two entrepreneurs built a $20m dollar business in just 18 months

We interviewed one of the brightest stars of online retailing we’ve seen for a while.  Alex Tomic, co-founder of Hi Smile with partner, Nik Mirkovic have built a successful online business with a turnover of over $20m in just 18 months.  Alex had some fantastic insights for entrepreneurs and business owners alike. After 6 months of university, Alex knew he wanted to get out there and do something on his own.  He and his business partner Nic Mirkovic could see that online and social media were the way forward.  Very early on they identified that was where they needed to be.  Alex and Nic wanted to enter a market where nothing much was happening.  After 6 months of intensive research looking at different industries, they felt that teeth whitening was by far the most boring industry and nobody was making any significant changes. We can see you have 5 sub-domain websites tailored for customers all over the world – what challenges do you face in terms of shipping from Australia?  How do you manage logistics?  At the start, we were just writing out orders but we were all about finding processes to speed things up.  We researched software that could just grab the orders and do the labelling and after searching we found StarShipIT who could all the things we needed.  If only we had done that even earlier – although we started using StarShipIT about a month in which is still pretty early on. With any business, try to refine those processes as much as possible as it will free up time to think about the business and grow your business even more.  Get an account manager with your preferred carrier and then find a company like StarShipIT who can import all the orders and simplify the shipping process. What made you choose to partner with StarShipIT? StarShipIT offered the easy integration we were looking for, they integrated with Australia Post which was our preferred carrier and it could do all the things we needed it to do like import the orders, create the labels and make it really fast to get orders out the door. What tangible benefits do you enjoy using Australia Post and StarShipIT for your shipping and tracking orders?

We needed something that would just grab orders and do the labelling for us.  And that’s where StarshipIT really took Australia Post to the next level. Being able to just grab orders and label automatically – this reduced a substantial number of hours on that side of things.  It allowed us to grow even faster by focusing on other areas of the business.  We saved at least 15 -20 hours per week by using StarShipIT.

I would recommend to any new business starting out, to identify what will allow you to simplify your processes.  Identify which are going to take the most time and look for a solution to free up time so you can focus on other things.  Get on to that ASAP.  And to take it even further, it looks more professional to your customers and this has been a massive benefit for us.

With the StarShipIT integration it is simple to get through all the orders quickly and to make sure all the orders have been input correctly.

Read the full story over on the blog.  

We spoke with Terry Meyer, director and co-founder of Miann & Co, to find out more about how he and his wife Rebecca took a small range of natural children’s toys and turned it into a lifestyle brand shipping 1200 orders per month, globally. What was the inspiration behind your business? We started La De Dah Kids started back in 2010, after the birth of our second son.  Our son suffered from allergies and eczema and it was hard to find toys that were using natural fibres like 100% cotton.   Although there were a lot of plush toys on the market, it was hard to find toys that had a handmade feel to them. We saw a gap in the market for this type of children’s product and La De Dah Kids (now rebranded as Miann & Co) was born. What was life like before StarShipIT ? Just trying to get orders out was so time consuming!  When we first started out, we used to take the parcels to the over the counter service at the local post office. We then moved to eParcel which saved some time but there was still a lot of time involved in data entry and getting addresses and printing labels to then put on the parcels.

With StarShipIT, all we need to do is pack the order and print the labels.  In terms of actual time saved, it equates to almost one full time person in busy times doing those processes which saves us over $40,000 a year”.

