Gift search leads Melanie to start web sales business (From The Northern Echo)

Gift search leads Melanie to start web sales business

9:57am Tuesday 5th August 2008 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(0)

A SCHOOL nurse is running a web-based business while not immunising children.

Melanie Smith still works full-time providing care and passing on health messages to children at schools in Darlington.

But after a fruitless search for an original gift to celebrate the birth of her niece, she decided to set up a business selling baby goods.

The Monkey’s Pyjamas launched on the web in February and has proved so successful that Ms Smith, of Crook, County Durham, plans to extend her business to source items from the US and Australia.

She worked with business support agency Business Link to get her project off the ground.

She said: “When my brother’s daughter was born, I was disappointed that I could not find original, fun clothing for her.

“A lot of people rely on the high street and end up making similar purchases. I knew there must be something more original out there, but did not know where to find it.”

She found the help of Business Link invaluable, and said: “Setting up a business can be daunting, complicated and time-consuming.

“I was working and studying at the time and I was not sure if I could manage setting up a business, too. I was also nervous about cash flow and taxation.

“Business Link helped me identify what I wanted to do. They put me in touch with a company to set up the website and helped me source and apply for financial support towards the cost of setting up the website.

“They also made me realise that starting a business would not be high pressure from the start, that the level of work would progress as the business developed, and they were there to help me cope with every detail. Business Link gave me the confidence to achieve my dream.”

The website sells British-made clothes, toys and accessories by brands such as Inch Blue, Bob and Blossom and No Added Sugar.

The website is at themonkeyspyjamas.com For advice from Business Link, go to businesslink.gov.uk/north east or call 0845-600-9006.