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Ebay Millionaires
23 Aug 2010
In 2009 there were 66 small businesses turning over £1m+ on ebay.
As a soft toys wholesaler who uses all channels open to B2B we were really impressed with this number until we saw that in summer 2010 there are now 127 £1m+businesses
Wow! Anyone who still views ebay as a sales channel for amateurs might want to re-think their opinion. The honesty of the feed back system on ebay means that businesses have to pay strict attention to their customer needs or face almost immediate consequences.
We are happy to deal with any business selling through ebay as long as they are not a discounter. Whether you are on the high street, internet or ebay we do not believe that the "pile it high, sell it cheap" model suits our knitted and crochet toys and would prefer to deal with people who rely on exceptional customer service and an eye for gorgeous products to be successful
If you would like to sell our soft toys on ebay please email sales@bestyears.co.uk
Buy organic toys for organic fortnight
Organic fortnigh 3rd - 17th Sept
22 Aug 2010
Organic fortnight this year is trying to dispel the myth that organic goods are too expensive and only for the rich. Sales of organic food has suffered during the recession and the Organic Association is trying to persuade people that organic products are affordable
The strapline for the campaign is "Chose organic everyday"
In addition to our wide range of Fairtrade crochet toys Best Years have a range of affordable organic baby toys and blankets at accesible prices. Trade prices start from just £4.50 each so the toys are definitely not just for the elite few
The campaign's advertising will generate a lot lot of PR and attention which should translate in to more retail sales. You can see more information here
Toy Shop Little Wonders hits back
20 Aug 2010
Unless you are already in the toy trade you may not know of the troubles which have surrounded the independent toy shop Little Wonders.
Its a long story but it appears that it is ending happily as the toy shop has been re-located and is continuing to trade
However after enduring a particulaly difficult year the owner, Elena Ripoli, has come out fighting and has published a furious article in Toy News
She points her fingers at both landlords and suppliers and does not hold back in her opinion. In no uncertain terms she accuses toy suppliers of being both sexist and un-ethical
I don't agree with everything she writes, and in particular I would like to defend reps. We don't employ reps as it doesn't suit our company. However although they may not be everyones cup of tea they are just trying to earn a living
We have a solution - we sell fair trade cotton crochet toys, and our company is run entirely by women so if anyone knows Elena can you tell her about Best Years?
You can read her full article here http://www.toynews-online.biz/opinion/107/OPINION-A-new-way-for-indie-retail
I'd get a cup of coffee first!
Autumn Fair NEC
17 Aug 2010
Please come and see us at the Autumn Fair NEC, 5th - 8th September
We are in Hall 5, stand B36 and we would love to see you there!
You can register for the show by clicking here http://www.exporeg.co.uk/visit/sites/emap/autumnfair/10/vis/login.asp
Taking a day out of your business is always difficult but especially as we move in to peak trading we think that the benefits of attending far outweight a lost day
The obvious reason to go to any trade show is to find new ranges but there are other more intangible reasons for attending as well.
Retailers and wholesalers should work in partnership as neither can be successful without the other. However we do not often get the chance to meet and discuss issues and opportunities. A trade show is the perfect time to catch up on news and find ways to increase our sales together
It was only through robust feedback from our customers that we moved in to the fair trade cotton crochet toys rather than the value ranges we were trialling at the same time. And look how well thats turned out!
So please come and see us. We really do want to see you!
How do you become a successful entrepreneur?
Is it nature or nurture?
16 Aug 2010
According to research by David Blanchflower and Andrew Oswald there is no specific character which makes for a successful entrpreneur. The one single factor which influences success is access to finance
In a statistically sophisticated research paper they came up with 4 conclusions
- The probability of becoming self-employed depends significantly on whether the individual has ever received a gift or inheritance. As an example The White Company was set up after its founder Chrissie Rucker was left an inheritance by her Grandmother and now turns over £50m
- Entrepreneurs say that raising capital is their biggest challenge ( no surprises there!)
- The self-employed are happier
- Childhood personality and psychological tests are of no help in predicting who will go on to set up their own business. Its just access to money!
You can read the full report here
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/staff/academic/oswald/entrepre.pdf
As a soft toy wholesaler specialising in knitted and crochet toys we obviously come in to contact with a lot of people, especially women, who start their own businesses after having children. Most of them are smart and hard working but I am positive that a dump of cash in to their business would definitely make a difference in how quickly their businesses will grow! Unfortunately most of us have to stick with the banks. Great!
Blooming Marvellous bought by Mothercare
16 Jul 2010
Blooming Marvellous which went bust almost 2 years ago and was bought by a bunch of entrepreneurs has now been bought by Mothercare
The niche retailer was founded in the 1980s and bought in 2007 for £5m by an Icelandic fund. However the recession hit the chain badly and it went in to receivership early 2009
The brand is still very respected and generates a lot of affection so it should thrive in Mothercare stores where it does not have to support the entire cost of the shop itself
As a soft toy wholesaler we value retailers and suppliers who are successful by being different so lets hope Blooming Marvellous are allowed to thrive again
Martin Yaffe Ltd goes in to administration
16 Jul 2010
Martin Yaffe Ltd, the manufacturer and supplier of branded toys has gone in to administration
Based in Rochdale the company employed 160 people and supplied large retailers such as Boots, John Lewis and the supermarkets
We have absolutely no insider knowledge of why they have gone bust but it can't be comfortable selling branded products to larger retailers (who insist on low low prices!) when the pound slumps against the dollar and you still need to pay huge license fees. Losing a major customer such as Woolworths can't have helped either! Rumour has it that Woolworths owed Yaffes £5m when they went under
The figures show that they moved from making a profit of almost 1.3million in 2006 to a loss of 3.3million in 2008
Theres a slight chance of being boring here but we firmly believe that if your success is based on pumping volume through at low margin then its only momentum which will keep you going. If that stops then the wobble will be hard to control
Martin Yaffe supplied most of the biggest high street retailers and it will be interesting to see what impact their demise will have on the ranges available in the shops. Will they dare to venture away from licensed product? They might just have enough time to bring in their own ranges but it will definitely be a tight squeeze.
Best Years have a range of unique soft toys. They are not the cheapest in the market but the design and manufacture are fab and our prices represent great value for money. If you want to try our range splease email sales@bestyears.co.uk as we would love to hear from you
Customers prepared to pay more for good service
16 Jul 2010
American Express has released a survey showing that the majority of the British are prepared to pay up to 7% more for an item if it comes with good service
Unsurprisingly 70% of customers are more likely to give a company repeat custom after receiving good customer care.
If you look at retailers who are valued by customers its not the "pile it high, sell it cheap" brands who come out well but those who base their company on good service such as John Lewis and Lakeland Trading
Which Magazine recently voted Lakeland as the UKs best retailer after surveying 1400 customers. The reason? "Superlative customer service"
How much better it is to compete on how good your service is than how cheap you can sell your goods.
If you want to try out how good our service is please email sales@bestyears.co.uk
Free business website
15 Jul 2010
Do you want a free website for your business?
I know that this sounds like spam but there is a scheme backed by companies such as BT and Google which gives small businesses a free website for 2 years
As a soft toy wholesaler we are not a natural choice to be a leading advocate for digital business but our website has changed the reach and scope of our business and i am sure that it can do the same for most UK business
Heres the link http://www.gbbo.co.uk
Distance Selling Regs
14 Jul 2010
Best Years do not sell direct to consumers but we do keep in regualr contact with our Trading Standards office and we thought one of their recent updates would be of interest to you if you sell on line
In a recent clarification of the Distance Selling regulations it has been confirmed that if the consumer does not like the goods, and returns them within 7 days, then the retailer must refund not just the cost of the goods but also the delivery charge
However they do not have to cover the actual cost of return
Next have just been caught out as they gave the consumer free returns but do not refund the original delivery charge
This is because the consumer is judged not to have sufficient information at point of sale (ie the website or catalogue) to make a decision.
This not include personalised goods
For more information please see the Trading Standards website because they are fab!
http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/
Amazon's 2010 trading terms
29 Jun 2010
About a year ago we received an email from Amazon giving us our new trading terms and conditions. It was a blanket email to all suppliers (with the exception of the big guys I expect) and increased the % rebate Amazon was taking from us by several percent
We refused and opted not to deal with Amazon. Theres something about not even getting a personal request when decreasing your profit that sticks in the throat a bit. Some of our customers had already started to sell our knitted toys through Amazon and so as a wholesaler we had inadvertedly ended up competing with our own customers. We didn't like this very much so it was a reasonably straight forward decision
I don't think Amazon trembled at our departure and in fact we can't seem to get off their systems which is why this year I received their standard demand for another increase in margin. I have copied it below and when you read it remember this is on top of normal margin. Enjoy!
We will make the following changes to your commercial terms effective from 15th July 2010:
Purchasing Terms
Marketing allowance remains at the 2009 level of 3.5% payable quarterly based on net receipts for the full trading year. This is in addition to promotional funding and bespoke rate card marketing activity.
Base volume rebate - a 3.5% retrospective rebate on the total value of net receipts for the full calendar year will apply for achieving an annual turnover at least equal to the turnover of the previous calendar year. This rebate increases to 4.5% for achieving a 2010 turnover greater than £15,000. Any such rebate will be payable quarterly in arrears on the basis of the percentage of rebate corresponding to the annual turnover forecasted by Amazon. If the annual turnover achieved at the end of the annual period differs from the forecasted annual turnover and that, as a result of this, a lower or higher percentage of rebate should have been applied, Amazon will charge or credit the vendor for the difference accordingly. Net receipts are gross receipts less the amounts for products returned to the vendor.
Returns agreement – 2.5% rebate payable quarterly in arrears based on net receipts for each quarter of the full trading year. Any recalled products or faulty batches will be excluded from the rebate and dealt with on an individual basis.
The marketing allowance, base volume rebate and returns rebate will be payable within 30 days from the end of each quarter and AEU may set off each amount against invoices.
Payment terms – We reserve the right to pay up to 90 days from the end of the month that the invoice is received but if we pay within 30 days from the end of the month that the invoice is received an early settlement discount of 2.5% will be deducted.
These commercial terms will apply until new terms are notified or agreed.
What should I do with a huge cheque?
29 Jun 2010
As a soft toy wholesaler we constantly receive emails which vaguely offer to buy huge amounts of stock off us without being too specific about what they want. Invariably it must be shipped outside of Europe. I am sure you get similar things and i presume you do what we do which is delete them and move on
So how about this as a situation. Customer from abroad orders a nice amount of stock and says payment will follow. A week later we receive an anguished email to say that 10 times the amount of the bill has been deposited can we help. I laugh and write the whole order off as an attempt to con us in some way (I hadn't shipped the goods hence the good humour. The criminal Simon Osbourne has taught me that much!)
But one day later the bank rings to say they have infact received a cheque for over £20,000. On closer inspection it has been written out incorrectly and its actually for more than £200,000
So i email the customer and say i have received his cheque, we will not cash it but what does he want me to do with it. Silence. No answer. Its been 2 weeks and i have a cheque for almost quarter of a million pounds sitting on my desk
Any suggestions as to whether its a scam, how it works and what should i do with the cheque!
Giving up google ads for Lent
25 Jun 2010
The one good thing that a recession does for you is make you re-look at your business and think whats working, what can be fixed and what should we move away from?
Because the £ collapsed against the $ last year we had to completely review our product range which means that a year later we have 2 new fair trade suppliers and some fabulous rag dolls and cotton crochet toys
We also took a long hard look at how we met new customers. We had been running google ads for years (because you do!) and over that time we had various different agencies come in and manage them for us. When we looked at them closely we realised that we did not know whether they were working and whether they were value for money so we simply stopped them
That was back in January and the results were hideous. Traffic to our website instantly fell by 30% and the number of enquiries plummeted. There was definitely a certain amount of panic but we had made the decision to keep them off for 6 months so we did
So we have now come to the end of our 6 month trial and the results are somewhat different. Traffic to our website is still down by 25% but virtually all of this was from the USA. Our toys are not tested to USA standards so we can't sell them there. Traffic from USA is not commercially valuable to us. Enquiries are now back to where they were and traffic from the UK has increased significantly
Traffic from google ads is not always as targeted as they would like you to believe. You only have to look at the way visitors find you to realise that there is a certain mismatch (last week a visitor was directed to our soft toy wholesaler website by typing in airsoft gun!). Google ads should bring you in specifically targeted traffic but unless you are completely focussed on them they also bring in a lot of dross. And this all costs you money
We should point out that when we took the google ads off we were forced to find other ways to increase traffic to our website so in away it made us look at all aspects of SEO. When you have a certain amount of visitors to your website its amazing how quickly you can become lazy about looking for more. The sudden and significant decline in traffic brought us out from our comfort zone and we actively searched for other ways to increase the visibility of our website
Now that we have a base level of traffic we will try google ads again but this time we will have more knowledge and specific targets for them to achieve. And if they don't achieve them we will go back to not running them at all!