How did you discover StarShipIT? Integration with TradeGecko and Shopify was our primary requirement for a shipping integration, as well as being able to integrate with both Aus Post and DHL to cover both domestic and international shipping.  For us it was all about trying to find programs that would integrate with each other, since we needed a more seamless operations system.  StarShipIT ticked all the boxes for us. Key benefits since using StarShipIT? One of the biggest headaches we faced with shipping internationally was around the paperwork just for one order.  2 sets of forms for every shipment customs forms, address details, weights, declarations, signed etc – but with StarShipIT we can now do an automatic lodgement – now all we have to do is print the labels.  Customs forms are sent to DHL automatically and now we only need one label which has saved us a lot of time in terms of paperwork and the labels etc! Since using StarShipIT, we have reduced the amount of time we spend on admin and shipping dramatically.  All the orders are in there, the addresses are there – if a customer has keyed in an incorrect address, we can easily correct it.  We no longer have to flick between multiple systems and spreadsheets. And the support is excellent, which was critical for our business.

“Before StarShipIT we used to waste a lot of time by having to manually enter addresses and parcel weights before we could print postage labels for our orders.   StarShipIT integrates with TradeGecko where all the customer and order details for our wholesale and online orders are pulled and with a Thermal printer we can now print labels in seconds.  All of our orders are on one screen and we don’t have to reference multiple systems, which saves a lot of time.  Our peak periods are now a breeze and packing orders takes half the time it used to.”

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"Working with StarShipIT has been a super smart move for our business. Online retail is fast, and as an on-demand manufacturer in this space, it means ease of use, speed, and accuracy in your shipment tracking software become that much more important."

We spoke to James Tinsley, Founder of FitMyCar, about his journey to become this year’s StarTrack ORIAS Best New Online Retailer. So how did it all get started, what's the inspiration behind it? I was originally an engineer for the Department of Defence (Land Systems), making sure the vehicles we deployed were well maintained and fit for purpose. Prior to that I worked at Autobarn as sales assistant, so I’ve always had an interest in the automotive industry in one way or another. For me, that interest naturally translated into starting some niche online businesses selling auto parts and I guess FitMyCar is the summary of all the experiences I have had. A couple of products we sell today were the best selling from previous online businesses, so I knew FitMyCar as a platform would work and give us a scalable business model we could grow from. We will always be in the made-to-fit auto accessories space and will look to grow our range of products around this category with a focus on growing our manufacturer to consumer ranges. What is your role/responsibilities? I do a bit of everything – from processing orders, answering phones, doing operational stuff – on a really busy day I will be in the warehouse packing orders. When I have time, I work on strategy, new products and the books etc. I run the business but I am also get involved across the day-to-day operations. Who else in involved (size of team, roles they play etc)? We have 13 staff in Melbourne, 2 in the Philippines working on website full-time and one customer service operator in the US. How did you feel when you heard you were a finalist in the ORIAS for best new online retailer? It was a massive surprise, we were really happy with that result – it was really validating for everything we have been working on and the growth we’ve had so far. Just to get that recognition on its own is a super achievement and we couldn’t be happier with it. What did you and the team do to celebrate your win? Two of the team were there sending me text updates as the night went on, and as soon as they