Mum turns tidy profit selling kids’ homewares
When Eleanor Cullen went on maternity leave before the birth of her first child, she was bombarded by kids’ homewares solely decorated with TV characters and Disney princesses.
The Melbourne designer decided to take matters into her own hands to make her own placemats for her newborn son, sinking $15,000 from the family’s savings into the venture.
After putting the design up on Instagram at the end of 2015, she said it “went crazy”.
The widely popular placemat has since led her to launch her own business called We Might Be Tiny, which now stocks more than 32 products featuring a bear, bunny and cat: a signature part of her brand.
“I love animals and cute things and it’s all from my childhood, so it's things I have loved as a child,” she told news.com.au. “The products are then centered around the bear, bunny and cat theme and become iconic to the brand.”
“I then designed some snack boxes in a similar shape to the bear, bunny and cat, divided plates that suction to the table, suctioned bowls, cutlery sets and moved into kitchenware. So there’s icy pole moulds and freezer moulds and I was working with silicone as it’s a great material for kitchenware as well.”
Her bestselling products have been the suctioned plates, with 50,000 being sold for $29 to $32 since she launched the business.
The 42-year-old said her designs appeal to parents wanting a “minimalist” look. Her placemats have also been so popular among parents that she has even made adult versions.
“Rather than having characters like P J Masks or Disney princesses printed on tableware it’s a neutral palette and that kind of thing appeals to mums,” she said.
Her side hustle has gone from making Ms Cullen $100,000 in her first year to nearly $4 million six years later.
“It was a hobby. I wanted to earn a bit more money and pay off our mortgage and what happened was I ended up selling out and making the money I invested back in one month,” she revealed.
“I haven’t had to reinvest our own money, I am just reinvesting the profits.”
The mother-of-two has credited the pandemic for the boost in sales, as people started eating at home with their kids more.
She also launched a new product in February called Stampies, which was around the time parents began looking for new ways to entertain their kids. The cookie stamp set features cute animal designs, and Ms Cullen says it can be used for baking or playing with playdough.
Since her business started, Ms Cullen has seen a huge growth in competitors offering similar silicone products.
But, she says hers stand out since they are made from scratch, rather than being “stock standard products that are templated from a factory” with a competitor’s label stuck on the front.
Looking to the future, Ms Cullen said she is looking to start creating products for kid’s play.
“I’ve got a bath book and some bath toys made from the material silicone, which means it’s dishwasher safe and lends itself to bath toys being thrown into the dishwasher so they are not going to get mouldy,” she said.
She added that sensory toys, such as teethers and textured toys, would also be rolled out by the end of the year.
Image: We Might Be Tiny (Facebook)