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From concept to creation: Interview with co-founder of Brighton startup Pimp My Stroller

When graphic designer Melanie Sramek-Bennett came to look for a toy buggy for her daughter, nothing quite took her fancy. The creative mum-of-two picked one up at a charity shop, along with some colourful fabric, and transformed the stroller into a stylish bit of kit.

“I made a few more, and we gave them away to friends and their children - it snowballed from there,” Melanie told me.

After receiving countless compliments, Melanie decided to join forces with her sister, Hana Laws, who works in the City, to launch Pimp My Stroller, a toy stroller company with a difference.

One year in and the duo are still running the business from their respective homes in Brighton and Beckenham, Melanie attributes much of their growth over the last 12 months to the strong community spirit in the Brighton area: “I have a child in Year One at school, and the parents at school are all very entrepreneurial and creative. We’ve received an overwhelming amount of support from them, as well as people I know through my role as a graphic designer.

“We’ve done a video advert (above), which was a favour from a friend. There’s also another mum who works for the London School of Fashion who has given us invaluable advice about sales and marketing, particularly social media. The majority of our support has come from the community of Brighton and Beckenham.”

The decision to stay in Brighton was a clear one for Melanie, who wanted to remain close to her support network, while also saving money by working from home. She said: “The work life balance issue is the main reason we work from home, while saving money is also key for us.

“In addition, we ‘pop-up’ in places - last weekend we did a pop-up shop in Brighton with five other small businesses and that was great. We’ve done several festivals and one-off events and that has been a very cost-effective form of marketing for us.”

In the future, Melanie and Hana are planning to expand the Pimp My Stroller brand, Melanie said: “Because of my background, I feel like the natural next stage for us is to design our own fabric.

“We’re also going to extend the product range. We’ve found people love our styling and combinations we use, so we are hoping to launch baby slings as well as real-size buggies. We’d love to partner with a large player in the commercial space to drive forward the product.”

http://www.pimpmystroller.co.uk/

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .