After working for someone who started up their own business, Elizabeth Raderecht decided she too wanted to be her own boss. Combining her interests in design and shopping, she has just launched Anusha, an online boutique. She tells Startups.co.uk.
Elizabeth Raderecht
36
Anusha
Online boutique
Launched July 2004
I sourced designers for a jewellery shop in my late-20s, and I think it’s during this time, working for a someone starting up a small business, that I realised at some point in the future I wanted to be my own boss. Last year, after eight years working at publishing firm, the time was right! I’ve always been a keen internet user, so it made sense to create a business that combined my passion for art and design (I have degrees in art history, and galleries/museum studies), shopping and the internet!
Anusha is an online boutique that brings a host of designers under one roof. It’s a boudoir-style boutique that’s the antidote to the hassle of shopping on the high street, where you can find wearable designer clothes, loungewear, accessories, jewellery and gifts, no matter where you live or when you want to shop.
Shopping Anusha is designed to feel like a treat, from the inspirational photography on the website, to the excitement of receiving an order through the post, carefully wrapped in layers of tissue paper.
Yes, Anusha was my first serious business idea. I realised that the only time I’d truly enjoyed my work was during that brief period sourcing designers for the jewellery shop.
When I came up with the idea of an online boutique, I searched the net to see if it had already been done. After endless searching I was surprised and pleased to discover that there wasn't a one-stop boutique that fitted the bill.
I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t have the guts to give it a shot!
I suppose the stories I’d read about women starting their own boutiques made me think it must be possible, plus the huge success of online high-end designer boutique Net-a-porter was an inspiration. Net-a-porter has revolutionised the way designer clothes are bought, and the way online shopping is perceived, proving that it’s possible to sell luxury items to women online.
Last year the amount spent online by a typical woman rose by around 70 per cent and sales of online clothing are growing at a faster rate than sales of computer games and electronics. People lead high-pressured lives, and Anusha is here to take away some of that stress.
I’d always been frustrated at not being able to find affordable and interesting designer fashion and homeware outside London – there is so little choice for 30-something women on the high street. The response I’ve had to the website has proved that I’m not the only one that feels that way!
I started researching how to set up an internet business, reading as many books and magazines as I could get my hands on, and using websites such as Small Business (www.smallbusiness.co.uk), the ecommerce section of the BBC website (www.news.bbc.co.uk), National Statistics Online (www.statistics.gov.uk), Internet Works (www.iwks.com) and Startups.co.uk!
I spent around six months hunting down products, going to trade shows, surfing the net, shopping in London boutiques and following up leads in lifestyle and women’s magazines.
A friend told me about the Business Link. I signed up at my local branch, Business West. They advised me to enrol on their three-day starting in business course, which I found helpful in terms of their general advice on the marketing, accounting and legal aspects of launching a business. It was a useful starting point for further research...
I got a starting in business pack from the bank, which had a business plan on CD-ROM, but found it easier to use a template I found on the net. Writing my plan did take a long time, but it really helped me focus my aims and objectives, and enabled me to identify the gaps in my experience and knowledge.
