there are lots of navy or white tights that are effectively unisex.
Decent hats that stay on are a better idea, polarn.o.pyret are probably your nearest competitor there.

Thanks Inmysparetime. The one I got they have cute animals etc on bum and legs. Do you think that got a chance? I am very new to market research, spend last 10 years working for an employer and last 15 months in Costas with other mummies and babies so trying hard to switch on my brane now :-)

Wouldn't the tights be worn under trousers? In which case perhaps a pattern or decal at ankle height would be more appropriate than one higher up.
I've only seen girls wear the tights you described (I worked in a day nursery, I'm not just a weirdo who looks at children's hosiery)

There were some like that at a Christmas market I went to the other week, I didn't really look as I didn't need any but I think they were charging £8 for the plain ones and £12 for the animal/cute bottoms?!

How are you planning on selling them if not on eBay?

I bought some of those animal design tights in wholesale from china to sell, they go on ebay for about £2 a pair though so not much profit, I ended up selling them in bulk to someone else. chipping Can't believe somewhere was selling them for £12 a pair!

My DS wearing them all the time and some mums at play groups were asking me about them. I was thinking to do carboot, fairs, play groups, maybe print a little catalogue and put in people's doors like avon etc ( you can get cheap printer cartridges on ebay). I need to push myself to start something as I am very unconfident, shy and seldom finish things when I am not motivated by somebody ( a manager kicking me in a bum).

I got my DS gorgeous boys tights when out in Switzerland. They were navy blue with dragons on the calf and round ankle. Other parents remarked about fab they were but I'm not sure if they were actually thinking 'weirdo mum makes her son wear tights'
I would do it again in a heart beat. Inmysparetime was right about plain tights being available anywhere so it would have to be the cool ones with pics on.
Good winter hats are always hard to find!
GOOD LUCK!!

My DS has poor circulation, I found tights meant people stopped berating me about his naturally grey/purple feet, it was also funny watching him try to pull them off.

Lots of places sell hats that cover the ears and fasten now though- gap, JL, Sainsbury, Accessorise, H&M- my children suffer terribly with ear infections, so we always have their ears covered in winter.
And tights... well by brother wore tights under his trousers in the 70s until he started school- they were like everything else in the 70s- brown!
If I needed DS to wear tights, I would get navy, red, grey tights, not special ones with pictures on tbh, and most supermarkets sell reasonably priced woolly tights in the uniform section, though probably I'd go for long johns anyway.

my ds wears black and white tights from the girls' section in george at asda. not sure how much they cost but i wouldn't pay more for bright colours or animal faces/prints as i'm on a budget and they are really just underwear and no-one sees them. he wears trousers and socks over them and his snowboots when out of the house so really no point having designs on them.

wrt hats, again george at asda have some great wee sets with long tassles that i tie under his chin. asda is very handy for me so i dont tend to look much further for basics.

Long johns have the more manly name of "baselayer" nowadays

Have a look on your Borough councils website and find out if you have a local business enterprise scheme that can help you with advice about all aspects of self employment. My one has been invaluable to me. I like your idea - personally I like to buy things that I'm not likely to see on other children. All our high streets have the same shops selling the same clothes, its all very boring!

I used to just buy plain blue or white tights to put under ds's trousers. Tbh I wouldn't pay much for them as you don't really see them. Maybe the hat I would have bought, although ds has one like that. Can't remember where I bought it, possibly debenhams sales. I wouldn't have paid much for it though.

Sorry InMySpare- I'm just old!

the tights/leggings you describe are on amazon for between £9-£12

I was just talking to my friend about this the other day as she has a crawler and he tends to crawl up into joggers and falls over so the leggings are brilliant, he wears them instead of trousers

he also pulls his socks off so she is looking at tights

she buys them off ebay for a few pounds and generally has them within a week