Introduce your business and tell us your story: How did you decide on what to sell, and how did you source your products?
My husband plays baseball and through his career I have fallen in love with the game. During the holidays of 2013 I decided to make homemade personalized gifts and found myself creating bracelets made from the lacing in baseball gloves. Lacelets came to production after gifting them to friends and family for the holidays of 2013.
How did you earn your first sales? Which channels are now generating the most traffic and sales for you?
We first started on Etsy before moving to our own site on Shopify four months later. Our friends were our first orders after launching our social media. Facebook has been huge for us. Instagram gives us a platform to put our customers in our product and to give our followers an inside look at our day to day activities and lives. We spent a year growing our following organically before introducing Facebook ads.
Tell us about the back-end of your business. What tools and apps do you use to run your store? How do you handle shipping and fulfillment?
GoShippo is amazing. The site is easy to navigate and the customer service is exceptional. BOLD apps has allowed us to offer product options that adjust the price prior to being added to the cart. We handle all shipping in house using GoShippo and the USPS.
What are your top recommendations for new store owners?
(1) Do not be afraid to ask for help. We love using Shopify because of their amazing customer service and quickness to answer our questions. (2) Be yourself on social media. Our customers and followers love feeling that they know us; it gives them another reason to shop and connect with our product. (3) Always track packages to ensure everything on the shipping side is running smoothly. (4) Always provide top notch customer service by showing empathy, a desire to solve the issue by offering options, and ensuring the issue will be taken care of.