Where do our fair trade toys come from?
22 Jun 2010
For all those who are interested in where our cotton crochet and knitted toys come from please find below an article about Samantha Morshed and her company. We think shes a very impressive woman!
"In the small Bangladeshi town of Narsingdi, Suria Begum sits in a small hut, a short walk from her house, with two dozen other women where she knits children's hats, mittens and blankets.
Like 2.5 million others in the impoverished country, Suria works in the textile business, making items exported to the US and Europe, but unlike most other workers she has not had to leave her rural home for a job.
"I have a five-year-old son so I can't work in Dhaka, but having this job gives my family a bit of extra money. Plus, it's nice to sit around and chat with the other workers. It's very relaxed here," the 30-year-old said.
Most of Bangladesh's 4,200 garment factories, some of which come under fire from rights groups for shabby health and safety standards, are in cities like Dhaka or Chittagong, meaning workers have to move to urban areas for work.
But British woman Samantha Morshed, who created the centre where Suria works and 31 other centres like it across Bangladesh, has a different vision for the country of 144 million people, 40 percent of whom live below the poverty line.
"I wanted to prove that it's not impossible to create employment in rural areas in Bangladesh," says Morshed, who started her business four years ago by teaching a dozen women to knit and crochet in her living room in Dhaka.
Morshed represents a growing number of businesses pushing to channel Bangladesh's cheap labour into ethical, fair trade labels.
She now employs more than 3,500 women in rural areas who make 30,000 items a month that are exported to developed countries and fashionable shops
"Bangladesh has huge potential. It's not the sad, flooded, charity-prone place it's made out to be. It's full of dignified people who want the opportunity to progress," Morshed said."
South African rag dolls
09 Jun 2010
If you haven't noticed the football World Cup starts in South Africa this weekend
The press have taken the opportunity of this massive media event to highlight the poor working conditions and standard of living of many people in South Africa
We are therefore particularly proud to be working with the South African company Hooligans kids (www.hooliganskids.com) Set up in 1996 Hooligans clothes and dolls are made by a workers co-operative where workers are paid a fair wage for their work. They have a continual program of mentoring and training workers who have previously not been able to work due to family, health or social issues
Their wonderful rag dolls are hand made, ethically produced and absolutely gorgeous!
We have huge admiration for Adri Jeffers for the work she has done and the company she has created. She probably does not get paid as much as many of the footballers in South Africa at the moment but we think she should be!
Fair trade toys and trends
14 May 2010
Recently I went to a seminar on green consumerism and trends. As a soft toy wholesaler we are dedicated to increasing the number of fair trade, organic or ethical toys so we are interested in where the experts see this market moving
The speaker detailed 3 distinct trends that they thought would be important between 2012 - 2015
1. Green is going mainstream. Many of us can remember when green consumers wore beige and the Body Shop was viewed as niche. But now supermarkets have fair trade school uniforms and organic cotton is reasonably common. They categorised consumers attitudes to green choices in the following way
Onlookers - 26%, Conveniently conscious 35%, positive chosers 31%, vocal activists 4% and principled pioneers 4%
Whilst its good that green is available to a wider market it also means that it is not enough just to say its ethical, there have to be other desirable attributes. Our fair trade cotton crochet toys are desirable in their own right and they are competitively priced. With people watching the pennies ethical products have to almost be more desirable to compete against poorly designed but cheaper alternatives
2. Ubiquitous connectivity. This applies not just to grend products but to the whole market place. Currently 15% of all phones are smart phones but by 2015 it is estimated that the majority of us will own smart phones. Shopping and browsing via your phone will be common place and businesses need to ensure that they leverage this new market. Perhaps not so important for wholesalers but retailers should review their digital plans to ensure they can compete in this new market
3. The middle ground is disappearing. The consumer either wants quick convenience or an experience which is above and beyond the normal (this was called donative by the consultant speaking about it). If people are either constrained by time or money then they will either shop in large hypermarkets to get everything in one place and competitively priced, or they will surf the internet to ensure that they get the best price. There is a place for green business even in this niche and currently Nigel's eco store and amazon's 2nd hand book shop are two that are doing well. The donative market has more opportunities for niche businesses and the examples sited were vegan, raw food restaurants and "swishing" which is clothes swopping parties
So there are the 3 trends - Green goes mainstream, Technology makes further in roads on our time and habits and the middle ground disappears to be replaced by 2 polarised way to shop
The question we were asked is what were we going to do about it?!
Wizard of Oz beanies
12 May 2010
We are very sad to tell you that we will not be bringing in the Tinman, Scarecrow or Cowardly Lion Wizard of Oz beanies this year. Or infact ever again!
We have been struggling to get the quality of these 3 beanies right since the beginning of the year and we have reluctantly come to the conclusion that it is not possible in the price constraints we have
The only way we can get the character integrity we know you will demand is by doubling the trade price and this will make them uneconomical for all of us
Things looked difficult from the start but the final straw was the collapse of sterling against the dollar as the Greek economic crisis impacting on the currency exchange
Who would have thought that a debt ridden european country could have such an impact on a soft toy wholesaler
Don't forget that we still do have Dorothy and Toto in stock
Toy Safety
07 May 2010
New toy safety legislation comes in to play July 2011. This represents the biggest overhaul of toy safety regulations for decades and is going to cause some manufacturers huge problems. It requires the toy importer to know that not just the toy itself is safe but that all the various components which make up the toy have been tested properly as well
As a soft toy wholesaler we have worked hard to build up good relationships with our manufacturers so this causes us no problems but if you currently continually switch factories to get the best prices its going to cause you huge issues!
But this article is not about the new safety regs which will be covered in detail in a later blog. When we had our marathon discussion with the safety guys we uncovered a few safety myths which we had presumed to be law
- "Not suitable for children under 18months". All soft toys have to be suitable from birth and you cannot exclude ages even if the pile is long. There are no cases of babies ingesting long plush and so there is no requirement not to use it on plush toys. Most soft toy wholesalers and retailers ask for toys with long plush to have a warning on it but they will have been tested to be suitable from birth. We will continue to recommend a suitable age on our toys as we think that it reassures consumers but it is not a legal requirement
- Machine washable. There is no test for machine washing except putting it in to the washing machine! Whether the toy is machine washable is covered by "fit for purpose" so if you sell a soft toy designed to appeal to a young child for £100 it will be required to survive machine washing considerably better than one sold for £1. Toys will pill when they go through the washing machine but they should not collapse
- You are not required to have the fabric content on the toy
- You do not need to warn the consumer to take the labels off the toy before it is played with. The consumer is deemed to have enough sense to do this!
We will be updating our blog on the new safety legislation as it is a fundamental change to the way toy regulations are administered, for instance you will need to ask your toy wholesaler for their technical file and not their test certificates. Internet retailers will also need to include in their descriptions any warnings which are on the toy but we will bring you more detail later
Do you want to supply Argos?
19 Apr 2010
Do you want to supply Argos?
The Argos toy team have come up with the very clever idea of inviting all potential suppliers to come and see them with their product ideas at an open day near Milton Keynes on June 3rd
There you will be guaranteed 15 minutes to pitch up to 5 products for either their Argos or Chad Valley ranges
If you are interested please email toysteam@argos.co.uk but hurry as spaces are limited
As a soft toy and teddy wholesaler we have made the decision not to supply retailers such as Argos as we prefer to supply independent retailers but we think that this is a fab idea from Argos
Just don't forget to ask them payment terms and any other costs (such as marketing contribution etc.) Also ask what testing requirements they have, what penalties they may have for late or short delivery and if they charge you for customer returns. Then ask what notice period they will give you to deliver, how they want the stock to be delivered (specific cartons and pallets and labelling requirements) It may be a great opportunity but only if you make a profit out of it!
Organic soft toys bouyant but other organic sales tough
19 Apr 2010
Two reports out this week make worrying reading for businesses supplying and retailing organic goods
Firstly profits at organic food wholesaler Cole and Able crashed to a 27.5m loss
Secondly the Soil Association announced that sales of organic foods in the last year had declined from £2.1bn to 1.84bn
Worst hit were sales of bread, veg and chilled ready made meals
However baby food sales increased by almost 21% and now exceeds £100m per annum
It makes sense that when times are tough organic food will be one of the first things to be cut but interesting that people still believe in organic enough to keep their baby food organic
As a toy wholesaler we have tried to source organic toys but have not yet found a supplier where the designs and prices are right. In some ways we are happy for sales to decrease as it may make organic producers less complacent. It has felt sometimes as if the fact that a product is organic should be enough but the consumer always has a choice.
The ethical consumer can chose Fair Trade, bamboo, hand made or organic so any ranges we offer to retailers should be able to stand up in their own right not just because they have the label organic
We are still looking for an organic toy manufacturer so please email us on sales@bestyears.co.uk if you have a range you would like us to see
Organic milk bucked the trend, growing by one per cent, while baby food sales also increased by 20.8 per cent, exceeding £100 million
Drop Shipping
06 Apr 2010
Drop Shipping.
We often get asked whether we will drop ship for online retailers but this was not something we were able to do.Now however we have a new partner DCR Retail who have stepped in to help offer this service
Drop shipping, for any who do not know, is where the retailer sells an item and then sends the order through to be fulfilled by the wholesaler.
The benefit to the retailer is that they do not have the risk or the cost of stock, and the benefit to the wholesaler is that their products are more visible to consumers as they are offered for sale by more retailers. However it is a very labour intensive way of selling goods. Products have to be hand picked and dispatched and then invoices raised for amounts typically below £10.
In order to be successful at drop shipping a wholesaler has to have dedicated resource and this is where the Catch 22 clause kicks in. The retailers who want a drop shipping service are usually small, or new, or both and looking for a way to build up a business whilst maximising cash flow. Their orders for their wholesalers are small and irregular
Drop shipping is lower margin than buying the product out right but suits start up businesses. More established retailers with larger turnovers do not normally want to give away the margin associated with drop shipping. But for the wholesaler this can mean dozens of small retailers with small turnovers which does not sit well with a business model based on shifting large quantities.
There are many wholesalers who specialise in drop shipping and who have been set up specifically to drop ship. Unfortunately Best Years are not one of them.
However what we do have now is a partner, DCR Retail, who are geared up to service drop shipping requirements. This means that we are happy to say that we can now offer drop shipping. If you wish to offer drop shipping from your website then please email us, sales@bestyears.co.uk and we will sort everything out for you
How much is your website worth?
26 Mar 2010
We all know that a website is a valuable part of any business but do you know how much your domain name is worth?
This useful, and free, website gives you a valuation of how much your website is worth. It also gives you some other useful information like page rank
So as a soft toy wholesaler Best Years website is worth £12,000.
Is your website worth more or less?!
Naming your new business
22 Mar 2010
When we set Best Years up in 1999 I have to confess that we didn't put much time or energy in to the name of the company. Infact the only thing of any sense that we did do was check that the domain name was available. We were concentrating on how we could be the best soft toy and teddy wholesaler (no knitted or crochet toys in those days!) and didn't think the name of our business was that important.
I was thinking about this the other day because one of our customers is just starting her business and is putting the sort of effort in to it that we should have!
The websites we have seen which seem to be the most help in naming your company are as follows
www.nameboy.com - type in the 2 key words which sum up your business and it comes up with various ideas and whether the domain names are available
www.squadhelp.com - this is like launching an online competition to help you name your business. This is the option I would have gone for if I had my time again
Seth Godin has a good post with tips on naming here http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2003/06/naming_a_busine.html
Finally how about http://wordoid.com/ This gives various suggestions based the words you enter and is great fun but you can end up spending hours on it
As ever we need to point out that we are a soft and knitted toy wholesaler not a marketing agency or anything sophisticated but hope this information is a help
Fair Trade toys
15 Mar 2010
Its been a bit of a mixed year for sales of fair trade goods
On one hand even in the face of the worst recession for 70 years sales of fair trade items have risen by 12% to £800m and to underline its growing acceptance in the market place as a whole Tesco announced in Feb that it wanted to be the "No 1 retailer by sales volume" of fair trade cotton clothing
However although £800m sounds a lot (and for your information its a lot more than we turnover!) this represents a tiny market share when you see that grocery sales alone last year were £150bn
Sales of ethical fashion which are approx £170m are only half that of sales of second hand clothes
Best Years are a soft toy and knitted toy wholesaler so we are not an expert on Fair Trade trends and products but one of the major problems we see is the actually getting the product in to the UK
By their very nature companies making fair trade products (as opposed to growing fair trade crops such as coffee and bananas) are not as efficient as a normal factory. Their people work in their homes, or have hours to suit their circumstances and since they pay proper wages and treat people well they cannot increase or decrease their work force in the same way other factories can to cope with fluctuations in demand
When we place an order with our factory in China we know the delivery date ofthe goods plus or minus a week or so. When we place an order with a Fair Trade organisation we really have no idea when to expect the toys!
