Part 2 of Hot Home-based Business Ideas : Online Shops, Cakes And Candy

BABY FASHIONISTAS ONLINE SHOP FOR CHILDREN'S CLOTHES
By Dulce Castillo-Morales. Photos by At Maculangan

Baby Fashionistas, an online shop for fashionable children's clothes and costumes, came about because of Primrose Co-Chua's enthusiasm to doll up her first-born daughter.

The shop at http://babyfashionistas.multiply.com makes one-of-a-kind clothes or costumes to match the party theme of children celebrating their birthdays, and formal clothes for events where even kids are expected to dress to the nines. "We cater to the whims of fashionista moms who want their kids to be also fashionistas like them," Co-Chua, the shop?s owner, says.

Co-Chua recalls that like any first-time mother, she had been keen on dressing up her baby Bea, now six. Her eagerness to do so eventually caught the attention of both friends and strangers. They liked her designs and became her first clients. And with her well-dressed daughter as her best advertisement, the small business began to take off.

But she held back when the orders started pouring in. "For a long time I had to turn down orders because I just wasn't ready to take big orders yet," she says. "At the time, I had two existing businesses that needed as much attention as I could give. I thought that going into another venture would be too much for me."

It was only in 2005 that she finally started Baby Fashionistas in earnest. By that time, her two existing business ventures with her husband Jackson--the pharmaceutical wholesaler ALLPS Pharmacy and the plus-sized women's clothing label Sway--had already stabilized.

Being already in the apparel business, Co-Chua didn't have to invest in sewing machines for her new enterprise. So with an initial investment of only P150,000, she put Baby Fashionistas in operation by simply hiring two sewers and a beader and purchasing the needed cloth and other materials. Business was brisk so she was able to get back her initial investment in less than a year's time. She currently maintains a staff of nine--an executive assistant, a cutter, two beaders, four sewers, and one all-around worker.

Read the rest of the article on Entrepreneur.com.ph.