told me, it just felt incredible. They knew they were up against tough competition so to take out the win, we were really really happy. To celebrate, we had a jumping castle setup in the factory and enjoyed a bit of a party. What was life like before StarShipIT? Before StarShipIT we were using eParcel. Which meant there was no barcoding and no auto generation of labels. We would bulk upload our shipments into eParcel, then we would have to bulk print labels and we would have to sort those to orders and then go and pack orders. What that meant for us was the potential for errors and mistakes was a lot higher - it did cause us a lot of grief. Australia Post used to charge us around $1000 bucks a month in manifesting penalties alone. The more orders you do, the more unmanageable that solution is. What were the key factors when you selected a shipping technology solution? We wanted to have a solution that would allow bar-code scanning, instant single scan label generation, centralised tracking, multiple carriers and a solution that would integrate with our website we were building through an API (custom built website so we wanted to control this through the API ourselves) and we got all this from StarShipIT. Tell us about shipping internationally We ship anywhere from 800 to 1200 orders a week to AU, NZ, US and anywhere else in the world from our warehouse in Melbourne. The bulk of our international orders go to the US. The advantage we have is that we can use multiple carriers and preset them in StarShipIT for our requirements. For example, we use AusPost for domestic shipping and DHL Express for international. The advantage we have with DHL is that it is a single label. They take all the paperwork electronically and print a single thermal label. What is life like now using StarShipIT? It’s part of our business system now. Our website generates a manufacturing summary for each order that is used to manufacture the product to the customers specification. That label carries right through to the end process, when the barcode on that label is scanned to mark the order as completed then again to print the post label. Literally no extra processes are required – it is fully ingrained in our business process. What benefits do you experience with StarShipIT? Using StarShipIT saves us considerably more time than 5 minutes an order. For us, it’s not just the time saving, it’s the reliability, the accuracy and cost savings. The goal for us is to get the order right first time. Having systems in place that allow you to make mistakes as you grow just multiplies the problems. We definitely benefit from the time saving that StarShipIT provides but the other benefits that are less measurable are just as important. What's in the future for Fit My Car? We will continue to develop new products, and we have some new ones due to launch end of this year and we will go from there. We want to continue our upwards trajectory and continue the good growth we have seen both here and in the US. What keeps you awake at night? Time! Or lack of! What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs who would love to follow in your footsteps and start an online business? My observations of the industry, particularly around eCommerce are that if I was starting again, I would say look for a product that is in a niche and that you can control as much as possible – your margins, your market etc, so that it is a sustainable business. What tips would you give other online retailers that you think they would benefit from? I like to have the control and I like to control the system in house. A lot of people look for perfection, especially in the systems they use. The reality is that a lot of systems are built for the wider market, so be a bit accommodating, understand that you will need to develop your systems around the systems that are available, and if you are willing to do that, you can develop a really good solution. If you do this, you will end up with a really good solution and partner for your business. Rather than disrupt your business every 6 or 12 months as you keep trying to improve the system, find the best fit, work around it and then worry about the hundred percent growth.