It takes a huge amount of work just to receive scheduled orders, but then its definitely worth it
We are dedicated to increasing the amount of Fair trade toys and rattles we stock but its very hard work! It takes us a about a year to get to a point where we can guarantee stock of the fair trade ranges from a new supplier
How Tesco's is going to get enough stock of fair trade school uniforms for all their stores we don't know but then I expect they have a larger buying team than we do!
We are always looking for new fair trade suppliers so please email us on sales@bestyears.co.uk if you have any suggested workers co-operatives or fair trade companies you would like us to work with. Just don't expect the toys to arrive quickly!
Which baby show will you go to
11 Mar 2010
Well heres a surprise!
Up to 2010 there were 2 nursery fairs for trade buyers, Harrogate in the Spring and BPA in the Autumn
Last year the BPA moved their venue from Birmingham to London Excel but after the show there was no mention on what would happen in 2010
Then last week Clarion (the organiser of the consumer Baby shows) announced that they would be holding a bay show for trade buyers 10th - 12th October in London Olympia
Almost immediately the BPA announced that they too would be holding a baby show for trade buyers in October but theres would be in conjunction with the Harrogate show. The spring Harrogate baby fair will no longer go ahead
Which one would you go to?
As a soft toy and baby toy wholesaler we have been approached by both organisers to exhibit at their show but they have been so anxious to be the first to announce their show no one is quoting costs yet.
We do wonder how they are going to fill their shows as it seems unlikely that any wholesaler will do both shows. Both organisations are excellent and we would be happy to work with either of them. That just leaves money and incentives
Can't wait to see what happens next! If you are a baby retailer who has attended any of their shows in previous years we would love to hear your feedback
Two Left Feet bought out of administration
11 Mar 2010
The baby wholesaler Two Left Feet has been bought out of administration by a company called House of Baby
Two Left Feet went in to administration March 09 having suffered very public stock control issues which culminated in an apprearance on a BBC consumer programme.
As a soft toy wholesaler we were sad to see them go as they were a good organisation brought down by the combination of the credit crunch and high profile system problems
House of Baby will operate from the same 12,000 sq ft premises and has declared that it wants to be as well known as Mothercare. Good for them, and best of luck
Wonder which baby show they will visit in October.....!!
Social Media info
03 Mar 2010
We have previously blogged at how impressed we have been by Twitter. We were so impressed that we went on a course to learn how else we could use social media, and how it could be used to most effectively. What we learnt was that social media is a huge topic and covers many different angles so the first thing you need to consider is what you want to achieve before you dive in as it can be very time consuming
We have outlined below a very brief summary of the course but please contact us if you are after any specific information as we now have reams of it!
So, do you want to increase your authority and increase the visibility and traffic to your website?
Google likes blogs as they are content rich so just having your a blog on your website will be good. However if you then post guest blogs on other peoples websites, and comment on other peoples blogs you will push your website out to an audience who might otherwise not know about you. It will also establish you as an authority in your field. But be warned this is may be free but its very labour intensive. Effective websites are www.wordpress.com , www.blogger.com and www.typepad.com
Do you want to network?
If you find traditional networking useful then websites such as Twitter and Facebook have the same purpose with no geographical or time constraints. Although these are the most well known there is also www.unltdworld.com which is for entrepreneurs, www.ecademy.com to share and gain knowledge and www.linkedin.com which is good for those looking for professional help or jobs to name just a few. Like all networking the more you put in the more you get out, and it shouldn’t be viewed as a way of cold calling. However it is a great way to meet and communicate with other people with whom you have a shared common interest
Another form of social media is Audio, mostly in the form of Podcasts on your website. Again Google likes audio content on your website and it is an accessible way to communicate with customers and other interested parties. It does not need to be expensive or sophisticated. Have a look at www.podbean.com or www.digitaltrends.com for more information and a how to guide
Have you thought about video? This is a format which is dominated by You Tube. An amazing 13 hours of video is uploaded on to You Tube every minute and 83% of people have viewed a video on You Tube. It is definitely a form of social marketing which will become more established!
Do you use the internet to research and keep up to date of topics of interest? Bookmarking is a great way to store, tag and share links across the internet. You can also share links with friend and people with similar interests. If you have ever see the logos Delicious, Digg or Stumbleupon at the bottom of an article on the internet these are all bookmarking sites. They all have slightly different ways of working so try them and see which you prefer!
Best Years are a soft knitted toy wholesaler. We are not a marketing or communications agency but like many small businesses we relish change and love finding new ways to talk and listen to our customers. We feel that social media is not only a great new way to market yourself but also a real leveller. No one on Twitter asks or cares how big you are, they are more interested in what you have to say and contribute
One warning. Be very specific about what you are trying to achieve. If you don’t you could spend many a happy hour achieving nothing!
Cath Kidston valued at £75m
23 Feb 2010
Cath Kidston has been valued at £75m which means that the founder's share (she still holds 30% of the company) is worth a wopping £25million
Cath Kidston started her company 17 years ago and can now lay claim to a brand as iconic as Laura Ashley. Sales have continued to grow over the last 18 months and profits soared over the last 2 years from 19m to 31m as stores openings increased. More importantly her profit went from just under £3m to £4.6m at a time when most high street stores were struggling
This is all heartening news for all of us who have started a company and have just struggled through the worst recession for 70 years, but it also says something about the value of a brand.
As a soft and knitted toy wholesaler we do not spend a huge amount of time on our branding, and infact we do not even have a logo.
We very much rely on our reputation for unique products and great service but perhaps all this will need to change. Especially if we want to take home £25m each in 10 years!
Why white lies don't work
22 Feb 2010
I received an email last week which started with the line "I tried calling but got no answer"
Now that doesn't sound so bad but we have an answering service so the phone is always answered. This was evidently a standard email which had been sent to any number of people
Its not that I mind getting a blanket email, but I do mind being lied to
From that first sentence I could not trust what was being said. Given that the email was from a search engine optimisation company that small lie effectively meant I had no inclination to work with them.
As a soft toy and knitted toy wholesaler we have always struggled with the whole issue of SEO and have wasted £000s on companies promising the world. If this company was prepared to start a relationship with a lie how on earth could we trust them with our money?
So I did learn something from them. However easy it may be, and however small the lie may seem to us truth is the best option
Read them and weep! Top income generating websites
22 Feb 2010
Courtesy of www.incomediary.com is a list of the top income generating websites in the world. The frightening number is the final column which is income per second. aaagh!
As a soft toy and knitted wholesaler I somehow think that I will not ever be joining this list but we can but dream....
Whats interesting about this list (to us anyway!) is that in among the digital technology companies, social media and internet search engines there are some old fashioned business models such as Overstock.com and Blue Nile. Maybe there is hope for us all
| 1 | Jeff Bezos | $24,509,000,000 | $776.66 | |
| 2 | Larry Page and Sergey Brin | $23,650,560,000 | $749.46 | |
| 3 | Ralph Roberts | $9,600,000,000 | $304.21 | |
| 4 | Pierre Omidyar | $8,727,360,000 | $276.56 | |
| 5 | Jerry Yang and David Filo | $6,460,000,000 | $204.71 | |
| 6 | Marshal Wace | $3,400,000,000 | $107.74 | |
| 7 | Erik Prince | $3,137,100,000 | $99.41 | |
| 8 | Added Mark Schroeder | $2,937,010,000 | $93.07 | |
| 9 | Max Levchin, Peter Thiel, and Luke Nosek, | $2,900,000,000 | $91.90 | |
| 10 | Jeff Robbin | $1,900,000,000 | $60.21 | |
| 11 | Jesse Fink | $1,866,950,000 | $59.16 | |
| 12 | Reed Hastings | $1,670,000,000 | $52.92 | |
| 13 | Terry Jones | $1,100,000,000 | $34.85 | |
| 14 | David Litman | $1,000,000,000 | $31,69 | |
| 15 | Nick Swinmurn | $1,000,000,000 | $31.69 | |
| 16 | Mark Zuckerberg | $1,000,000,000 | $31.69 | |
| 17 | Mark Getty | $900,000,000 | $28.52 | |
| 18 | Jeff Katz | $870,000,000 | $27.59 | |
| 19 | Robert Brazell | $834,000,000 | $26.45 | |
| 20 | Niklas Zennstrom | $740,000,000 | $23.45 | |
| 21 | Tom Anderson | $520,000,000 | $16.48 | |
| 22 | Zhang Chaoyang | $515,240,000 | $16.33 | |
| 23 | Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim, | $500,000,000 | $15.85 | |
| 24 | Jack Ma | $439,000,000 | $13.91 | |
| 25 | Eric Baker | $400,000,000 | $12.67 | |
| 26 | Mark Vadon | $266,230,000 | $8.44 | |
| 27 | Stephen Kaufer | $260,000,000 | $8.24 | |
| 28 | Reid Hoffman | $150,000,000 | $4.75 | |
| 29 |
Bebo
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Michael Birch | $125,000,000 | $3.96 |
| 30 | Craig Newmark | $125,000,000 | $3.96 |
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6 |
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$107.74 |
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7 |
Erik Prince |
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$99.41 |
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8 |
Added Mark Schroeder |
$2,937,010,000 |
$93.07 |
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9 |
Max Levchin, Peter Thiel, and Luke Nosek, |
$2,900,000,000 |
$91.90 |
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10 |
Jeff Robbin |
$1,900,000,000 |
$60.21 |
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11 |
Jesse Fink |
$1,866,950,000 |
$59.16 |
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12 |
Reed Hastings |
$1,670,000,000 |
$52.92 |
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13 |
Terry Jones |
$1,100,000,000 |
$34.85 |
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14 |
David Litman |
$1,000,000,000 |
$31,69 |
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15 |
Nick Swinmurn |
$1,000,000,000 |
$31.69 |
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16 |
Mark Zuckerberg |
$1,000,000,000 |
$31.69 |
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17 |
Mark Getty |
$900,000,000 |
$28.52 |
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18 |
Jeff Katz |
$870,000,000 |
$27.59 |
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19 |
Robert Brazell |
$834,000,000 |
$26.45 |
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20 |
Niklas Zennstrom |
$740,000,000 |
$23.45 |
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21 |
Tom Anderson |
$520,000,000 |
$16.48 |
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22 |
Zhang Chaoyang |
$515,240,000 |
$16.33 |
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23 |
Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim, |
$500,000,000 |
$15.85 |
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24 |
Jack Ma |
$439,000,000 |
$13.91 |
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25 |
Eric Baker |
$400,000,000 |
$12.67 |
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26 |
Mark Vadon |
$266,230,000 |
$8.44 |
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27 |
Stephen Kaufer |
$260,000,000 |
$8.24 |
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28 |
Reid Hoffman |
$150,000,000 |
$4.75 |
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29 |
Bebo |
Michael Birch |
$125,000,000 |
$3.96 |
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30 |
Craig Newmark |
$125,000,000 |
$3.96 |
1 |
Jeff Bezos | $24,509,000,000 | $776.66 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Larry Page and Sergey Brin | $23,650,560,000 | $749.46 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Ralph Roberts | $9,600,000,000 | $304.21 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Pierre Omidyar | $8,727,360,000 | $276.56 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Jerry Yang and David Filo | $6,460,000,000 | $204.71 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Marshal Wace | $3,400,000,000 | $107.74 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Erik Prince | $3,137,100,000 | $99.41 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Added Mark Schroeder | $2,937,010,000 | $93.07 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Max Levchin, Peter Thiel, and Luke Nosek, | $2,900,000,000 | $91.90 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Jeff Robbin | $1,000 | $60.21 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | Jesse Fink | $1,866,950,000 | $59.16 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Reed Hastings | $1,670,000,000 | $52.92 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 13 | Terry Jones | $1,100,000,000 | $34.85 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 14 | David Litman | $1,000,000,000 | $31,69 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 15 | Nick Swinmurn | $1,000,000,000 | $31.69 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 16 | Mark Zuckerberg | $1,000,000,000 | $31.69 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 17 | Mark Getty | $900,000,000 | $28.52 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 18 | Jeff Katz | $870,000,000 | $27.59 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 19 | $834,000,000 | $26.45 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 20 | Niklas Zennstrom | $740,000,000 | $23.45 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 21 | Tom Anderson | ,000 | $16.48 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 22 | yang | $515,240,000 | $16.33 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 23 | Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim, | $500,000,000 | $15.85 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 24 | Jack Ma | $439,000,000 | $13.91 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 25 | Eric Baker | $400,000,000 | $12.67 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 26 | Mark Vadon | $266,230,000 | $8.44 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 27 | Stephen Kaufer | $260,000,000 | $8.24 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 28 | Reid Hoffman | $150,000,000 | $4.75 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 29 |
Bebo
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Michael Birch | $125,000,000 | $3.96 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 30 | Craig Newmark | 00,000 | $3.96 |
What are you giving up for Lent?
