Doing the Business Online - Craftsupplies.ie

You're earning big money in software in the States. You're young and the sky's the limit. Then you're out of it and building a whole new way to success and satisfaction in a business as far removed from high tech as chalk is from cheese.

This is the story of Aisling Mackey who has chalked up not one but three success stories in just three years. "I used to work long stressful hours as a director of software product management," recalls Aisling. "The money rewards were great and it helped my to buy my house, but there was a toll being taken on my health. Then the company I was working for closed down, so I decided to try something new." While working in America, Aisling had become aware of popularity of crafts. Unlike at home, retail craft supply stores can be as big as large supermarkets and doing thriving business. Returning to Ireland, she quickly realised that the craft supply business here was very underdeveloped. She had found her niche. "I had some savings and was expecting my son so I wanted less stress and more flexibility.

In April 2004, I set up Cara Cards making handmade cards. After a few months I spotted a gap in the market for supplying card-making and other craft supplies in Ireland. I now run a craft supply company, Cara Craft Supplies, selling supplies for card-making, childrens crafts, beading, quilting, and scrapbooking, among other things." Key to her success was a website www.craftsupplies.ie  launched in September 2004, the same month she gave birth to her son. Just six weeks after the birth she was at a trade show promoting her new business. Her career as an IT professional and her dynamic energy were both contributing to the growth of her new business.

Markets

Aisling Mackey's knowledge of e-commerce and promotion via her website have played a big part in building the business. She also displays a keen sense of marketing and logistics. Operating from a small premises at the Terenure Enterprise Centre with just two employees, stocks are kept to a minimum and delivered on a just-in-time basis. Her customers are mainly female ranging in ages from teens to pensioners, however most are in early middle age and are mothers. They come from all over Ireland hand have already passed the 2,000 mark. Now sales are building in Britain and mainland Europe. Ten percent of sales are exports.

Through her website, Aisling offers her customers an interactive forum where ideas are exchanged and friendships formed. As a good marketer, she knows her customers intimately. "One of the things I love about the site is that through it a lot of other mums are now setting up their own businesses," she says. "We have women making wedding invitations, selling their handmade cards to local shops and businesses and running craft classes in their area. The forum is a wonderful place for crafter to share ideas and thoughts and it is a bit part of the ongoing success of the site."

Another landmark in the success of Cara Craft Supplies came through her relationship with Dublin City Enterprise Board who approved two employment grants amounting to €15,000 in October 2005. This enabled Aisling to take on her two employees and move to larger premises at the Terenure Enterprise Centre. In November 2006 she received a preference share investment of €40,000 to expand her export business.

A new business

Having seen the popularity of hand crafted wedding invitation cards from her existing customers, Ashling launched www.diywedding.ie  and http://www.weddingdiy.co.uk "This new website launched last April is a one-stop-shop for all you need to make your own wedding invitations using beautiful handmade papers, high quality cardstock and pressed flowers. It also sells favour bags ribbons, table confetti and we'll shortly be adding things like photo albums, table decorations and self-stick wax seals. We're aiming for brides looking to make their own invitations, who want them to look professional, but on a budget," she explains. Apart from the cache that a hand crafted card delivers there is also a strong economic argument for their use.

According to Aisling Mackey, brides and grooms are, on average, spending €25,000 to €30,000 on their wedding, going into debt of €10,000 at the same time. The average price of her D.I.Y. invitation kit and supplies works out at just €1. Spending on conventional wedding invitation cards is in the range of €4 to €6 with some couples spending as much as Stg£8. It is hardly any wonder then that her new website received 40,000 hits in its first week. Within two months of setting up the wedding card business, its sales have already reached 100% of the Cara Crafts Supplies turnover and growth right now is exponential. Understandably delighted, she is even more pleased that she has achieved two distinct customer bases. But this is by no means the end to her ambition. Within three years she aims to be exporting to Europe, possibly have one other business on the go, and increase the number of employees significantly.

For Aisling Mackey, success in business is not an end in itself. There are more important things such as family. "My goal is to be able to work until 2.30pm when my son starts school, and be the one to pick him up and work from home in the afternoon so I can be there for him - something I myself loved when I was a child - having my mum there. This is something I feel I can only realistically achieve if I own my own business; particularly as I am a single parent." www.craftsupplies.ie  & www.diywedding.ie & http://www.weddingdiy.co.uk

© 2006 Dublin City Enterprise Board. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or part without the permission from the D.C.E.B.

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