Mum turns tidy profit selling kids’ homewares
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After putting the design up on </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/wemightbetiny/?hl=en" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Instagram</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> at the end of 2015, she said it “went crazy”.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“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 </span><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/small-business/melbournes-we-might-be-tiny-rakes-in-4m-from-stylish-childrens-homewares/news-story/e78097f144a85356ff81f9dc45dd8e03" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">news.com.au</span></a></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">. “The products are then centered around the bear, bunny and cat theme and become iconic to the brand.”</span></p>
<blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CRYi0xCg9sF/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14">
<div style="padding: 16px;">
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div>
<div style="padding-top: 8px;">
<div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div>
</div>
<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CRYi0xCg9sF/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by MINIMALIST TABLEWARE FOR KIDS (@wemightbetiny)</a></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“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.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Her bestselling products have been the suctioned plates, with 50,000 being sold for $29 to $32 since she launched the business.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“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.</span></p>
<blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CRV4xoGJW6W/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14">
<div style="padding: 16px;">
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div>
<div style="padding-top: 8px;">
<div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div>
</div>
<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CRV4xoGJW6W/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by MINIMALIST TABLEWARE FOR KIDS (@wemightbetiny)</a></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Her side hustle has gone from making Ms Cullen $100,000 in her first year to nearly $4 million six years later.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“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.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I haven’t had to reinvest our own money, I am just reinvesting the profits.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The mother-of-two has credited the pandemic for the boost in sales, as people started eating at home with their kids more.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Since her business started, Ms Cullen has seen a huge growth in competitors offering similar silicone products.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">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.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Looking to the future, Ms Cullen said she is looking to start creating products for kid’s play.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“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.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She added that sensory toys, such as teethers and textured toys, would also be rolled out by the end of the year.</span></p>
<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: We Might Be Tiny (Facebook)</span></em></p>