17 Feb 2010
What you are giving up for Lent ranks along side New Year Resolutions for the glumest question of the year
We all start off with a firm will vowing not to touch chocolate/wine/chips but within a month most of these resolutions have been abandoned in the face of the reality of life
Business resolutions are similar. We start off thinking that we will cold call every week, or get our PR up to scratch but very soon the daily routine takes over and we end up at the end of the year doing pretty much the same as we started
Well this year we are giving up something easy. We are giving up paying for Google ads! Its funny how Google ads go from being the smartest new way of advertising to an addiction so very quickly
As a soft toy and knitted wholesaler we value our website for the visibility it brings our ranges. We receive many enquiries via the website and value them all.
We started to believe that without Google ads our website would vanish beneath the waves and we would never be seen again. The problem is that although Google ads are very focused once you have spent the money it has gone. Its not an investment in to the long term future of our website, just a short term prop.
The art or science of Search Engine Optimisation is still complete goobledigook to us so its much easier to lean on the crutch that is Google ads
So no more Google ads for Best Years. We will have to learn about SEO and keywords and links but at least we will have the money which used be poured in to Googles purse to invest in them.
Best Years are a knitted and fair trade soft toy wholesaler and not an SEO expert so if you have any top tips please do let us know!
Do you play music in your shop?
16 Feb 2010
If you play music or the radio in your shop you will know that you have a pay a license fee via the PPL (Phonographic Performance Ltd)
You will also know that this fee has increased significantly over the last couple of years. In 2005 the PPL dramatically increased this fee so much so that the BRC reckons that one clothing retailer saw its bill increase from £176,000 to £408,000 in one year!
The BRC have finally won their battle to see this increase ruled excessive. The original ruling was in October 2009 but PPL appealed so it is only now that the new fairer rates will apply, but they apply with immediate effect. Retailers will also be due a refund for the excessive fees they have been paying since 2005
As a soft toy and knitted wholesaler I have mixed feelings about the BRC as some of their statements seem to be somewhat biased towards the largest retailers but today I think they have earnt a big Hurrah! Well done them
The power of Twitter
12 Feb 2010
About a year ago Best Years ventured on to the social media forum Twitter
Basically Twitter is just another way to communicate with people but its only allows you to post comments of 140 characters.
You chose to follow people or businesses who you think are interesting and invite people to follow you if you think that they might be interested in what you are up to. In this way you effectively create your own community of people and businesses linked by common interests, in our case retail and fair trade and obviously wholesale toys
As soft toy and knitted toy wholesalers we tried Twitter only due to the sheer amount of publicity surrounding its use as a marketing tool. However we have been hugely impressed by it.
We have picked up a couple of customers but much more importantly we have found new suppliers and received some excellent advice on tax and SEO. We have also gained the valuable ability to evesdrop on the conversations of retailers which has been illuminating and very useful
Although we loved Twitter we did not realise the full extent of its power until the row between a small designer called Hidden Eloise and the stationery retailer Paperchase
Hidden Eloise believed that Paperchase were using one of her designs without permission. She contacted the retailer and was told that she was wrong and that was that as far as they were concerned. Hidden Eloise looked in to taking a legal case against Paperchase but realised that it would be too expensive. This all happened last November and nothing else would have been heard about it except that the issue swirled around Twitter until it was mentioned by an author called Neil Gainsford who has a very large following
Then it all exploded. The row has been reported in The Telegraph and The Guardian and a boycott of Paperchase stores been proposed. The Head Office has been inundated by irate calls and emails
I do not know the rights and wrongs of the case (although I can see that there is a marked simularity between the designs) but what is interesting is that because Twitter links people with shared interest, and they can re-tweet (pass on) to their followers the story was able to gather momentum until it became national news. Viral marketing in its truest form
Watch out big guys - we now have the power of Twitter behind us!
You can find us on www.twitter.com/knittedtoys
If you join twitter please do follow us and we can then follow you back
Wholesalers don't charge for membership
08 Feb 2010
As a soft toy wholesaler we obviously receive dozens of enquiries from shops, websites and ebay retailers. Recently we have been asked by ebay sellers what our membership fee is
We will never charge for membership and we know of no reputable wholesalers who would do so. This is obviously a scam to take money from ebay sellers and other businesses who are just starting up
We wholesale knitted and fair trade toys and make our money this way. We welcome enquiries from businesses of all sizes and are happy to work with ebay sellers as long as they work professionally.
If a wholesaler asks for a membership fee we would highly recommend walking away and not working with them.
There are dozens of wholesalers in the baby and toy market who would value your business whatever the size of your requirements and we are definitely one of them!
How many ways can you find to sell?
28 Jan 2010
We had one key New Years Resolution this year. Having spent 2009 working on finding new fair trade manufacturers and developing new ranges 2010 was going to be out finding new outlets. Given that we won’t deal with multiple retailers or supermarkets or Clintons Cards and Amazon we had already narrowed our options so it wasn't going to be an easy job! While researching new avenues for Best Years we came across quite a few ones we didn’t know about for retailers. We don’t sell to customers so we have detailed them below instead. As for us, we are looking seriously at exporting. We have had our first meetings with various government departments and its both very exciting and very very complicated! If you sell via ebay or Amazon have you seen www.ebid.net, www.wigix.com and www.cqout.com ? They are all auction sites with slightly different ways of operating Or what about www.shoppingbank.co.uk which bills itself as bringing together two hugely successful and dynamic internet concepts; online shopping and social networking, to introduce Social shopping. Its quite expensive but it offers consumers a cash back when ever they shop so its popularity is growing If you make products yourself or even make up baskets and hampers or any other items how about www.etsy.com or its UK equivalents the award winning www.misi.co.uk which was launched in Oct 2008 and www.coriandr.com They are targeted specifically at craft and hand made items which are not serviced effectively by ebay and amazon Finally if marketing your self is the issue then how about Not on the High Street or www.swankymansion.co.uk who market themselves vigorously to drive customers to their sites. You pay commission and there are some strict terms and conditions but they are very successful If you are not in to internet then www.stallfinder.com will be able to find you a craft fair near you to exhibit at Best Years wholesale knitted,crochet and fair trade toys so we do not sell directly to the consumer but we would welcome any feedback if you find any of these avenues particulalry useful
Jo Jo Maman Bebe
10 Dec 2009
We have worked with Jo Jo Maman Bebe for many years now and have always found them to be fair and easy to deal with. So we are particularly pleased to see that they are looking to open 4 more stores in 2010
As a soft toy wholesaler whose success is based on product design and innovation its always good to see retailers do well when they are passionate about what they do, and who do not retail on a pure price platform. JoJo have never been "pile it high and sell it cheap" retailer and to see that they have not been unduely affected by the recession is great news
Their first new stores are in Kingston and Cardiff and we wish them the best of luck with them
Jamie's Party Plan
10 Dec 2009
Jamie at Home, Jamie Olivers new party plan company was launched in March 2009. By the end of the year it had taken on 2,200 consultants who had held 24,500 parties across the UK.
In terms of the parties an average of eight people attend each party and they have generated sales above £6 million
I don't think that Avon are quaking in their boots yet but I am also sure that by the end of 2010 Jamie at Home will be celebrated as one of the fastest growing retail outlets of the year. Its just a great combination of product, brand and selling method
Best Years are a soft and knitted toy wholesaler so we don't sell directly to the public but we love the sound of party plan fair trade cotton toys. Anyone out there fancy organising it for us?!!
Will Amazon open actual shops?
06 Dec 2009
It is rumoured that Amazon is planning to open some actual bricks and mortar stores.
The rationale behind this is that now Amazon has extended its ranges in to almost every category they are looking in to the "click and collect" concept
The Times reports that 18% of Argos' website orders are collected from stores rather than delivered and it predicts that up to 50% of television sales will be click and collect in the run up to Xmas
Now that Amazon has moved well beyond its original CD/book concept it faces customer dissatisfaction with people waiting in or missing larger deliveries. Physical stores would allow customers the choice to pick up items which would allow them compete more effectively with their rivals
The only other internet based retailer we can think of who has moved on to the high st is Lastminute.com who have kiosk sized stores at key locations such as train stations and airports
Perhaps as the recession continues to cull high street retailers their spaces might be taken up by internet shops. That would be a bit of a turn up!
Give us a break!
06 Dec 2009
So BDO Stoy Haywood are predicting that another 5000 retailers will go bust in 2010.
They reckon that 2010 will be even tougher than 2009 and that the combination of low wage inflation and reduction of available credit will make life generally very miserable
Well yah, boo, sucks to you, thats what we say
We may be just a soft toy wholesaler and not an internationally recognised accountancy/consultancy firm but we have had a very good Xmas so far and we are anticipating that 2010 is going to be an exciting year
I am sure that 2010 isn't going to be all plain sailing but it doesn't have to be dismal either!
Sales up in Selfridges' toy department
03 Dec 2009
In this recession dampened world we are pleased to see that Selfridges department store has had a very good year. Sales have been driven by design and style rather than the discounting which their rivals have had to resort to
Paul Kelly, who is their Chief Executive, credits their success on the fact that they had a strong balance sheet before the recession hit which meant that they have been able to concentrate on shop keeping and not keeping their creditors and bankers happy.
Most small businesses have gone through periods of cash flow problems so this comment made quite an impact in our office. When you are concentrating on how to pay Peter and Paul it is difficult to come up with creative ideas for products and promotions. This must be doubly so in larger companies when you have to include major shareholders and city bankers in any financial decision
I wonder how much energy and management time of our larger companies this year has been spent on managing their bankers rather than managing their customers?
At a time when your rivals are consumed by internal issues the luxury of concentrating on retailing must be a huge advantage
As a soft toy wholesaler we were particulaly interested to see that toy sales are up 27%. Selfridges do not list our toys (although we seriously think they should!) but perhaps we may capture their interest in 2010. Fingers crossed!
How to pick the perfect toy
27 Nov 2009
The following article has been taken from The Telegraph, www.telegraph.co.uk
Would you like to try and explain all this at the till point when asked to make a recommendation?
Dr Cliff Arnall, who has previously come up with calculations for the happiest and most depressing day of the year, reckons that mathematics can be used to work out the "play value" of potential purchases.
But parents hoping for a simple formula to help them make wise decisions in the toyshop had better not be in a hurry and might have to bring a calculator with them.
The result is also likely be different for different children, he admits.
Parents first have to assess the toy against six criteria: its usefulness when playing alone (Pi); playing with others (Po); whether it fosters creativity (Cr); its value promoting social interaction (S); its general utility (U) and finally whether it can be handed down to siblings (H).
Parents must give the toy a score out of five for each and add them up.
In a separate sum, then they must estimate the amount of time in hours a child will play with the toy regularly (T) and multiply it by how many months it is likely to remain of interest (L).
As a soft toy wholesaler I am going to find some time and judge my teddies and soft toys on this scale. Any suggestions on what their score will be?
The two figures must then be divided by the square root of the cost (C) and added to the total score from the criteria section.
Simple? For those who did not quite follow, it works out as: T x L + Pi + Po + Cr + S + U + H / square root of C
"A toy may score higher for one child than another but that's an important part of the exercise," said Dr Arnall
Short List for Toy Retailer of the Year
27 Nov 2009
The shortlist for the BTHA Toy retailer of the Year has been announced
The shortlist is:
Small Independent Toy Retailer of the Year
• Imagination
• Moons Toymaster
• Mulveys Toymaster
• William and Griffin Ltd
Large Independent Toy Retailer of the Year:
• Conways Toymaster
• Kids Stuff (Ucklfield)
• Midlands Co-operative Society
• Stewart Miller
National Multiple Toy Retailer of the Year:
• Bentalls Kingston
• The Disney Store
• Early Learning Centre
• The Entertainer
Online Toy Retailer of the Year:
• Amazon
• Argos
• The Entertainer
• Littlewoods Shop Direct
• Treasure Island Toys
Toy Catalogue of the Year:
• Early Learning Centre
• The Entertainer
• Littlewoods Shop Direct
• Toymaster Group
Toy Retailer (Grocer) of the Year:
• ASDA (Head Office)
• Tesco (Head Office)
• Waitrose (Bracknell)
Could it be you next year....?