"Before StarShipIT, we suffered the pain of bulk upload & print of shipping labels. Understandably, this introduced human error into our fulfilment processes as pick & pack staff matched labels to orders. Not a great situation to be in. This seemingly small process glitch increased the chance of a customer receiving the wrong order… and we hated that possibility! Awesome service is something we strive for with every customer and so we began the search for a better solution. For us, that solution is StarShipIT. Working with the software is a bit like having a staffer who speaks with all your national and international freighters, and feeds tracking information back to customers (and staff) in almost real-time. It’s prints labels on-demand, just like us, and has saved countless hours which can redirected into other areas of the business." James Tinsley, Founder, Fitmycar Keen to try StarShipIT for yourself and get your shipping in shape? Sign up for a FREE 30 day trial and we will be in touch to get you set up and shipping straight away!

What was the inspiration behind Arlo & Co? A teacher by trade, I was on maternity leave with a 19 month old, an 8 week old, and a crave for creativity. Suddenly, my career focus shifted, and the need to get back to doing something meaningful, creative and independent - but still flexible - was bubbling. I'd already been making name plaques, cake toppers and nursery mobiles for friends and family for a while - but it was really just a hobby. A lot of encouragement from all friends and family saw me finally take the plunge. So, with some basic photography of my first ideas, and a 'just start somewhere' approach, I began using Instagram as my only marketing tool, and launched Arlo & Co. I made the products in our makeshift garage studio, and ran the business from the kitchen bench, often while breastfeeding an irritable baby. Driven by a genuine 'can do' attitude, I was blissfully naive, but giddy with excitement. And as the virtual till began to ring, I realised my hunch about the need for more personalised, high quality, beautiful decor and gifts, in a style that was innovative, was spot on. Six months in, I brought my husband on full-time as my right-hand man, and we’ve grown from there. What was life like before StarShipIT? We know our customers are the lifeblood of our business. So we invest time and resources into regularly talking to them, hearing their feedback, and using those insights to increase our overall customer experience. Kicking the business off with a ‘just start somewhere attitude’ meant that I had to experiment with with several systems and processes. One of those being fulfillment. Imagine this, for a moment… Two toddlers, 3 large crates of parcels, and a slow moving queue at the Post Office - twice a day! Now throw in printing off addresses individually and fulfilling all shipped orders individually too (trying to get more than 8 number and letter combos right in a row as the kids pull at you because they’re bored). That was a gargantuan obstacle as our production volumes skyrocketed and our growing customer list became mommental. So we invested in cloud software StarShippIT and organised Australia Post parcel pickups meaning we stopped double handling data and automated tracking status communication with customers. In a nutshell? Lifesaver. What made you decide to partner with StarShipIT? The decision to partner with StarShipIT was an easy one for us. The ability to integrate our Shopify website platform across multiple shipping carriers was an important detail for us. The set up was simple, and the StarShipIT support team readily available when needed. We ship over 300 orders a week on average. Using the StarShipIT system, we are able to process far more orders per day than manually. I’d estimate that we save 30-40% of our packaging and order fulfillment time - which we can now use in other important areas of our business. What's in the future for Arlo & Co? We have some exciting things planned for Arlo & Co. We just released our new Father’s Day Collection and over the next few months, we’ve got plans for some product redesigns, and a new Christmas Collection too. In addition to that we’ll be expanding our product offering to include a more diverse wedding/celebrations range and we’ll also be launching a corporate gifting range too. How did you feel when you found out you were a finalist in this year's ORIAS? I think it’s fair to say that the caliber of finalists for the People’s Choice, Small Business award this year is incredible. Just by being named finalist alongside those other amazing companies - some of which we look to as role models *cough* Hunting For George *cough* - we feel like, in a way, that’s already a big win for us. What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs who would love to follow in your footsteps and start an online business? Do your research. You don’t have to spend years on it, but make sure you have a basic understanding of who your customers will be, who your competitors are, and what your unique value proposition is. In retrospect, if I could do it all again, I’d set up quality systems much sooner. So I’d say that if you’re planning on starting an online business, by all means, stick to what your budget offers in terms of website, CRM, automation, etc. but make sure you’re upgrading as soon as you can to keep the customer experience as smooth as possible. Happy customers are often returning customers. And they’re the ones that spread word about your business. And finally, I’d suggest being ready to take risks. The risks should be calculated and strategic, but they’ll be risks nonetheless, and if you’re not prepared to take them, it will probably take a lot longer to grow your business.

