Well next week is the parent & child show which I'm looking forward too. I have a much bigger stand this year and lots of new products. Now the thing is trying to get stock fast enough for my stores and then for the show. I get new enquires everyday which is wonderful.
We are looking into expanding the range even further now and have a few things left up our sleeves. Just got to get the $$ to back it first. Thats the thing about the tight economy. Lots of people want your product in their store but they are slow to pay. I'm very strict with my terms and try not to let anyone go over which is good but that takes a good chunk of my time chasing debtors.
On a more positive note, NZ made products seem to be thriving with all the media attention about Melamine in China etc which is good for Chelsea Bee. We aim to stay 100% made in New Zealand to help our economy grow.
Anyway must get back to it, the phone's running off the hook and its only 8.15am
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Xmas Gift Fair
This weekend I will bet getting ready for the Xmas Gift Fair. I have some great new products to display so fingers crossed they're a hit with the buyers and I will have some more stores stocking my beautiful merino wool products.
I'm looking also to move away from merino wool products and start making other clothing items. These will still all be made in New Zealand as thats my point of difference between me and alot of my competitors.
Found a couple of new websites where I can chat with other mums in business which is good for new ideas and new friends of course...
I'm still working full time in my other job but hopefully in the new year I can reduce my hours down to concentrate on the Chelsea Bee business.
Well thats just a little update for now...
I'm looking also to move away from merino wool products and start making other clothing items. These will still all be made in New Zealand as thats my point of difference between me and alot of my competitors.
Found a couple of new websites where I can chat with other mums in business which is good for new ideas and new friends of course...
I'm still working full time in my other job but hopefully in the new year I can reduce my hours down to concentrate on the Chelsea Bee business.
Well thats just a little update for now...
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Parent & Child Show
Chelsea Bee is gearing up for the Parent & Child show this October with some great giveaways from Babymania, and Nudey Rudey (yet to be confirmed).
This year should be awesome with a bigger, better stand, lots more products to add to our collection and going head to head with our major competitors. I'm really looking forward to it. Should be a good show. Come see Chelsea Bee at stand 356!!!
This year should be awesome with a bigger, better stand, lots more products to add to our collection and going head to head with our major competitors. I'm really looking forward to it. Should be a good show. Come see Chelsea Bee at stand 356!!!
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Chelsea Bee - Where it all began.....
Approx 19 months ago, a woman called Kelly gave birth to a little girl and named her Chelsea.
Chelsea is the inspiration for this story.
Kelly had only just accepted a new job the day she found out she was pregnant. She learnt she was only entitled to 14 weeks paid annual leave and after that she went back to work part time, 3 days a week. She was, however, fortunate enough to be able to leave Chelsea with her sister Michelle during the day. Soon enough the hours progressed into 4 days a week and the company Kelly was working for wanted her to go full time. Unfortunately for them, Kelly wanted to spend more time at home with Chelsea so she decided to look around for another position more suitable.
During this time she was not getting much sleep as Chelsea started waking cold in the middle of the night. The little monkey was kicking off her blankets so Kelly decided to make her a sleeping bag. Kelly researched some fabrics and found some merino wool on Trade me. She liked the unique properties of merino wool with it being able to breathe so bought a pattern from spotlight and sewed a baby sleeping bag for Chelsea.
Success!!!! It worked. Chelsea could kick her legs to her heart was content and couldn’t kick off the blankets! Kelly then made one for her sisters daughter, Brooke (who’s 6 months older) to see if it would help her sleep better. This also worked. Kelly’s sister Michelle was delighted.
Now Kelly had always been ambitious. She had imported shoes a couple of years ago to sell at the market and on Trade me and always wanted to be her own boss. She thought that other mums could benefit from this so she started sewing a few sleeping bags and listing them on Trade me. It didn’t take long for word to spread about these merino sleeping bags and soon Kelly had to use all her time off from work cutting and sewing them. She enlisted the help of her mother in law who also helped sew them with the increase in demand.
Kelly then sourced a merino wool fabric supplier where she went weekly to get rolls of fabric on her days off and sourcing new colours and weights.
By this stage Kelly was cutting and sewing 20-30 bags a week and the demand was increasing by the day so she decided to hire a dressmaker. By doing this Kelly had more time to spend with her daughter and put some effort into promoting the ‘brand’. She named it ‘Chelsea Bee’ after her daughter’s bedroom door. On Chelsea’s door she had a name plaque and a small ‘Bee’ underneath so it read ‘Chelsea Bee’. From there it all just came together.