Borders
25 Nov 2009
Did you know that its exactly a year since Woolworths went in to receivership?
Over the last year we have seen MFI, Allied Carpets, The Pier, Adams childrenswear, Empire Direct electrical, Blooming Marvellous, Elvi, Mosaic, Hurrans Garden Centres, Apollo 2000 and Coffee Republic among others all go in to administration. Only a couple of weeks ago Threshers became the latest retailer to give up the struggle
Today, on the anniversary of Woolworth's demise Borders bookshops have gone in to administration. The two chains couldn't be more different. Woolworths had a diverse range of goods from toys to household cleaners to CDs all of which it sold on the strength of price. Borders was an expert. Its staff knew their stuff and the service was exceptional. Supposedly the combination of Amazon, supermarkets and the current economic conditions were too much even for their expertise
Lets hope that this is the last big casualty of this recession. Its sad when customer service, expert knowledge and in depth ranges are not enough to keep you profitable. Or are we just being romantic?
Toy imports down significantly
22 Nov 2009
Figures from HM Revenue and Customs show that toy imports have almost halved in the first 9 months of this year from £11.2bn to £5bn
If you take out the Woolworths effect (in total their sales were just under £700m) thats still a big dip. Already there are predictions of shortages (although when was there a Xmas when the must have toy wasn't in short supply?!)
As a soft toy wholesaler we have dramatically reduced the amount of toys we import from China and it is largely due to the exchange rate. For us when the £ slippped from $2 to $1.4 it cost us a lot more money to buy in toys and other toys were just not viable to buy anymore. Multiple retailers buy their Xmas stock Feb/March which was a time of maximum uncertainty and lowest exchange rate so it is feasible they decided just not to buy so much stock especially if they knew they would need to increase retail prices
We were faced with the decision of either "cost engineering" our goods to take cost out or find a way to add value. We took the latter option and have partnered with some fair trade co-operatives to produce fair trade knitted and cotton crochet toys and rag dolls.
It would be nice to think that other companies were forced to make the same sort of decisions so that when everything normalises again we do not go back to importing all of our toys based on price and no other considerations
We are looking forward to launching our new range of Fair Trade soft toys and rattles in January so come along and see us at Top Drawer in January!
Well done to Ikea
05 Nov 2009
When I found an article about Ikea's soft toys in The Telegraph I did not expect to like what I read. As a soft toy and teddy wholesaler we have always been a bit suspicious of the amazingly low prices of Ikea toys and I expected to read about poor working conditions and child labour.
However I was completely wrong. Ikea are currently running a promotion to give 1Euro to Unicef for every soft toy bought in the run up to Xmas which is great on its own but culturely they seem to be in a league of their own when it comes to how they address issues in their factories
If they find that any of their suppliers have used child labour, or that the labour force is not been treated as they should then instead of discontinuing the factory and potentially making the lives of the workforce even worse they address the issues which has caused the situation. Effectively they treat the problem not the sympton
So a big hand to Ikea and especially to a lady called Marianne Barner who appears to be the driving force behind Ikea's policy and attitude. I still can't imagine how they manage to make them so cheaply but I suppose thats what happens if you sell over 5million toys a year!
While we are handing out accolades how about one to Asda who refuse to open on Boxing Day. Both Sainsburys and Tescos are opening stores -it is entirely voluntary for staff to work and they are paid more to do so, but I prefer Asda's attitude towards Boxing Day working. They think it should be a day of rest and I agree with them!
Don't you love it when the big boys bicker!
30 Oct 2009
Following on from our previous comments on the Woolworths (online Shop Direct) and Alworths (set up by former Woolworths director who spectacularly fell out with his business partners on the way to opening Alworths) the story has a new twist
Shop Direct has supposedly sent a letter threatening Alworths with legal action as they believe that the shop name is too close to Woolworths. shop Direct have the right to open Woolworths shops on the high street if they wish. Alworths will open their first shop in Didcot in the next couple of weeks and plan to open 4 more before Xmas
Whats funny is that Wellworths in Dorset, which was set up by the previous Woolworths manager, is trading very successfully to the point where she is considering opening another store. Neither Shop Direct or Alworths have any issues with her and she is therefore not included in any of the bickering
We love it! Its like retails own answer to Coronation Street.
Disney refunds USA parents over Einstein claims
29 Oct 2009
Did you know that Disney has agreed to refund parents who bought the Einstein DVDs?
The DVDs are so popular in the USA that it is estimated that a third of american babies between 6 months and 2 years have an Einstein DVD. Their popularity is because it was claimed that they can increase your child's intelligence simply by watching TV.
This is based on research from children rescued from Romanian orphanages which showed that neglected children who were re-homed before they were 2 made amazing recoveries. Those who were fostered after 2 struggled to develop rheir IQs and cognitive ability normally
It was then theorised that if neglect in the first 2 years caused brain damage then stimulation would lead to additional intelligence. A whole industry grew up around this theory a core part of which was the Einstein DVDs.
This theory is now being challenged and the American pressure group Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, threatened Disney with a class-action lawsuit for “unfair and deceptive practices” over Baby Einstein, unless refunds were offered.
Now as a soft toy and teddy wholesaler we may be biased but we are quite happy to make a claim based on no research except our own experiences that playing with a soft toy is much better for a young child than watching TV. We have seen children laugh more and interact more with toys than they ever do with a TV
So lets make sure babies get given knitted toys this Xmas rather than DVDs. It might not make them super intelligent but it will no doubt make them laugh!
It will make us quite happy too!
Recession 2009. How has it been for you?
27 Oct 2009
As we move in to Xmas 2009 we can look back on a year which has undoubtedly been a tough one
A survey of 700 towns from the Local Data Company found that florists, independent book sellers and fashion retailers had been hardest hit by the recession. In the first 9 months of this year 233 florists closed which equates to 11% of the total number of florists, and 731 bookshops, or 13% of the total number.
Independent fashion retailers also suffered as sterling slumped and imports became more expensive.
The sector which seems to have done the best is food shops but it is still estimated that 12% of retail space is currently empty
As a soft toy wholesaler we have definitely found the biggest challenge to be the cost of importing goods. Sales have been great, especially if you consider the economic climate, but the cost of our teddies and knitted toys has increased far more than we have been able to pass on to our retailers.
However we are still here and still cheerful, and if you are reading this then you are still here so well done you and we hope you have a very successful Xmas!
Cosy Shopper. From Dragons Den to Best Years to You!
21 Oct 2009
Did you see the Cosy Shopper on Dragon's Den?
It is the brain child of Lisa Penn who came up with the idea after her own children were born. Not wanting to place her babies in the cold and often dirty baby seats on super market trollies she designed some funky seat covers and co-ordinating blankets
The cosy shopper is a brilliant idea because it is 3 protective covers in 1. It fits on baby bucket seats on supermarket shopping trolleys and infant carrier car seats to protect the seat from getting dirty and grubby, and its also a good size blanket
Her idea has moved on and now it is soon to be listed in Mothercare stores
Priced at £15 each and with a rrp of £25 the cosy shopper is available in 3 designs
So for the chance to get in before Mothercare and offer an unusual and paractical gift to parents this Xmas try the Cosy Shopper
For more information and images please email gaynor@bestyears.co.uk
Has Ebay gained respectability or lost its way?
20 Oct 2009
There was a time, not so very long ago, that Ebay was seen as the territory of amateur or slightly dubious businesses
Many wholesalers would not allow their goods to be supplied to Ebay sellers ostensibly to protect their brand but mostly due to a snobbish attitude to Ebay
As a soft toy and teddy wholesaler we have accepted Ebay sellers for many years. Many people started their businesses on Ebay before progressing on to add websites and/or retail outlets and we have some great ebay sellers.
Our only provision is that retail prices were set at an acceptable level. We had previously found that some new sellers mistook the gross profit for income without taking in to account Paypal and Ebay fees and they then set retails at a very low level
Today Debenhams has become the first department store to have an offical online presence on both Amazon and Ebay. Their Ebay store is professional and clearly branded. It is being used as a clearance store but definitely not in a "pile it high, sell it cheap" way
Many stores have outlets on designer outlet villages to sell discontinued or over stocked items but I would guess that Ebay has significantly more traffic than even the busiest outlet village
So does this mean that Ebay is now respectible? Or does it mean that it has sold out to the big high street stores to the detriment of its loyal shops. We have watched as the calibre of Ebay sellers has increased significantly and we will be interested to see now whether the introduction of Debenhams (and presumably many more high street stores) will be benefical to them or not
Will it increase the footfall to the website as it becomes more main stream or will it squeeze out the very shops who made it successful in the first place?
What do you think?
Asda Launches Trust Campaign
01 Oct 2009
Andy Bond CEO of Asda has today launched his new campaign to increase customer loyalty and trust
Among many other new initiatives he intends to have webcams in farms that supply Asda so that consumers can be reassured as to the farming methods used and increase the general transparency through out Asda
“Events over the past year mean that faith in big businesses is lower than it’s ever been – because people have stopped trusting what’s going on behind closed doors. So, from today, there is no ‘behind the scenes’ at Asda he said
We completely agree with him that the current recession is routed in a lack of trust. When you can't trust the Banks or Politicians then its very difficult to feel secure in your future. We also agree with him that transparency and trust is a better way of building loyalty than cards and vouchers
Best Years do not supply Asda. We have designed and manufactured soft toys, knitted toys and teddy bears for almost 10 years and over that time have found that when it comes to trust and transparency its better to deal with people who are equals. When you are as dominant as Asda it is too easy to impose your trading terms and working practices without thinking of the implications to your suppliers
I can't claim to have Asda and Tescos queuing up to ask her us to supply them (how funny would that be) but even if they were we would still adhere to our "Just Say No" policy
So we give Andy Bond a big hand for his iniative. Anything which increases the trust between consumers and businesses must be a good thing. However we will wait for the results and for feedback from his non food suppliers before we jump on to his band wagon
Woolworths to re-open already surrounded by arguments
01 Oct 2009
Woolworths is to be re-opened under the name of Alworths on 5th Nov 2009 which is the 100th anniversary of the first store opening
The first 3 stores have been named as Didcot, Wokingham and Haversham
However the re-opening is already surrounded by potential litigation
The original idea was put together by Tony Page, former Commercial Director of Woolworths, Gareth Thomas a former UBS banker and Andy Latham, former head of stores and concessions of Woolworths
Somehow the stores are now being opened by Andy Latham on his own. Tony Page does not appear to be amused!
If that wasn't enough Shop Direct have also joined in to make clear that they own the Woolworths brand and the new Alworth better not encroach on their brand
I love it! Who needs Eastenders!
I would just like to point out that among all this big business plotting and planning there is a certain Mrs Robertson in Dorchester who opened her old Woolworths store as Wellworths back in March and is doing so well she may open another store.
Xmas Fairs
28 Sep 2009
Are you thinking about ways to increase your business this Xmas? Then how about selling at a Xmas or Craft fair?
If its not something you've considered before and you don't know where to start Stallfinder have an extensive list of events and you can search for events in your local area, www.stallfinder.com
As a soft toy wholesaler we exhibit at trade fairs to meet our current and new customers, show off our new ranges and get feedback on potential ranges. And we quite enjoy them! Its an integral part of our marketing although we do swop whhich shows we do each year
And its not only when we are at the show that we benefit. We also gain visibility from being on the exhibitor's website and advertising materials. We very rarely pay to advertise at events as the free publicity is usually sufficient however sometimes it can be worth it
This Xmas looks like its going to be tough. Tescos and other large high street retailers are predicting that consumer spending will be flat so it could be the year to try something different.
Tesco extends its payment terms
28 Sep 2009
We see that Tescos has extended its payment terms from 60 to 90 days for its FOB suppliers
What made us laugh was that a Tesco spokesman said “Tesco International Sourcing has contacted non-food suppliers to standardise payment terms to 90 days from receipt of invoice. We have an excellent record of paying on time and suppliers tell us that certainty of payment is what is important to them."
Do you think he thought that statement even the slightest bit ironic?
As a softy toy wholesaler we do not deal with the supermarkets exactly for this sort of reason. I wonder if there may be some more suppliers taking the same decision next year!
Does Anyone Still Want To Be The Best?
