Building a sound business from sleep solutions: The Sleep Store

The Sleep Store is an e-commerce business dedicated to helping parents find solutions for babies’ and toddlers’ sleep issues.

It carries every imaginable product to ensure hard-to-settle youngsters develop healthy sleeping habits – from wraps to sleeping bags to sleep-inducing sounds of white noise. The website is also a goldmine of information for sleep-deprived parents, including articles, workshops and a portal to a well-patronised Facebook page.

Louise Tanguay launched the business in 2006 and runs it from her home in the Auckland suburb of Titirangi.  Louise’s husband Matt Anderson is also employed by the business, as are two other staff.

It was late 2005 when Louise first began to consider her options for an e-commerce business.

“The business came from a combination of previously working in retail, wanting to work from home and realising that there was quite a specific niche that no one in New Zealand was catering for – information and products about sleep,” she says.

Do your research

Prior to making her final decision on which business idea to pursue, Louise did extensive market research and developed a business plan.

“We went around in circles with it all, just exploring different things. I probably spent two or three months just researching what else was out there, particularly overseas. Really seeing if it was a viable idea and whether it would be easy to access information and source products and so on,” recalls Louise.

“I put together a business plan and at the same time evaluated some other ideas. The Sleep Store clearly came out as the best option for us.”

Louise also utilised the myriad of resources available to start-up businesses, and continues to use them as required.

Initially she used the services of Waitakere Enterprise (http://www.waitakereenterprise.co.nz), Gosling and Chapman (now WHK; http://www.whk.co.nz) and the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise website.

Louise says the assistance from Waitakere Enterprise, which included training evenings and a session with a mentor, was invaluable for testing her assumptions and making sure she was on the right track. Winning the Waitakere Enterprise Marketing Excellence Award in 2008 also ensured ongoing support through the association.

Louise suggests that all business owners take full advantage of these types of training. “There are more out there than you could ever possibly attend,” she says.

Choosing a website developer

In the early days, a small budget meant Louise was careful to select a website developer who met the needs of her business.

“At that time there weren’t a huge number of companies building e-commerce websites in New Zealand. I did a lot of research online trying to find what the options were. I had a very small budget, so any of the big companies targeting corporates were right out of the ballpark from the beginning.

“It was a matter of narrowing down the affordable options and then working out who was the best fit. We went for the best option we could afford, which has been a really good decision.”

Louise knows of many business owners who have gone with a cheap option, or had a friend build a website. Unfortunately, she says, they’ve run into no-end of trouble.

As a website is constantly evolving Louise says it’s essential to keep working with your website developer to re-evaluate systems and take advantage of new technology.

“If you invest in a website you need to make sure the company you’re dealing with provides ongoing support. It’s essential – technology isn’t perfect. Not a week goes by where we’re not on the phone to them sorting out some little blip or asking a question or figuring out how to utilise different parts of the website.”

For the day-to-day website changes, Louise says it’s imperative that the business owner has control.

“One of the key things I would say to anyone thinking of a website is that you’ve got to be able to update the content yourself. We work on our website every single day, adding new products and changing content. If you had to pay someone every time, or wait for someone else to do it, it would be a nightmare.”

Advertising - with and without a budget

Louise uses many types of advertising, but she recommends online advertising as the best medium for a new e-commerce business.

The Sleep Store uses methods such as Google Adwords and online directories (which are usually free). Louise says this type of advertising does take time to do, but it doesn’t cost a fortune and its effectiveness can be measured.

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is also essential to ensure The Sleep Store appears in search engine results. Louise says they spend a huge amount of time and effort on SEO, even going so far as to have a second website for the Australian market.

“If you have a completely separate site with an Australian domain name and with your meta data mentioning Australia, it makes it easier for Australians to find you online.”

The Australian website also enables Louise to have prices in Australian dollars and offer targeted promotions to the Australian market.

Now the business is established, other kinds of advertising are affordable.

“For a long time we didn’t do any magazine advertising,” says Louise. “Then we did it as we felt we could afford it. We also started to build good relationships with the magazines so we could get a bit more bang for our buck, for example a bit of editorial or a mention of new products.”

Keeping up communications via Facebook

Facebook is a recent addition to The Sleep Store’s marketing and networking plan, and Louise is encouraged by its effect on the business.

“It’s staggering really. We can put a new product on Facebook, tell our customers about it and within five minutes people can be ordering it. It is quite amazing,” says Louise.

It’s the ability to communicate with her customers in real-time that Louise finds an attractive aspect of Facebook. The 3500 plus fans have quite a community spirit, says Louise, sharing questions and answers to sleep issues through the Facebook page.

“It’s quite unique in that you can communicate almost face-to-face; in real-time you can have a conversation with somebody. It’s the next step of how we can communicate with our customers, and how they can communicate with each other.”

Don’t underestimate your business potential

Louise has some wise words of advice for new parents contemplating an e-commerce business.

“One of the main things, particularly in the baby sector, is that it’s easy to set up an online business. But if you’re even remotely successful it takes up far more time than you can anticipate.

“You need to know you will probably be working almost every night, and as soon as the kids are entertained in front of the TV or asleep – that’s really the only time you get to work. People need to have their eyes open about how it will take over their life!”

Louise says you need to acknowledge when a business is growing and, to prevent burnout, get assistance.

“Recognise when you’re getting to the point where you can’t do it by yourself, and then hire somebody to help you at that stage, rather than getting to the stage where you think you have to sell your business, or you’re having a meltdown.”

Sound advice for those working from home

Louise says that when you’re running an e-commerce business from home it’s sometimes nice, and often necessary, to be part of something bigger than just your own business.

She suggests building a good network for yourself that extends outside your home and your computer, for example attending industry events.

“It’s also really important for your business knowledge and the long-term view of your business.

“You have to be talking to other people about it, not just working in isolation. You also need to be constantly testing your assumptions and looking at what else is possible.”

The Sleep Store: http://www.thesleepstore.co.nz