A moment of retail clarity with... Ruby and Freddies

We had the pleasure of talking to Amanda Dilworth, the founder of the British baby wear range Ruby and Freddies. It was an absolute delight to chat to her and find out more about her business journey.

How did your business come about?

I was a nursery teacher prior to having children and starting the business. I wanted to have my own nursery school and at age 21 was looking at premises but had a good job at the time and worked with a great team so decided to stick to that, but clearly having my own business is inbuilt in me. Once I had children I still wanted to run my own business but wanted to do something that enabled me to stay at home with them at the same time.

I think with any business, over time, they change and develop. To keep a business interesting to your customers and to keep people coming back you have to keep bringing out new items. I used to buy in shoes to sell at Christmas and they sold so well so it seemed the next sensible step for my brand, as scary as it was, to manufacture my own. Life would be boring if we didn’t take the odd risk right?

What are your top tips for running an online childrenswear business?

Always be willing to learn something new.  Hurdles are there to be jumped not to stop you in your tracks. Be sensible and practical when making decisions.

What has been the highlight of your business experience to date?

People wanting to buy my products which enabled my business to grow.  Having meetings with buyers of iconic hotels and stores, even when nothing comes of it, it’s right up there with being able to learn and grow and feel great about my brand that people are interested in it enough to give me their time.

What has been the biggest surprise success story in your product range?

I have found over the almost 8 years of running my company that products come and go depending on what’s popular at the time. The bouquets have always been popular, they give the wow factor. It tends to be corporate gifts and baby showers that the bouquets are purchased for as they are a higher priced gift but lately we’ve seen a huge increase in shoes and baby hampers as the go-to gift.

What do you love about your brand?

I love everything, seriously I do.  I love how it began, I love that it’s a family business through and through, I love my products, I love that I can be at home with my kids.  One thing I hear a lot is customers thanking me for going the extra mile.  I want people to love my brand as much as I do so that’s really important!

Running a business is hard work, how do you give yourself a break?

What’s a break?? Haha! I love the theatre, listening to music, time with hubby and the kids, a hot candlelit bath and a good Netflix series.

If you could run another brand/shop/retailer for one day, which one would it be and why?

Oh my word that’s a tough one! It would probably be one of the big iconic London department stores, I’d love to run a team (I miss working in a team), choose the brands they stock and give my brand a nice chunk of floor space - haha!