Starting your own small company

SIMPLI PRETTI BOUTIQUE & LIFESTYLE (PTY) Ltd

Starting my own company has been the biggest blessing and dream come true.

I have always loved fashion and lifestyle items, and this inspired me to start my own exclusive online boutique supporting only local brands. Supporting local is something that I am very passionate about. We have the most amazing brands in South Africa, and they are all extremely talented and unique.

How did I do it?

I would like to share a few things with you that helped me start my own company.

I am by all means no professional and I am only sharing my own experiences.

Planning

When I decided to start my own company, I knew that it might be a risk, but it all paid off.

I have spent hours researching to make sure that I do it the right way.

Starting up your own company takes a lot of planning. It is extremely important to make sure you follow all the correct regulations.

Before starting your own company, it is a good idea to ask yourself a few questions, to brainstorm and to really think if this is something you would like to do for a long term. Is this something you are really passionate about and is it sustainable?

Business plan

Before starting my own company, I drew up a business plan to cover all the aspects of starting a new company. My business plan included brands that I would like to work with, the market that I was catering for, website planning, social media planning, documents that I needed, accounting aspects and so many more.

Professionals

Starting your own company can be challenging and it is extremely important to have the right people to assist you if you need guidance. It is extremely important to have a lawyer and accountant to help you set up everything you require if you don’t have any experience regarding certain aspects of having a company. The rest you can do yourself if you are adequate to do so.

Deciding on a name

To me this was the biggest decision I had to make. I knew what I was going to sell, the brands I was going to support, the market I was going to connect with and where I was going to be based. But deciding on a name was the most challenging. I knew I wanted to use a specific name but unfortunately the name was already used, and I had to make changes to my ‘dream name’ for my company.

Logo design

I designed my logo myself as I was able to do so. I really enjoyed designing my own logo.

Creating your website

I first chose the correct e-commerce website that I knew would work for what I wanted to obtain. I started building my own website according to the needs of my company. This can be quite pricy but worth every cent. I set up my website myself using a specific host. It took a lot of planning and brainstorming. I used an e-commerce site that was really user friendly. I could add all my stock, keep track of my stock, send emails, discount codes – everything I needed.

Launching day

I chose a specific month to launch my company online and the month I chose was my birthday month. Company registration took place prior to this and I waited for the day after my birthday to launch my online business. Launching a company takes a lot of preparation as you want to build up your client basis and inform your clients of when you will launch so that they are the first ones to be able to buy your launching products. That is exactly why social media is so important.

At last - enjoying it

All the hard work paid off and I could finally enjoy all my hard work.

Having your own company is by all means no joke. It takes long extra hours and your full commitment.

This is something I am really passionate about and I am grateful to have started my own company.