When Jennifer Dowler was looking for the perfect birth announcement to tell the world about the birth of her son, what she found was less than inspiring. As he got older and she went in search for the right birthday card, she soon found that her choices were just as thin as they were when he was born. The next announcement she made became the one for her business, reports the Calgary Herald.
She searched stores and online websites, but was only able to find American companies that made custom announcements, and the cost to ship to Canada was more than she was willing to spend. Dowler decided to make her own cards and invitations for Matthew’s milestones and was so pleased with the result she launched Blue Ink Designs ( blueinkdesigns.ca)in 2007.
It was a simple case of disappointment turning into a business opportunity.
A hobby scrapbooker, Dowler transferred her design skill from albums to a digital environment, and made a go of business through word-of-mouth referrals, advertising on Kijiji, and most recently her web-site, which she designed herself.
“I don’t know where I found the time, but I found it,” says the busy stay-at-home mom, whose second son Marcus is 10 months old (Matthew is now almost three).
Dowler fills client orders during nap time or in the evenings and on weekends. She creates everything from baby shower announcements to family Christmas cards. Clients can go online and browse various designs, then send Dowler text and pictures to personalize their card. Dowler can take care of the printing or send clients a digital copy to handle the printing on their own. Blue Ink Design pricing starts at $15 for design.
In an era where everything from birth announcements to party invitations has gone digital, Dowler is not worried that her business is on the brink of extinction before it even takes off.
“I think there’s still a lot of occasions that deserve more. The birth of your first baby deserves more than a Facebook.”
Image from Blue Ink Designs