Introduce your business and tell us your story: How did you decide on what to sell, and how did you source your products?
We were approached by a friend who works in hospitality to design aprons for his restaurant (he knew I was in the fashion industry working on a production team). We got great feedback and saw an untapped market for high quality, well-fitting aprons. All of our products are made in NYC's garment district, and finished at our studio in Brooklyn. Our fabrics and trims are also sourced from within the USA, except for our Japanese denim.
How did you earn your first sales? Which channels are now generating the most traffic and sales for you?
Word of mouth. We've never done any advertising. Our second big sale was based on me tweeting to a restaurant owner that was opening a place in our neighborhood. We generate most of our sales from wholesale restaurant orders. We are trying to push our e-commerce side now.
Tell us about the back-end of your business. What tools and apps do you use to run your store? How do you handle shipping and fulfillment?
We use ShipStation and are shipping everything ourselves. We are looking for partners to help automate this process now. We also used SEO Doctor with good results.
What are your top recommendations for new store owners?
Don't be impatient, and don't get discouraged. There are going to be a lot of ups and downs. Be confident, and make sure you're getting your hands dirty, in terms of learning every aspect of your business (i.e. marketing, pr, production, accounting, web development).