05 Aug 2009
There have been a lot of retailers lately announcing they are moving in to the toy market, not because they like toys but because it fits their strategy. Shop Direct has bought the Woolworths name with its massive brand recognition, Waitrose is leveraging the ranges of its sister company John Lewis and Play.com wants to extend its ranges
What ever happened to wanting to be the best? Can you imagine what Selfridges would look like if the ranges had been selected solely to improve their margin? Or would Hamleys be the iconic shop it now is if they started out without any passion
Selling on line is a cheaper and easier way to move in to product area because you don't need to stock stores and you can keep running costs to a bare minimum.However it also pushes you in to stocking recognised brands as they are the most searched for items and they are self explanantory when listed on line.
What you don't do is pick unknown and unusual products which you believe in. Why bother dealing with a small supplier when you can deal with a couple of large ones with wide ranges and lots of licensed products? Why take a risk on an unknown toy when thousands of people search the internet for Bob the Builder everyday
Its not that we mind large companies selling licensed products. There is a large market for licensed toys and multiple retailers can service it very effectively. Now that Woolworths has gone there is a large gap in the market and it makes sense for retailers such as Shop Direct and Play.com to want to fill it.
However it would be nice to see a retailer moving in to toys because they thought they could do it better anyone else. How refreshing it would be to have a retailer announce that they loved the toy market and thought that they could bring a fresh perspective and masses of enthusiasm to it.
Best Years are a soft toy wholesaler specialising in knitted and ethical toy ranges. We deal with the independent sector who love what they do and have a passion for their ranges. This sometimes makes them very fussy but we like that!
Is it getting a bit crowded?
03 Aug 2009
In the last month we have had announcements from Shop Direct (Woolworths Online), Play.com and Waitrose that they will be ramping up or introducing new toy ranges in time for Autumn and Xmas
Is the toy market getting a little crowded? Already there are rumours that Woolworths Online may not be as successful as it needs to be as David Inglis, Store Direct's trading director, left suddenly.
As a soft toy wholesaler all these developments pass us by. These retailers are all fighting over licensed products which are best suited for a high volume, online retailer. The trouble is that by their very nature these products are the same which ever retailer you buy them from so the only way to compete is on price
This is not a market we are interested in! We try to compete by offering soft and knitted toys which are different and ethical. They are good value for money but more importantly they give retailers a point of difference
We will watch as the big guys scrap it out over the licensed market and keep to our own nice slice of the market
Watch Out for Kevin!
29 Jul 2009
Heres another one for other wholesalers and manufacturers
We have had a cheque bounced on us by a Mr Kevin Murray and given the circumstances we are guessing that he knew he did not have the money to pay for the goods when he issued the cheque
Given the success we had with warning people about Simon Osbourne we thought that we would give you every chance to avoid doing business with our Kevin
Details are as follows
email address kevin.murray78@yahoo.co.uk
delivery address -
Unit 12
142 Hamilton rd
Cambuslang
Glasgow
G72 7PD
We also have the address
197 Hamilton Road
Halfway
Cambuslang
G72 7PJ
We are taking legal advice at the moment as to whether to take him to the small claims court or start criminal proceedings and we will let you know how we get on
A quick update on how we are getting on withthe infamous Simon Osbourne. We finally managed to get the receivers in and he has also been arrested for fraud. This took us 10 months and involved our MP and the police complaints authority. In the time he was still operating he was able to defraud at least another 2 companies of significant sums of money. It shouldn't be this difficult to stop thieves
Our campaign continues!
Organic vs Fair Trade soft toys
29 Jul 2009
A report by the Food Standards Authority out today, 29th July, has stated that there are no health benefits to eating organic food
As a soft toy wholesaler we are not best placed to comment on the health benefits of organic food. However over the last 2 years we have been actively trying to move to ethical ranges. We have always been extremely careful with who we bought from but there was a natural progression and at first we investigated organic cloth
However the issue with organic is that although the cloth itself may be made with organic cotton its progress from there could be identical to any other mass produced toy. Being made with organic cloth was not a guarantee in itself that the toy was made ethically
The other issue was that to be certified organic takes time and money. The rag dolls we are buying are made from organic cloth but we cannot make this claim offical because the farmers are too poor to go through the certification process. Many of them are also too poor to afford the chemicals which is why their crops are organic!
All these issue lead us down the path towards Fair Trade toys rather than organic. Some of our more organised workers co-operatives also have organic cloth but others do not.
On balance we are happier to work with suppliers who are actively concerned with their communities and the impact of their manufacturing rather than just buying organic cloth. By their very nature they tend to be concerned with their environment and we have been humbled by what they have achieved.
As a matter of interest we now only source from one factory in China although we have a second factory we would be happy to work with.
soft toys sell well even in a recession
Mattel and Mothercare report strong results
17 Jul 2009
It appears that the toy and baby markets are a good place to be during a recession
Mothercare has just reported sales up by almost 10%.
UK sales were up 5%, International sales were up 32% (almost 30 stores were opened during this period) and Home Delivery 17%
Sales in the UK were helped by the Early Learning Centre inserts in Mothercare stores
Mattel's sales were not as positive with sales down 19% but profits jumped by 82%.
The sales decline was put down to cautious retailers who are keeping their inventory tight (Mattel itself has cut its inventory by 13%), and a lack of movie tie-in ranges
There is some less positive news with Toy City the Irish retail chain going in to administration, and Nikko, the RC specialist also going down but all in all the toy sector is proving more resilient than many would have given it credit for
Best Years are a soft toy wholesaler and not in the same league as Mattel and Mothercare but we are pleased to tell you that our sales are up too and we are looking forward to the Xmas season
should knitted toys be sold on ebay
09 Jul 2009
ebay has today asked its 14m UK members to petition the European Union to stop manufacturers and wholesalers restricting sales of their products on ebay
They claim that in a recent ebay survey of 450 small British online retailers 49% have said that suppliers would not allow them to sell their goods, or tried to impose retail prices on them
We have mixed opinions about ebay. As a toy wholesaler we would be daft to ignore one of the fastest growing sectors of the retail market, but we also have to protect our other customers
All retailers have charges to pay before they can start making any money. If you have a high street store you have to pay rent, rates, electricity and staff before you can even start to make a profit. If you have an internet shop you have to pay for websites, credit card facilities and advertising to get your shop noticed. In order to have repeat customers they bith must offer a wide and ever changing range of products
If you sell on ebay you have to pay Pay Pal and ebay charges, but there are 2 major differences and they are both centered around the fact that a certain % of people selling on ebay are doing it as a hobby or side line and not the main source of income
- You do not have to have a wide range of products you can just pick the ones with the highest margin! If a clothes retailers sold just belts and t shirts they wouldn't get many customers. They have to sell the full range of clothing some of which are higher margin than others and cannot cherry pick
- You do not have to care about the margin you make as long as it covers the ebay and paypal charges. If its a hobby then it doesn't matter if you just make 50p on a £20 sale whereas it certainly does matter if its your main business!
Mark Lewis, MD of ebay says that he is trying to "break the grip" large manufacturers have over internet sales.
We are not a large manufacturer, we are a soft toy manufacturer and wholesaler trying to give our retail customers a good product at a fair price. If this means that we have to stop selling our ranges to online retailers who are selling our products at an unrealistic margin then we will do it
why we don't sell our knitted toys to Amazon
07 Jul 2009
In response to concerns raised by our independent customers we have decided to stop selling our range of toys directly in to Amazon
Our decision was helped along by the following blanket email from Amazon
2009 Purchasing Terms
Additional Marketing Allowance - 3.5% based on net receipts for the full trading year
Volume Rebate - minimum 3.5% retro for achieving a 2009 turnover at least equal to 2008 turnover (based on net receipts for the full trading year)
Returns agreement - full right of return on all products including damaged, defective and recalled goods or 2.5% based on net receipts for the full trading year
Payment terms - payment terms are 60 days EOM, or 2.5% early payment discount on 30 days EOM
To be honest we did not try to negotiate and I am sure that the buying team would have been reasonable but why bother?
Amazon's pricing is probably one of the biggest issues our retailers have to deal with and as a toy wholesaler specialising in supplying the independent stores we were happy to walk away
But now you know how they achieve their retails (but don't tell Amazon we told you!)
Cheap soft toys and why are knitted toys are not discounted
02 Jul 2009
I was listening to an interesting discussion about discounting last week (don't laugh, just pity Liz who has to work with me!)
The consensus semed to be that there were 2 very distinct reasons why businesses cut prices
- Managing supply and demand. For instance hotels will offer better prices on rooms out of season when they have excess capacity
- Offering products to Bargain Hunters. It is estimated that even when we are not in a recession 20% of consumers are motivated to buy purely by price promotions
In retail we are more geared up to offering promotions as unless we sell food our products have a very long shelf life
However if you continually promote then consumers will come to expect a discount and will not buy without one (think furniture retailers) If you get in to this situation then you have undermined the actual value of your product - just how much should a sofa cost?!
In toys Woolworths also did this and took a considerable market share on the basis of cheap toys. But as we have seen volume is vanity and profit is king. Anyway one can sell cheap products but more retailers have collapsed at the value end of the market than premium
The opposite of this is Whisky and Perfume manufacturers who will not discount the price of the product however tight sales are as they believe that their products are aspirational and therefore cutting prices is counter intuiative
Best Years, as a soft toy wholesaler, offer price promotions for 2 distinct reasons.
We have a Sale once or twice a year to clear the remnants of stock where we have decided not to re-buy the line. Stocks are usually very limited so the trade price can be cut substantially. We also offer promotions at trade fairs as we do like to see our customers at trade fairs. this is not just for the pleasure of your company but also because seeing all our ranges in the flesh makes you more likely to buy a wider range than when buying from the website
Customers Stick to their Guns on Fair Trade toys
18 Jun 2009
Sainsbury's announced their results today and in amongst the positive data there was one statistic which we found very interesting
While sales of their basic food ranges were up 50% sales of their RSPCA Freedom Food have also quadrupled
It appears that despite the much heralded trading down consumers are still sticking to their principals
We noticed this at the Pulse exhibition when our fair trade and hand made soft toys and rag dolls were more popular than our value range of teddies and baby toys
As a soft toy wholsaler we try to offer a diverse range of soft toys and teddies but we are putting a lot of effort in to increasing our hand made and ethically sourced ranges
Consumers are undoubtedly being more cautious but this does not mean that they are prepared to give up on their principals so if you haven't tried our Fair Trade range look out for new products at competitive prices this autumn. They will cost you more than our value range but they may gain you new customers which we are sure will be as valuable to you as it is to us
Best Years welcome customer complaints
17 Jun 2009
We loved the Sainsbury's documentary this week where the wonderful Niall created a customer surgery in store so that customers have some where very obvious to take their complaints to
Best Years are a small soft toy wholesaler, not a massive retail chain but we love customer complaints. Its in the nature of retailing that you do not have time to compliment suppliers when things work so complaints are the only feedback we routinely get
Recently we decided to improve the popular and successful knitted T Rex. It soon became obvious that some of our customers did not like the new improved version and just wanted the original one back. What we hope is that the way we handled the complaints gave our customers the confidence to continue to work with us.
No one in business is naive enough to believe that everything always run smoothly, but here at Best Years we pride ourselves on taking all feedback seriously and resolving issues as quickly as possible
However if you ever have enough time to let us know when we are doing things right then that would also be fab!
Want to say something. Please email gaynor@bestyears.co.uk
Pocket Money
16 Jun 2009
Pocket money is an area which is not suffering in the recession!
Children in the UK receive a staggering £1.5bn a year as pocket money a year with over 30% of children getting pocket money from both parents and grandparents
In children aged 7-11 the most popular thing to spend pocket money on is food and snacks which accounts for over 50% but its share is shrinking as concerns over childhood obsetity and the subsequent curtailing of snack advertising
The next biggest sector is toys with 31% of pocket money being spent on toys and games. Not surprisingly kids like to spend their money immediately they receive it, and although some money is saved the majority is spent within the week
The average amount of pocket money given to children by their parents varies from £8.47 a week in London down to £4.46 in the East Midlands
Birthdays go Bust
21 May 2009
Clintons has today placed their loss making chain of card shops, Birthdays, in to administration.
What is interesting that a couple of years ago we were approached by Clintons to supply them with our knitted toys. We talked a bit until we came to their terms and conditions. Payment terms 90 days, full sale or return, discounted prices, additional 2% rebate for marketing and individual store deliveries with no minimum order quantity
You won't be surprised to know that we did not work with them
However with these sort of terms and conditions how can you make a loss? Can you imagine how successful your business would be if you had these terms and conditions with your suppliers? No clearance to worry about, cash flow eased and higher margins
But perhaps the reason they went bust is that not many suppliers with popular products would supply them under these terms and conditions. You end up with a lot of cheap products which no one wants!
