Anyone who has, or has had, a baby is likely to have seen or used a bib at some pointi n time.
While bibs are handy, the average bib isn’t very absorbant and they can pile up quickly over a short period of time. Jill Sandager would know. Her own daugher produced drool like it was going out of style.
With the help of her sister and the co-founder, Amy Addington, Jill took a simple idea for a stylish and absorbant bib and turned it into Hattie Rose Designs.
Tell us a little about your business.
Hattie Rose Designs, Inc. is an online baby gifts boutique specializing in fashionable, practical baby bibs. Our bibs are of impeccable quality and attractive as clothes, so when a baby has to wear a bib all day long, he or she will look as cute as the baby who gets to show off her little designer outfit. In fact, I would be so bold as to argue that a mom could spend a whole lot less on fashion by buying a Hattie Rose bib — it’s so stylish that it really doesn’t matter what a baby is wearing underneath it!
Long before my business was started I was telling my story of how my oldest daughter produced more drool and spit-up than I could keep up with and I was washing her flimsy little ever-shrinking bibs and wearing out the “Velcro-like” closure in a matter of weeks. I took matters into my own hands and made a super absorbent bib with thick terry cloth lining because I was sick of washing a dozen bibs a day. It quickly changed to one or two bibs a day. We are committed to providing bibs that last and can survive whatever you or your baby can throw at them. I’m still using the same bibs for my second daughter and I’ve washed them hundreds of times. They’re still as functional as when they were brand new. These things are workhorses — adorable workhorses.
What inspired you to launch Hattie Rose Designs?
It was actually my brother’s idea. My sister and cofounder, Amy was in need of a flexible job that she could work from home so she could care for her oldest daughter who has a rare chronic illness. I had a product that was tested and original. My brother thought it was a great plan for us to start a business. He was and continues to be a great source of advice and ideas for us, especially in web design and marketing.
What is your top selling bib design?
We have several bibs that sell well. Our best selling bib is our Rosie Ballerina Bib. It’s a pretty rose color with an actual ballerina tutu on it. Our St. Pete bib that looks like a schoolboy uniform with a plaid tie is a very close second. Those are two of my favorites, so I’m not surprised that they’re selling the fastest. We also sell a lot of our train engineer style Casey bib complete with a utility loop and our Phoebe bib with cupcakes and polka dots.
On top of what you already have, do you have any plans to add any more bib designs to your website?
My designing wheels are always spinning. Every time I shop, it seems I have another idea for a design. As my children get older, I’m more aware of the constantly changing needs of babies and toddlers. I’m currently working on designing a toddler “all-purpose” smock. Most toddlers stop drooling and don’t need as much absorbency, but they still make big messes when they eat. I’m noticing that the bibs that work great for babies don’t protect as well for older children. Last Christmas, I decided that my daughter needed something larger that would protect her party dress, and I was inspired to keep my customers returning as their children grow into toddlers who like to spread food all over their clothes like mine do. Now if we could just keep the food out of their hair (hey, that gives me an idea!)
What goals do you hope to reach over the next year?
Our main goal for this next year is to secure a prominent web presence in the baby gifts market and continue increasing our sales. This means that our main focus right now is marketing.
What are your long-term goals?
We plan to become a household name synonymous with quality and affordable baby fashion. We’d like to get to the point where we not only have the capability, but also an urgent need to hire a support staff to do the day-to-day duties. As a designer, I have goals of expanding our product line to include baby and toddler clothing (with matching bibs, of course), a few fabric based toys, and possibly baby and children’s bedding designs.
Your sister Amy Addington is a co-founder in the business. What has it been like working with your sister?
Amy is one of the best people to have on my team and I feel pretty honored to work with her. I had always shied away from starting my own business because I knew that I was not organized enough to keep track of financials, inventory, and day-to-day operations. Amy thrives on that stuff. She’s very detail oriented, very organized and she’s about as hard working as they come. She’s also a self starter and keeps me motivated to move forward.
How do you share the workload?
My primary responsibilities are research and design, buying, and communications. Amy runs the accounting, production, and shipping and receiving. We have some shared responsibilities as well: customer care, marketing and sales and a little basic maintenance for our webmaster. Sometimes I feel like Amy’s doing all the work because she’s doing the things that I would really hate doing, but then I remember that she really enjoys her responsibilities and I love what I’m doing. I think we’d both have given up right away had we swapped job descriptions.
Have you always had an interest in entrepreneurship?
I can’t tell you how many people have told me I should start my own business and sell my designs. I’d usually smile and say thanks. I guess I’d say I’ve always had an interest, but never the right tools. Whenever I’d starting thinking about it, I quickly became overwhelmed by the vastness of what it takes to start a business. I never thought I could really handle the daily grind of it. It’s so much more than creating a great product. That’s why when Amy told me she was on board, I knew I had the right partner. She was exactly the counterpart I needed. Having a partner can be a detriment to many companies, but in our case, we needed each other and already had years of trust to build on.
How long did it take for you to build your business from idea to launch?
It took us a little over four months. It surprised me at all the details that had to fall into line before we could launch. There were big projects like web design and production and smaller details like designing a logo, ordering labels and photo editing. We had a goal of opening a month earlier, but it seemed that the closer we got, the more we had to do. We launched our store in March of 2008, but we have really started to set the ball rolling with marketing and PR this spring. Most of our initial sales were to friends and family, but now that the word is spreading, we are selling more and more to the general public. We recently announced our “grand” opening because we feel that it is time to allow our business to grow at a faster rate.
What has your business taught you?
I’ve learned so many different things. A big lesson: ask for advice from anyone you can get it from. You don’t have to use it all (and some of it is worthless), but you get bits and pieces that help shape your plans. Another lesson I have learned is that it is a ton of work, and some of it feels like work I didn’t sign up for. There are some responsibilities I have that I sometimes really don’t enjoy. There are frustrations and setbacks and it can be really discouraging at times. A colleague of mine challenged my thinking recently. He said, “Think of it as riding a bike. It’s not all downhill. You need to enjoy the whole ride, even the uphill pedaling.”
Do you have any advice for aspiring mompreneurs?
Ask for advice, especially from people who are in a similar business. It’s priceless. You don’t have to use it all (and some of it is just plain bad advice), but you get bits and pieces that can help shape your plans. Read anything you can find that’s relevant to your business and pick and choose what works for you. I think as it is with most businesses, that the majority of a company’s success is in the marketing. There are lots of great products out there that will remain the world’s greatest secret because of lack of marketing. Know your target market and go after them from any angle you can find, and be creative. Sometimes it seems like it’s a big experiment and research project, but it’ll begin to take shape if you stick with it and learn from your mistakes. It’s a really tough time to be starting out a business right now because the economy is so unstable, but people are still doing it and succeeding.