Her Biz July 2021 Winner
Her Biz competition winner Amy Buckland wins £500 to launch brand ‘Little Koala’
Her Biz Winner Amy is planning to infuse style and luxury with practicality and fun with a range of beautifully designed playmats designed by Early Years professionals for babies and young children.
Amy Buckland, owner of Little Koala, has won £500 towards start up costs for her business after completing a series of workshops and winning the HerBiz business plan competition for aspiring female entrepreneurs in East Sussex and Kent - giving her plans to bring a brand of beautifully designed, luxury playmats to the mum-and-baby market.
The Her Biz programme, delivered by Let’s Do Business Group and supported by NatWest Bank, aims to increase entrepreneurship and break down the barriers between women and business by supporting more people to follow their career aspirations. Ran virtually over Zoom by our two expert business coaches Lisa and Helena, the programme has only got more popular as time has gone on and more women have taken the leap to start their own businesses.
Little Koala will offer beautiful, luxury padded playmats that are designed by Early Years professionals for children that will serve them all the way from young baby tummy time to childhood adventures. Amy says that her unique selling point is that the playmats from Little Koala will not only serve as fun and eyecatching for children, but also look great in any home – differing to some cheaper and harder-to-style similar products on the market. She plans to create a website for sales while using social media to promote the products organically, as these channels will give the best opportunity to show the designs and products in use with high quality photos.
Amy has identified shifts and trends in thinking that can work to Little Koalas advantage. With play becoming increasingly recognised as important in Early Years development paired with an increase on the amount that mums are spending on items for their babies, this paves the way for new unique items to enter the market.
With Amy’s own experience in Early Years and her previous studies, she believes she’ll be able to fill the gap in the market and be able to bring something fresh. She knows the market for playmats is huge, but her product solves the problems of garish and cheap playmats on the market that are difficult to clean and not always non-toxic for baby. With the durable and high quality nature of her product she hopes to be able to capture a chunk of the market by positioning it in the medium range for budgets of the same products - aiming to capture the eyes of mums who have a good budget to buy quality items for their babies, and appreciate longevity and the importance of play.
As for research, she’s looked into competitors in the market to make sure her brand stands out. The Instagram-perfect craze that has gripped mums means that demand has grown for nurseries and playrooms that are stylish while remaining fun and practical. She believes that through promoting Little Koala products on popular social media channels like Instagram and Pinterest, she’ll be able to offer content in the educational field and the importance of Early Years play, too - which will give her an edge and differentiate Little Koala from the rest.
“The target market will spend quite a bit of time on Facebook and Instagram. Utilising these by promoting the product but also offering Early Years practical tips and advice on play (with short video clips and a downloadable playroom plan) will enable me to build a following of customers and a community”
“I’ll be able to target my customers specifically and draw them to the product – I’ll be able to work with other child products/influencers to advertise the playmats”
Taking part in the Her Biz women’s start-up workshops meant that Amy was able to take the first step in making her business idea a reality.
“Taking part in the Her Biz workshops has helped me learn important business skills, develop my ideas and work with two great coaches. I'm excited to set up my business!”
Amy plans to use her £500 winnings from the Her Biz business plan competition to get Little Koala off the ground. The funds will go towards paying for a graphic designer, the first batch of stock and a website to starting trading and taking pre orders for Little Koala.
We all wish Amy and Little Koala the best of luck for the future.