The Best Job in the World
30 Apr 2009
Briton Ben Southall has beaten off competition from 34,000 other applicants to win the "Best Job in the World" which is caretaker of an Australian tropical island
Whilst I am very happy for Mr Southall I have to point out that I think that I already have the best job in the world
Liz and I run our own company. We work really hard but at times that fit in with our lives. I mostly work from home in Oxford, which is beautiful. We source products which fit in with our own ethical code. Our customers are funny and charming, and even when they are annoyed with us they are polite and reasonable. I am constantly having to learn new things, and can't remember the last time I was bored
I know that this may not sound as glamorous as looking after a tropical island in constant sunshine, but working with people you like, at times you like and with products you like sounds pretty good to me!
Knitted toys on twitter
30 Apr 2009
The media is full of stories about Twitter and how its the new and greatest way for small businesses to market themselves, but exactly how can you use it?
Basically Twitter is just another way to communicate with people
You chose to follow people or businesses who you think are interesting and invite people to follow you if you think that they might be interested in what you are up to.
Many people use it to manage to their social lives in the same way that they use Facebook but many also use it to keep themselves updated on people, places and issues which interest them
Some statistics on Twitter are as follows
Twitters largest age group is 35-44 years of age accounting for 25.9% of all users
63% of users are male
UK Twitter traffic has already trebled in 2009
There are an estimated 8 million Twitter users worldwide. 53% Earn over £40,000 p/a
63% Have at attained a college education or higher
So to return to the question of how is this useful to small business and how as a gift shop, or even as a soft toy wholesaler you can use Twitter then we think it has several uses
1. Its a quick and easy way to update people as to what you are up to. You can only use 140 characters so you do not have to spend loads of time composing essays but just a quick message which can include a link back to your website
2. If you have something of interest on your website then you can highlight it on your tweet and get traffic back to your website
3. As a new form of social media Twitter has been adopted first by journalists, bloggers and PR. If you want to get your story noticed Twitter is a good place to start!
4. Twitter is a great way to form a community around your business which leads to loyal and interested customers. Its not just that you tweet and then move on. Hopefully people will respond and question so you get a conversation going
5. Twitter is a 2 way thing. Its not just who is following you, its who you follow. If you follow the right person you will get useful information and advice in your field of interest way before everyone else
One thing is clear. If you want to use it just to push product or service promotions you will fail. I have heard one person describe tweeting money off deals as equivalent to walking up to someone at a party and giving them the hard sell You can see us on www.twitter.com, Just look for knittedtoys
How do you get started? I am definitely not an expert but I found the following articles useful
www.news.cnet.com/newbies-guide-to-twitter
www.michaelhyatt.com/2008/05/the-beginners-guide-to-twitter.html
And I found the following twitter tools fascinating
Who is twittering in your area www.twittermap.com
Follow areas of interest www.monitter.com
And yes, we have just started on Twitter http://twitter.com/knittedtoys
Follow us as we get ready for trade shows, develop our ranges and get our fair trade ranges tested and approved in time for autumn
First woman president of CBI
30 Apr 2009
The first woman preident of the CBI has just been elected after 125 years. Helen Alexander will take charge of the CBI during the summer
So, as a soft toy wholesaler will this make any difference to me? I hope so. The CBI represents over 30% of the UK work force and styles itself as the voice of British Business
That means she represents Best Years and our customers so a big cheer for Helen Alexander for achieving such a momentous first, and lets hope that we are still cheering her this time next year
Partnerships
31 Mar 2009
The current economic climate may not be the most comfortable of places to be trading in but it has had the benefit of making us look outside our comfort zones to ensure our business continues to grow. One of the major decisions we have made is to partner with another soft toy wholesaler, a company called UKIC.Whereas we specialise in knitted toys UKIC have a wide range of traditional plush
I am sure that our regular customers have noticed the expansion of our soft toy ranges with Value based products. Unlike the rest of our ranges we do not source these ourselves but distribute them for UKIC
The devaluation of sterling has had two main impacts on our business. The first is that we have to raise significantly more money to buy in new ranges of our knitted toys than previously and the second is that the trade price of new products should increase by 25%
In order to offset both of these problems we have agreed to distribute part of UKIC�s range
UKIC have a strong market in multiple retailers but are not set up to sell to independent retailers. This is for a variety of reasons including pack quantities which start at 96 pieces and a minimum order requirement of over £1000
Our business is specifically set up to wholesale soft and knitted toys to independent retailers which means that we buy in products we think will suit your customers, split the pack sizes down to 3 and allow you to buy individual sizes and colours
Not only does this mean that we are able to widen the choice of soft toys we can offer but it also means that we don�t have to raise huge amounts of capital to do so. It also means that we can spread the increased cost of materials across a wider range
We need to point out to our customers that while we visit all the factories that make our own Best Years product we do not visit UKIC factories. Also UKIC have different criteria for age selection � we insist on embroidered eyes for all baby products and UKIC do not. They obviously have all relevant test certificates but as a wholesaler we have always been particularly cautious and will continue to be so for our knitted toys
We are hoping to increase the number of partners we work with during 2009 and are currently working with 2 Fairtrade companies so that we can also expand our ranges of ethically sourced products If you want any more information about the UKIC product range please email gaynor@bestyears.co.uk
Trust Best Years and our knitted toys
04 Mar 2009
I was listening to a rather earnest discussion on the radio about our current economic situation and one of the contributors made the point that we are not so much suffering from an economic crisis but rather a crisis in trust.
Institutions which we have always trusted implicitedly have shown themselves to have feet of clay.
Who would have thought even a year ago that we would have come to distrust our whole banking system so quickly and thoroughly?
Sterling has shrunk in value and major retailers are collapsing like a stack of cards. Lack of trust has seized up the system so that normal commerce has become significantly more difficult
In view of this I would like to clarify Best Years situation
Best Years are a soft toy wholesaler. We sell soft toys, plush and knitted toys.
In August 2009 we will celebrate our 10th anniversary. You can trust that we will still be here in August 2010, August 2011 and we will celebrate the Olympics with you in August 2012.
You can trust that we will continue to design and manufacture high quality soft toys.
You can trust us to work with only the most reputable manufacturers and in fact we are working hard to increase the % of our own soft toy ranges being fair trade.
You can trust us to deal fairly with both our customers and our suppliers. Nothing ever runs smoothly all the time but we endeavour to sort out any issues promptly and fairly.
We are happy to get emails and phone calls however small the query may be so if you have any questions please do get in contact
Phone � 01327 262189
Email � Gaynor@bestyears.co.uk
Useful information and websites (hopefully)
28 Feb 2009
We have an increasing amount of customers finding us via the website and have always been very keen on using the website to increase the visibility of Best Years to retailers looking for new soft toys and gifts or soft toy wholesalers
Over the years we have worked with quite a few different companies to try to get our website on the top of Google rankings and to be honest we have not had much success despite spending £000s
This year I decided that it would help if we understood the workings of search engine so I enrolled on a couple of Business Link courses and they were fab. Here are a couple of top tips from the days I went on � Hopefully you will see the impact on the next our website over couple of months
4 key things which impact on the visibility of your site to the Google spyders. These will visit your site every 2- 3 weeks depending on how long your site has been up and how often you change it. For example the BBCs website is visited every hour or so!
Links � the more links you have coming in to your site the better. However it is no good having thousands of links coming in from various sites. It only works if traffic visits the site on which your link is so links in relevant articles are much better than from a links page which is rarely visited
Meta � tags Every page must have a title tag and a description tag Title tags are 8-12 words long and are a summary of the page and its content Description tag are 20-25 words long, should read correctly and be grammatically correct and spellings right. A short phrase or couple of sentences
Google ads. You cannot be too good at these but remember that 70% of searches contain 2 plus words so the more specific you can be the better. Also make sure that people coming through from Google ads land on a dedicated page and not just your home page
Keyword Density. You need to understand which words your customers use when they search for your website and use them liberally in your website. 5-10% of the words in your content should be key words but make sure the content remains readable and grammatically correct because the search engines are sensitive to sites where key words are over used and will classify you as spam. Recommended site www.wordtracker.com or follow this search path - About google, advertising, sign up or learn more, get keyword ideas
Other useful sites www.99designs.com need a new design? This site allows you to put your recommendation on the web and designers will submit their proposals. Prices start from $250 which even at the current exchange rate is a bargain www.istockphoto.com need an image? Royalty free images from £2 but make sure that it has not already been downloaded thousands of times already
Selling soft toys in a recession
Marketing Research
30 Nov 2008
In Mintel's October report "Marketing to Tomorrows Consumer" Mintel makes the point that this is the first time that the internet generation has experienced an economic downturn and Mintel predicts that they will react very differently to older consumers
They have classified consumer responses to hard economic times in the following ways
Bargain Hunters 77%
Stay at Homes 61%
Back to Basics 25%
Comfort Seekers 34%
Obviously there is overlap, ie you can be a Bargain Hunter and a Stay at Home
Bargain hunters still like to shop but seek out the best deals, often using the internet to do so
Demographics are Female (who are more likely to enjoy shopping as a hobby and would be reluctant to give it up altogether), C1/C2, Family and 3rd age
Back to Basics � a combination of eco concerns and economic downturn means a more make do and mend, grow your own mentality. Demographics Female, 55-64, E and A/B. More likely to be in Wales and South West
Stay at Homes � make a virtue out of economic necessity. For instance they will entertain at home when cannot afford to go out and will buy things to make their home nicer rather than spend money on going out
Demographics 25-34, family lifestyle group. ABC. People who have to pay a babysitter on top of the cost of an evening out
Comfort Seekers � reluctant to give up on little luxuries such as chocolates, flowers and home accessories
Demographics � Male, over 55, ABC and retired, Broadsheet readers
In terms of marketing Mintel say that the �we�re in this together� message is the best way forward, The best thing about this is that smaller companies will have an advantage over corporations with this stance! We are a soft toy wholesaler and not a market research company but I hope that this information is of use over what is looking like to be a difficult year
Stop Thief!
31 Oct 2008
Best Years, the soft toy wholesaler, will be 10 years old next year and like all businesses has experienced its fair share of wierd situations. Howver just recently we have walked in to a situation which is truely bizarre, and quite frankly, wrong!
It all started in August 2008 when a Mr Simon Osbourne of Warmwood Ltd, Swindon ordered over £5000 worth of goods for an urgent delivery. It soon became clear that he had no intention of paying for the goods so we started court proceedings to get either our money or our goods back. The landlord of Mr Simon Osbourne's premises then called to say that we had been conned. Mr Simon Osbourne was a thief and a conman and we had no chance of getting our money back.
Its here where things get wierd. We contacted the police ( Crime ref 5408 007 7153 if you are interested) but their advice was that they could do nothing and our best course of action was to take an advert out in the local Swindon paper to advise other people that Warmwood Ltd may not be an honest company to deal with! The fact that we could show 3 different companies who had had goods stolen from them by Mr Simon Osbourne of Warmwood Ltd was irrelevant. They would not treat the case as a criminal matter
We then contacted the court services but we would have to pay £600 to take Warmwood to court and that if the company was made insolvent the day before the court hearing we would not get any money. Even if it did get to court and the case was awarded in our favour then the court could not force Warmwood Ltd to pay the money back we would need to go to the High Court to get an injunction
So we contacted Companies House. They advised us that we could make a formal complaint but that whether or not they would investigate Warmwood Ltd or Simon Osbourne would be kept a secret. They said that we should complain to our MP or to Trading Standards
I will contact my MP and see what he recommends....perhaps the European court!
What does it take to stop this sort of illegal behaviour? If anyone has any ideas or suggestions please do let us know but other wise I am hoping that the next person who is contacted by Simon Osbourne of Warmwood Ltd Swindon will search the internet and see this article.
NB his email address is simontipthai@googlemail.com and his home telephone 01793778272 and his mobile number is 07948 406622
Update May 2009. Since I originally wrote the article I have had feedback from 3 different sources
Firstly I had a lot of advice and feedback from our retailers which was brilliant and very supportive
We were also contacted by other companies who had been scammed by Simon Osbourne. None of them were soft toy wholesalers like Best Years and the range of goods ranged from batteries to hire equipment. Some of them were fortunate enough to have seen the article before they supplied goods but sadly more were from people who had also been ripped off
Funnily enough the other person who contacted us was Mr Osbourne himself. He rang up screaming and shouting at us to remove the article immediately which I have to say made me laugh. He then said that he would pay the invoice if we took the article down but funnily enough it never arrived
By involving our MP we were able to get the police to open a fraud investiation but then last week we were contacted by the offical receiver to say that Warmwood had finally been put in to administration
Since August 2008 we have contacted every single government organisation we could think of to stop Simon Osbourne from ripping people off. In the time it took to get him closed down he stole approx £100,000 off other businesses
Hopefully he will go to jail. We'll let you know!