 So how did it all get started, what's the inspiration behind it? “My husband Magnus and myself were both working full time when we suffered the loss of a family member and needed a distraction.  We had wanted to do something for ourselves for a while and it felt like the right time to start our own business.  We knew it had to be online and it needed to be something we were passionate about.  I have a media background and am passionate about fashion and Magnus worked in Fashion/IT – so we decided to hone in on fashion, specifically clothing to be purchased by females.  This led us to fashionable kids clothing.  There weren’t many others doing it back then - we saw a gap in the market and decided to go for it.” Today, Dominique runs the day to day operations with the support of casual staff when needed. Magnus assists behind the scenes with technology and infrastructure support. What is your role/key responsibilities?  I am across most areas of the business.  I do all the buying, customer support (not direct customer service) but any customer service issues get escalated to me.   I also manage the website projects, social media – basically all sales and marketing.  Everything else is outsourced – we have some casual staff that do picking and packing and customer service.  In the early days, Magnus set up systems where everything is automated, which although a big outlay at the time, has really paid off.  It has allowed us to grow into them and now we really need them and we haven’t had to make any changes that would interrupt the business. When you first embarked on your online retailing journey, what were some of the challenges you faced and how did you overcome them? We were fortunate as Magnus has a background in Finance and IT within the fashion industry, so he knew about the issues and risks and used systems to overcome them.  Magnus ensured we had the technology already set up for when we scaled up.  We utilised automation across all areas of the business to take advantage of efficiencies and reduce staff costs.  For example, automated order imports and barcode scanning prevents human error, and email workflows enable orders to continually trickle through without quiet periods. Were things ever so hard you wanted to give up?  If yes, how did you push through? “We went with a 3PL for around 6 months – it was a horrible experience!  Orders were being sent out wrong then the replacement orders would be sent out wrong!”. Dom and Magnus even had a new baby during this challenging time and Dom was working all through the night from her hospital bed trying to sort things out. “It’s so risky when you use third parties, some of them just don’t care – they do their shifts and go home.  It’s not like when you own the business”. Dom got through this challenging time with sheer bloody determination and now that she has the control back again, things are running smoothly once more.  “Magnus is keen to try a 3PL company again but I am definitely not ready just yet!” You have recently rebranded to Yoko or You Only Kid Once – tell me about that…what was the inspiration behind the new brand?  About a year in, we wanted to change the name as it felt like Baby Dino and our logo didn’t really reflect who we were.  We didn’t want to be associated with just baby products any longer and as there’s also a Baby Dino in the UK that gets a lot of complaints, we didn’t want to be confused with them.  We found a cool agency who resonated with who we were and we briefed them.  We wanted something cool and confident and a little bit cheeky – and they came up with You Only Kid Once or YOKO for short! What was life like before StarShipIT? “There wasn’t really a time without StarShipIT.  Baby Dino was actually one of StarShipIT’s beta users.  We used it right pretty much right from the start as we recognised the value in automation.”  Recommended by another user, Magnus worked with George Plummer, Founder of StarShipIT from the beginning, during the software’s beta phase, and has been with StarShipIT ever since.  “We can’t imagine being without it.   We have been using StarShipIT since the very beginning and it’s ingrained in our processes.  When it very occasionally doesn’t work, we wonder “what shall we do?!” What were the key factors in selecting a shipping technology solution? Automation was the key factor for us – cutting out manual processes, removing human errors, not wasting time doing admin that could be automated.  There’s not much margin in retail stores so we are prepared to do whatever we can to keep the costs down. Do you ship internationally? We used to offer free shipping with a minimum spend which was a point of difference at the time and we grew our customer base very quickly. But as shipping costs have increased, and other online retailers are now offering free shipping too, we are now focused on our local market. We can’t compete with shipping times internationally unless we open a warehouse overseas. International was around 30% of the business, but now it’s only around 5-10%. What advice can you offer others looking at shipping internationally? Shipping times and cost are always going to be a challenge with international shipping, the only way to compete with international stores is to create international warehouses.  The actual process to ship internationally is quite straight forward, but there are big pricing differences between providers so make sure you research all options. What benefits have you seen since implementing StarShipIT? Without StarShipIT we would have to copy and paste every order which exposes us to potential issues around accuracy.  StarShipIT is a big time saver fixing incorrect addresses.  We estimate a saving of over 15 hours per week.  The team is capable of processing around 60 orders per hour. Without StarShipIT, this would probably be reduced to less than 20.  So effectively we can process 3 times the amount of orders in the same time, with an estimated time savings of over 15 hours per week! What's in the future for Yoko? This is our first year offering children’s apparel up to 10 years.  This was a big part of the reasoning behind our new brand name.  With this change in offering, we’re now looking at lots of new brands to bring on board.  We have Industry Kids coming into stock this month and at this stage we are the only online retailer with this brand which is really exciting for us and our customers. Where would you like to see the company in the next year? Re-branding was our big goal for this year which we have achieved.  Our overarching goal is to be the kind of brand that people can’t imagine not being around.  To become a household name is probably our main goal! What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs who would love to follow in your footsteps and start an online business? Be prepared to lose cash!  You need to treat it like a business, not a hobby so in turn you have to expect to spend money on it.  You need to be a bit of a risk taker. Keen to try StarShipIT for yourself? Sign up for a free month's trial, we will be in touch to help you get setup so you can start shipping straight away!