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Company: Boutique To You Ltd
Project: Boutique To You

http://www.boutiquetoyou.co.uk

Dates: Mar 2007 to Jul 2008

How did the project start?

The project was borne from a lifelong love of poring over magazines and being frustrated at not being able to buy all the lovely gifts and accessories advertised in them. I had always been told by friends that any presents they ever received from me were unusual and so I set off on my journey to find the unfound ! I started off working from home by turning our spare bedroom into the hub of my business empire ! I have only just recently branched out into office space as I am now distributing some of the unusual ranges I have found on my travels in the hope that other businesses feel the same way I do about them. The space is pre-dominantly to be used as a showroom for this.

What options did you consider?

I had toyed with the idea of a shop but knew how difficult this would be to fund with the levels of stock that I felt I could offer through an online gift boutique.
Working from home also meant that I didn't have to worry about child care for my two boys and I still don't. I forward the office phone at 3pm most days and work on my lap top after dinner most nights!

What help and expertise did you receive?

I have had some help from business link but to be honest I search for all my answers online through forums and googling for answers to questions. It's amazing who in the world has probably asked the same question at some time and someone online has answered them and left a footprint!

Did you face any challenges or learn any lessons?

Many challenges have been faced and I have nearly caved in with a few of them!
Learning how to write and submit press releases. I am very proud of my press page especially when people contact me wanting to know who does my PR!
The biggest challenge I have faced to date is when I lost all of my SERPS at the back end of 2007. All the hard work was gone in a very short time and Google practically spewed me out. No idea what or how it all went wrong but once gain I searched for hours in December trying to find how to get my business visible again. I worked every day except Christmas Day trying to find the answers!
Also realising how savvy internet shoppers are becoming. I think it is just as hard if not harder competing for a sale on the web as it is on any high street especially as now all the big players are moving onto the internet.

What are the outcomes and how has it improved your business?

The outcome has proved to me once again how much I love a challenge. I found lots of answers to what had gone wrong and implemented lots of new things. I learned so much about SEO, keyword content, site flattening, 301 redirects ... the list is endless but I have got to say it has been massive learning curve. It makes you realise that if something is more than just a hobby and you are serious about being a player on the internet then you have to be like a sponge and learn such a lot.

What are your plans for the future?

So many plans ... but now that I am back on track I have added loads of new stuff to my site.
I have just added a gift wizard and a site map that is human friendly as well as Google friendly. I am also about to update my blog and turn it into more of a magazine and feeding it with relevant content every day so that people might want to visit every day to read it and also so that (hopefully )search engines won't ever lose me again!
I also still get a thrill of finding something that has never been for sale on the UK internet before... like the time I started selling handbag lights and got a mention on ITV's This Morning! I still have a few things up my sleeve, hopefully!