Polka Dot and Co
Interview #42 - Polka Dot and Co
Hello and welcome back to another week, another blog and another business. I hope that you are all enjoying the new blog layout and new website design because I know I sure am, it was time for an upgrade. And speaking of, make sure you’re following my Instagram and subscribed to my email list, I have something else planned for the next couple of weeks that I hope to introduce but I will need your help to do it! To do this, follow my Instagram and subscribe to the email list and more will come in time.
I have had an amazing time writing about all the businesses you see today featured on my blog and I can’t wait to share with you so many more amazing entrepreneurs. I understand that I have been a bit inconsistent with my posting but hopefully, now that I am getting back into the swing of things, my schedule will be a little more consistent.
On with the business being featured this week, even though this interview was done a while back, I am now pleased to announce that I can finally publish it and you can all read about it. Introducing Polka Dot and Co, a Melbourne based business selling handmade accessories from key chains to scrunchies, filling your every need to be stylish and practical. Polka Dot and Co were established in 2018, making the business ahead of the game when the trend of scrunches and silicone products came into play.
MEET STEPHANIE!
Having started the business a year after finishing high school at 18, she would have never thought Polka Dot and Co would be as successful as you see it today. Initially, before she founded the business, Stephanie was struggling to find another job, so with the help and motivation from her mum, Stephanie found a hobby making key chains. Ever since the beginning, Stephanie has always strived herself on ensuring that she can hand make her products, so beginning her business with making key chains then hand sewing scrunchies, she managed to launch an Etsy store within a week or advertising a business that hadn’t even started yet on Facebook.
With having a great success even before Stephanie officially launched the store, Stephanie has always wanted to be her own boss and get to do what she loves on a daily bases. From switching between part-time jobs and being a marketing manager two days a week, she is still able to get a stable income from her business alone. When she was younger, her mother used to work in a crafts store and is now a scrapbooker, the creative sparks and ideas have always been present and flowing.
What tips would you give to someone starting their own business?
“Keep going, it’s gonna be so hard. I think I went three months with no income until I released the scrunchies, you just gotta find something that’s popular that you can make unique and that’s probably the key because I think, I was a month in and I was spending like 24 hours a day doing this. I was losing sleep over trying to think of new designs and make my business bigger and I was getting nothing from it and was in complete negatives but then all of a sudden as you get more and more word of mouth, that helps for sure.”
Once business started growing and growing for Stephanie, she did not expect it to grow as much as it had over the two years. With customers returning for more and more gifts, presents and products that are usually only meant for a one time purchase, the support she had found once starting were always there. The handmade community now has grown to be so much more than it was and even then two years ago, it is full of supportive businesses and it was great for Stephanie to see customers buying from local small businesses rather than going to big chains like K-Mart.
Over the past couple of months, Stephanie has found these times to be booming and a highlight for the business. Even though currently in Melbourne is in lockdown, online shopping has been a highlight for everyone and is now the new norm. Since then, business for Polka Dot and Co has blown up exponentially. However, even with all the success, like all businesses, there are both limitations to what Stephanie does and also a feeling of doubt when starting the business.
It was hard at the start to not step on others or be a copy cat with the products that are being sold, so when Stephanie jumped on the bandwagon of the scrunchie trend before anyone else, she did have insight and understand that there are only a limited number of fabrics everyone can use so there are bound to be repeated.
Even though this is very minor and doesn’t affect Stephanie and her business that much, she did however also have some doubt in the early stages. There was concern that her friends or even family wouldn’t like what she was doing or that other people would only think that her business was only a money-making venture. But despite all of this, Polka Dot and Co have grown to be successful both in sales and followers on Instagram. With the struggle to find a permanent source of income through a part-time job and being over the dramas of retail, this led her to start the business and was her inspiration for the continuation of the business.
Is there an intended experience that you wand your customers to have when they use your products?
“I want them to feel like they’ve got a homey feeling like they have gotten something that someone has made for them, it’s not just something they bought from K-Mart. Someone has put the time and effort into this and they really appreciate it, that’s probably the most experience that I want from it.”
Stephanie brands her business, Polka Dot and Co, to sell a lot of different products to varying markets and types of people. Initially starting off selling to young adults, then she moved onto selling towards mothers and then those interested in homewares with the candles and melts and with the diversity of products and soon to be business, Designs by Polka Dot and Co, an extension of the original business, this allows Stephanie to be unique and different in a market where there is so much competition. Stephanie has been at the game for a while, allowing herself to build up a loyal clientele but according to her, she allows herself to have a genuine connection with her customers from sending personal emails as they order to providing little gifts with their purchase.
Stephanie had no idea that her life path would lead her down the road of starting a business let alone starting one at 18. The idea of being too young or inexperienced was running through her mind as she thought she would have a career as a dancer but that soon turned to dust as that was not the case whatsoever. With the establishment of Polka Dot and Co, she has proven not only to herself but others young and in high school, that no matter what, you can start a business if you have the passion and want to do something more with a hobby.
How would you describe your business in one sentence?
Hand-made accessories that are sentimental and unique
Thank you for reading another blog post this week, sorry that it was a little later than initially scheduled but I hope that if you are reading this, you have not only gotten to the end of another blog but also loved reading about Stephanie and her business, Polka Dot and Co. Make sure to go check out her Instagram HERE or click the button below for a direct link to their website.
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