Not long after, Kelly advertised for another dressmaker to redesign the whole baby sleeping bag for a product review in the ‘Little Treasures’ magazine and it came out on tops. It was classed as one of the ‘Best Sleeping Bags’ and they were happy to see a Made in New Zealand label on them.
Kelly has now found herself a new ‘part time’ job of 20 hours a week for a small Line Mechanic company. From here she met a graphic designer who designed her new Chelsea Bee logo, website and business cards.
She also successfully displayed her products at the 2007 AGS Parent & Child Show.
Her day job has now grown so much over the last 12 months that she is now doing 40 hours a week (4x10 hour days) and she oversees 2 other full time staff in the office.
Kelly continues to run the successful Chelsea Bee label with a couple of new products currently at the designing stage. She has just recently broken into the overseas market and she also runs a household.
Kelly still has a few things up her sleeve for the Chelsea Bee label but she’s not letting on just yet. Be sure to watch out for it…….
If you’d like to know more about Kelly or the Chelsea Bee label, go to the website below.
www.chelseabee.co.nz www.chelseabee.com
Chelsea is the inspiration for this story.
Kelly had only just accepted a new job the day she found out she was pregnant. She learnt she was only entitled to 14 weeks paid annual leave and after that she went back to work part time, 3 days a week. She was, however, fortunate enough to be able to leave Chelsea with her sister Michelle during the day. Soon enough the hours progressed into 4 days a week and the company Kelly was working for wanted her to go full time. Unfortunately for them, Kelly wanted to spend more time at home with Chelsea so she decided to look around for another position more suitable.
During this time she was not getting much sleep as Chelsea started waking cold in the middle of the night. The little monkey was kicking off her blankets so Kelly decided to make her a sleeping bag. Kelly researched some fabrics and found some merino wool on Trade me. She liked the unique properties of merino wool with it being able to breathe so bought a pattern from spotlight and sewed a baby sleeping bag for Chelsea.
Success!!!! It worked. Chelsea could kick her legs to her heart was content and couldn’t kick off the blankets! Kelly then made one for her sisters daughter, Brooke (who’s 6 months older) to see if it would help her sleep better. This also worked. Kelly’s sister Michelle was delighted.
Now Kelly had always been ambitious. She had imported shoes a couple of years ago to sell at the market and on Trade me and always wanted to be her own boss. She thought that other mums could benefit from this so she started sewing a few sleeping bags and listing them on Trade me. It didn’t take long for word to spread about these merino sleeping bags and soon Kelly had to use all her time off from work cutting and sewing them. She enlisted the help of her mother in law who also helped sew them with the increase in demand.
Kelly then sourced a merino wool fabric supplier where she went weekly to get rolls of fabric on her days off and sourcing new colours and weights.
By this stage Kelly was cutting and sewing 20-30 bags a week and the demand was increasing by the day so she decided to hire a dressmaker. By doing this Kelly had more time to spend with her daughter and put some effort into promoting the ‘brand’. She named it ‘Chelsea Bee’ after her daughter’s bedroom door. On Chelsea’s door she had a name plaque and a small ‘Bee’ underneath so it read ‘Chelsea Bee’. From there it all just came together.
Not long after, Kelly advertised for another dressmaker to redesign the whole baby sleeping bag for a product review in the ‘Little Treasures’ magazine and it came out on tops. It was classed as one of the ‘Best Sleeping Bags’ and they were happy to see a Made in New Zealand label on them.
Kelly has now found herself a new ‘part time’ job of 20 hours a week for a small Line Mechanic company. From here she met a graphic designer who designed her new Chelsea Bee logo, website and business cards.
She also successfully displayed her products at the 2007 AGS Parent & Child Show.
Her day job has now grown so much over the last 12 months that she is now doing 40 hours a week (4x10 hour days) and she oversees 2 other full time staff in the office.
Kelly continues to run the successful Chelsea Bee label with a couple of new products currently at the designing stage. She has just recently broken into the overseas market and she also runs a household.
Kelly still has a few things up her sleeve for the Chelsea Bee label but she’s not letting on just yet. Be sure to watch out for it…….
If you’d like to know more about Kelly or the Chelsea Bee label, go to the website below.
www.chelseabee.co.nz www.chelseabee.com
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