Update Oct 2009
It appears that the CPS don't want to pursue the case against Simon Osbourne as because he set up a business he can claim that he wasn't obtaining goods by deception it was simply a case of his business getting in to trouble
I don't think so! Any small business knows how hard it is to make a profit and I am not prepared to have a thief like Simon Osbourne order goods with no intention of paying for them and get away with it
CPS here I come....
Dragon hunting
meeting with Rachel Elnaugh
31 Jul 2008
I don’t know about you but I would never have the courage to go on Dragons Den (for a start off I’m not sure I could get up all those stairs!) but it looks like I won’t need to go on to get the advice they offer as having previously met Peter Jones this week I met Rachel Elnaugh, previously of Red Letter Day and Dragons Den
Rachel has just published a very successful book on business failures “Business Nightmares” but I was more interested in discussing how she thought businesses could survive and prosper in the current economic climate
She had the following advice for all of us
- Remember 70% of purchases in the high street are made by women. I would suspect that with Best Years’ products this % is probably higher but I think the point is well made that whereas the majority of people we employ to help us (eg web designers, leaflet and pos providers) are male our consumers are primarily female. Women have a different value set and are more likely to consider the so called soft attributes of ethics and integrity when making a purchase
- Pull marketing is more powerful than push, or as Rachel put it a honey pot attracts more bees than vinegar. Its more important to have an interesting and attractive shop pulling in customers as they walk past than an advert in the paper pushing customers towards you
- The Dragons Den and Alan Sugar version of business shown on TV is not reality. You do not need to treat people in this way to be successful.
- Follow your passion but remember to keep your work/life balance
At the heart of Rachel’s ethos was the concept that if you believe in something enough, and you keep your mind (and heart) open then it will happen. She recommended the book “Ask and it will be given” by Esther Hicks
Rachel’s advice to Best Years was centred on the push not pull marketing. She advised us to build up our brand so that we would become better known by consumers. When we asked for advice as to who to work with she referred us back to the concept of keeping ourselves open and something will turn up
Both
Rachel is now a motivational speaker and offers advice to the SME sector.
She can be contacted via her website, www.rachelelnaugh.co.uk
Selling soft toys online
31 Jul 2008
Mums Online
The convenience of internet shopping has always appealed to mothers but in research carried out in April this year it appears that the internet is becoming a dominant factor in the choices mothers make
The research found that while one third of mothers actually buy on line over 60% used the internet to research purchases before they bought.
In terms of influences 47% of mothers used as search engine to find out information but 16% were influenced by email news letters. This is more than those who researched via branded websites (12%) and shopping comparison sites (11%)
Although this research was carried out in the USA it is likely that there similar pattern here in the UK
Nice to think that your newsletter might affect the purchasing behaviour of more people than the website of a multi national company!
Looking at UK research a Verdict report in May 2008 found that 59% of all internet users used the internet to research purchases before they bought
Interestingly almost 85% of consumers surveyed in the same report thought that the internet was better than the high street when it came to finding unusual products and this was the primary reason why people shopped online. It will be no surprise that the 2nd most popular reason sited was price comparison with 76% of consumers using the internet to get the best possible price. The 3rd most common reason for shopping on line was the width and depth of products available online compared to high street stores
In Mothercare's results which were published recently sales were up a fabulous 19.5% proving that the baby market is resilient even when times are tough but Mothercare's direct sales were up a huge 28.6% as their customers took advantage of the convenience of internet shopping and the wider ranges Mothercare make available online
The reasons why consumers chose not to buy online are also interesting
75% of people think that shopping on the high street is more enjoyable than online
86% think that customer service is better in shops than online
Almost 90% trust high street stores more than online stores and 91% think its easier to get a refund in a shop than online
Primark's child labour scandal
31 May 2008
The recent Panorama programme showing Primark clothing being made by young children has once again high lighted the issue of working conditions in over seas factories
There is one straight forward reason why issues such as the use of child labour continue and that is money. If you are trying to sell an embroidered shirt for under £5 and make a profit on it then you are not going to be paying the supplier very much for it. The factory will therefore have to find a way of producing the garment as cheaply as possible and the consequences of this is obvious
As a consumer it is always tempting to buy at the cheapest price you can, and theres not many of us who can claim not to have been seduced by the incredible prices available in some shops. Similarly as a shop owner it is hard not to be tempted by the prices some wholesalers offer on their product.
Best Years do not demand absolute rock bottom prices from our factory. To be frank we are not big enough to muscle our way round the Far East demanding cheap prices. However we are happy to work with our suppliers to get the best quality products at the fairest prices. We also visit factories before we start working with them to ensure that the working conditions and the accommodation are above the required levels.
We will never be the cheapest wholesaler you can find but we pride ourselves on the quality of both the design and manufacturing of our toys. When you are selling to children we think this is more important that just price
Peter Jones - More St George than a Dragon
Interview with Peter Jones of Dragon's Den fame
01 May 2008
Last week I had the priviledge of meeting Peter Jones of Dragon's Den fame.
There are 2 things that struck me immediately when I met Peter, the first is how tall he is but more importantly how deeply held his principals and beliefs are.
Peter was keen to talk about his entrepreneurial history and his passionate belief that small businesses are the back bone of Britain's economy. Given his history (he set his first company up while still a teenager, had a successful £1m company in his early 20s, bust by 30 and multi-millionaire and TV personality by 40!) he is in an ideal position to comment on the difficulties and opportunities of starting your own business.
One of the keys to his own success was a complete belief in himself and in his own ability to succeed. When his first company went bust and he had to look for employment the first job he applied for was the MD of Lotus Cars! When something he is involved in does not work out as planned he always looks for the learning rather than considering it a failure. In fact failure was a word he refused to use.
I asked him what one piece of advice he would give people who are just setting up in business and those with small companies. Unsurprisingly he had not 1 but 2 to offer:
1. Do your research. There is no point just asking a few friends and neighbours what they think, you need to do thorough research in to your idea. This needs to include local, face to face research such as selling at craft fairs and school fetes, and also internet research. Make sure you look at what the USA are doing in terms of your shop or product as they are still ahead of us in terms of consumer trends
2. Be creative! Peter was out spoken on the subject of creativity in business. Without creativity you will be just a "me too" which inevitably leads to competiting on price. As a small example he said that he gets hundreds of companies approaching him with new ideas and most of them send in a type written letter. If he gets something even a bit more original such as a CD or a model of the product he is immediately more interested then wading through a letter. So if you are aproaching journalists or retail buyers remember to find ways to make your product or idea stand out from the crowd. Similarly when you are setting up a shop, whether it is on the internet or the high street, think what it is that will stop customers in their tracks and make them buy from your shop.
And a small bit of gossip - he really does not like Duncan Ballantyne!
Bring more knitted toys - Birth Rate Booming!
29 Feb 2008
The Office of National Statistics has just released the latest figures on the UK birthrate and its good news!
The birth rate has increased again with 2006 having the highest birth rate since 1980 with 669,000 live births
Given that it is estimated that parents spend approx £3500 on a baby in its first year then the market for wholesale and retail baby products is blooming
The biggest increase has been in the over 40s with birth rate up again by 6% and this trend is set to continue
One company benefiting from parents' desire to spend is Mamas & Papas, the designer nursery store.
Its commercial director, Tim Maule, has noticed parents have more money to spend because there has been a shift to starting families later in life.
"There is more disposable income and people are prepared to spend more, particularly on the first child, than they have in the past," he says.
Older mothers are also more likely to look for and buy products on line
As a soft toy wholesaler we have found that our retro knitted toys have become more popular over the years as affluent mothers buy nostalgic toys
Safe soft toys from Best Years
13 Nov 2007
Following hard on the heels of Fisher Price's recall of some Seseme Street and Dora the Explorer toys Mattel today announced the biggest product recall in UK history. Despite there being no recorded incidents of harm caused to children Mattel has voluntarily recalled lines with small magnets (including Polly Pockets and other well known brands) as new stringent checking proceedures have high lighted that there may be issues with children swallowing the magnets
The problem springs from success. When you need to bring in hundreds of thousands of toys to meet retailer demand then no one factory can cope with the demand. This means that manufacturing is sub contracted to smaller factories who in turn sub contract to smaller companies and so on. Very soon, despite the best efforts of reputable companies such as Mattel the process becomes hard to control
This is probably the same issue which caused TopShop embarassment when The Sunday Times revealed that some of its workers were earning a pittance
Best Years manufacture in runs of just 2,500 units at a time and this means we never ever have to sub contract. It also means that we sometimes run out of stock! As a soft toy wholesaler this is something we would rather face than increase our run sizes.
Also we design our toys to exceed safety standards. For instance our baby toys have embroidered eyes rather beads for extra safety
This year we will introduce crochet toys and more knitted toys as well as Fair Trade toys and it is therefore getting increasingly complicated to manage our stock. But we still believe that small is beautiful and thats why our production runs will stay small.
Free market information on toys
Where to find invaluable facts and figures
19 Sep 2007
If its true that you need to do thorough research before you start up your business then its equally true that however well established your business you can always use more information
But whether you are new at this or an old hand soft toy wholesaler like us, where do you find the information you need at a price you can afford?
The first place to start is always your local library which will have dozens of industry reports and information on your local area
However if you are looking for more then the first place to start is the British Library in London http://www.bl.uk/bipc/ which holds more information than you can shake at stick at!
And if London is not accessible do you know that they have a search facility you can use?
This is an exceptional service which could provide you with the very specific information you need quickly and efficiently, and at very little cost! for instance they can search their extensive databases to tell you all the names and addresses of specific business in your local area. Its definitely worth a look and their website is http://www.bl.uk/services/information/rsabout.html
Just remember if a fact has been published in the UK the British Library will have it on file - thats an impressive database!
As ever the internet is an invaluable source of information. One useful website address is http://adlab.msn.com/DPUI/DPUI.aspx which gives you a break down of the age and gender of people searching for any particular word or search phrase. So unusual gifts, for instance, is mostly typed in by women aged 35-49 years old,
And if you want to know the seasonality of your market try http://google.co.uk/trends for the peak times when people are searching for a particular item on the internet
Finally Business Link are always a friendly and accessible source of information
How to register a design
17 Sep 2007
Registering your design in the UK is reasonably straight forward and has minimal cost
The DTI website has all the information you need on its website www.ipo.gov.uk or you can call them on 08459 22 250.
However if you feel that you need your design to be protected across Europe you are adviced to use a patent attorney and the cost will be in the region of £1500
The Institiute of Patent Attornies holds free clinics in many major cities where you can get one to one advice on how to protect your product. See their website for more info
http://www.cipa.org.uk/pages/advice-clinics
Be aware that you need to register your design before the product goes on sale
Also hen we design baby toys and soft toys to wholesale we always like to check that the design we have come up with has not been done before!
Selling baby soft toys and rattles
10 Sep 2007
Selling to New Mothers or Babies?
We consider many things when putting together our Baby range, and one of these things is demographics
Here are a few of the facts and figures we found useful
There are approx 650,000 babies born every year and this is growing very slightly.
The average age of mothers is now just under 30 years old and even the average age of first time mothers is over 27 years old. The trend towards older mothers is gathering pace with the number of babies born to women aged 30-34 now more than those born to women in the 25-29 age bracket for the first time. This has meant that the average mother is becoming more affluent
The number of multiple births is also growing, especially in the over 40s where more than 2% of births are multiple
The number of children living in families where both parents work has now risen to 66%
Regionally Cornwall, Devon and East Anglia have the lowest % of children and London, the Home Counties and Greater Manchester have the highest with the exception of Northern Ireland where a wopping 30% of the population is under 20 years old
So what does this all mean to Best Year's Nursery range?
When we develop product it is designed to appeal to Mothers and to be safe and appealing to babies.
A mother in her 30s will have been a child herself in the 1970s and therefore nostalgic knitted product will have an inherent appeal
Affluent parents will be prepared to spend more on toys but they will expect quality
Our ranges have a diverse selection of designs to appeal to all mothers and their babies
Who ever you are selling to we have a product to appeal to your customer
Knitted T Rex
01 Jan 1970
So the good news is that we have a limited amount of T Rex in stock
As we had to airfreight them we are asking customers to pay pro forme if they want them.
We may even have some large T Rex depending on whether customers pay for them!
Full stocks arrive mid May. Hurrah!
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