Meet Innovative Woman Bethan Davies, creator of The CraftStar and The BraZing.
1. How/why did you begin your business?
I knew I wanted to start The CraftStar almost 4 years ago. At the time, I was an Executive Producer in the entertainment industry. I suddenly became very ill, I wasn’t able to keep up with the demanding schedule I was on (working for Ryan Seacrest with 3:30am wake up calls!), and had to leave my job. As I was too sick to do much of anything more strenuous than go from bed to couch, I got out my crafting supplies. As a life-long crafter, I’ve always made things. My friends and family really liked my crafts, and someone suggested I start selling online on a site called Etsy. I hadn’t heard of it before, so headed on over there on my laptop and opened a shop to sell what I was making. I sold quite a bit, but more importantly, I found a community of people like me. People who had my interests (were creative) and many who were selling on the site because they too were unable to work a normal job due to some sort of illness. This became sort of a life-line for me … a connection that helped me deal with the excruciating boredom I had to bare during my sickness.
After about a year of this, the doctors were finally figuring out what was wrong and trying different medications to put me back together, Etsy started dismantling the community aspects of their site. This may sound ridiculous, but it was truly devastating to many people. No longer could they jump online and say hi to a friend at any time day or night … with 24 hours notice, they (we) were all isolated without an explanation. I KNEW these crafters needed this community.
I was getting better and better and was asked to do a consultancy for The Home Shopping Network to train their hosts and their producers on this new world of broadcasting. I learned a lot during that time … and one thing sparked off bells: in order to get airtime on a channel like HSN, you needed at least 20,000 units of whatever you were selling. I knew from my crafting world, there was no way someone could make 20,000 of anything!
I saw this as a big gap in the market. There wasn’t anything between a one-dimensional website like Etsy, and the broadcasting platforms of the HSN or QVC style networks … so I created a site based on community and broadcasting called The CraftStar. We started out as handmade and crafting supplies shops only, and have since added vintage to our family.
We are the happiest e:commerce site out there, with an amazing group of sellers who have really taken the “community” to heart and have an amazing array of items for sale that you won’t find in chain stores. I think people still sometimes think of “crafts” as popsicle sticks and glitter, but it’s much more sophisticated than that these days … it’s more artisan, unique and fabulous!
Not content with the stress of one self-funded start up (!), I launched another. I had an idea many years ago while watching girls on the beach near where I live, wearing really pretty dresses or tank tops and old washed out bra straps showing. I thought “we need to cover those things!”. When we got The CraftStar settled (it took awhile, we had a very bumpy start and I lost a lot of money but gained a lot of knowledge), I met a sewer on the site. I told her my idea and she loved it, eventually the braZing was born! I launched these about 4 months ago and people absolutely love them … I know that because of the repeat customers!
2. What has been your biggest challenge and how did you overcome it?
There have been many challenges, particularly with The CraftStar. While I knew exactly what I wanted, I’m not tech savvy or a website coder so relied on someone (who I totally trusted at the time) to turn my dream into reality. Well, apparently he wasn’t as tech savvy or much of a coder either – and I learned that the hard way. As it was a friend, and not knowing better because I hadn’t played in the online world before, I believed all the stories of why this wasn’t working or why that wasn’t on time. It was a disaster of a launch, the site literally melted before my eyes. We tried again, the same thing happened. The stress, emotionally and financially, became so much that I had to let go of my friend, which was a horrible thing to go through, and found another tech team. They WERE pros and they get all the credit for The CraftStar being what it is today.
It’s a daily challenge though as it’s a very competitive market. There are some days I just don’t’ want to get out of bed and face the work … but all I have to do is think of our lovely community and I’m jumping on the laptop. Perserverance is key … believing in your dream, and no matter how hard it is at times, and exhausting working 18 hour days for over 2 years, remembering why you started in the first place. These small business owners needed a community and I’m not going to let them down now.
3. How do you define SUCCESS?
Truly believing you’re doing something for the good of others. At The CraftStar, we are the home for over 2,500 shops. Our goal is to help them build their businesses … and give them as many tools as possible to achieve it.
4. If there was one thing you wish you knew before you began your business, what would that be?
To trust your gut instincts. I KNEW something was wrong at the beginning, but I didn’t know enough about it to know what that was. I should have asked more questions.
5. What makes you an innovative woman?
I’m a creative person, always have been. As a producer, you’re paid for your creativity. I’ve turned that creativity into unique features and ways to sell for our shop owners – giving them better chances of success.
To learn more about Bethan visit thecraftstar.com, thebraZing.com or visit her on facebook or twitter.