Name: Sophie Baxter
Age: 30
Business: BigFatBalloons.co.uk (www.BigFatBalloons.co.uk)
Type of business: Online gift shop selling teddy bears and helium-filled balloons for special occasions
Start date: August 2006
When medical problems got in the way of her day-to-day life, Sophie Baxter took matters into her own hands and set up a business with husband Tim. Using their collective web design experience the couple created an online gift shop
When did you first decide you wanted to start your own business?
In 2004, just before Christmas. I was out with my children and a friend when I passed out in a café. I’d had a fit and, consequently, I lost my driving licence for a year and suffered various health problems such as memory loss and severe fatigue. At the time my husband Tim and I were running a website design business and building e-commerce sites for clients. We’d always fancied the idea of running our own online shop. Given the circumstances, it seemed ideal to start something that involved less travelling. We also wanted to build a business that could eventually be run by employees if one of us was unable to work.
Tell us about your business, where did the idea come from?
I first came across the helium balloon in a box idea when I received one after the birth of my first child. It was a great gift, unusual, unexpected and cheerful; it also kept my newborn son entertained - not to mention his dad! A few months later, I ordered a balloon bouquet for a friend’s 50th birthday and she loved it. In fact, she still talks about it today. It seemed such a good idea that we decided to look into it from a commercial point of view. After completing a great deal of research, Tim and I decided we could make it work and created BigFatBalloons.co.uk – an online shop selling helium balloons, teddy bears and gifts.
Was your decision to start a business inspired by any other companies or individuals?
After leaving university I took a job in a large company. I soon realised that corporate life was not for me and I wanted to do something more flexible and motivating. From there, setting up my own business was a logical step. I am forever reading biographies of entrepreneurs and business books and I have been inspired by many of them.
What makes you think there’s a market for your business?
The growth in the greeting card, teddy bear and small gift market has been consistent over the past few years, more and more people shop online too.
Once you’d decided to start a business, what did you do first?
I started to look at competitors and suppliers to find out what other people were doing and how easy it would be to source the products. I also looked at what type of margins we could expect and rough running costs.
What research did you do?
We looked at published market sector data and presented the idea to as many people as we could.
Talk us through the process of writing your business plan
Rather than writing a formal business plan - which was not necessary as we founded the venture with our own saving – I simply outlined what I wanted to do and how I wanted to do it on paper. Planning helps you focus and gives you a vision of what you are trying to create. However, I also think it is important to be quick and adaptable with a new business – we simply review what works and what doesn’t and adapt our general goals on a regular basis.
How much did it cost to start the business?
About £4,000, but there was a lot of unpaid work involved as we built the website ourselves.
How did you fund this?
We were able to fund the website out of our own savings.
