Fair trade blog -faireire.ie

Well this first week in business is one i don't want to repeat again in a hurry, that said i have learnt some lessons.  I went to a show in Cork hoping, in fact believing that they would love our fair trade products and we would make a healthy profit.  Despite my best efforts, great products and a strong display sales were not strong enough so we made a loss. 

 

Ok most companies don't make profit in their first year - but everyone of our market tests produced profit so hearing customers saying "i like it but i don't need it" sparked total panic in me.  I arrived home totally drained and very sad and to be honest totally doubting our business idea,  But within hours i was wandering round the Boyne Valley Hotel, planning room layout for our first commercial event and believing in us again.

 

I have decided to refocus our event plan for this year in the light of listening to customers and other traders.  In this deep recession it is pointless to spend every penny you have attending overpriced events (sorry but we organise events too and know the costs).  I think there is a move in Ireland now toward finding bargains on the internet, meaning better profit margins and spare money for us to buy more fashion and trend led goods.

 

To top off a roller coaster week we then get a message from the wonderful Liz Greehy of Stylebible.ie saying we have been included in a great article on fair trade fashions in Social and Personal.  Reading her article reminded and reinforced my belief in our business idea.  It also left me on a high and looking forward to week two in business. 

 

 

 

 

Checking our website stats tonight (how sad!) and i noticed a link from www.prudence.ie , like Alice down the rabbit hole i followed it to find Fair Eire mentioned in a great article on fair trade fashions. 

 

I was thrilled to find us mentioned in the same breath as People Tree, the brand which first showed me that style and fair trade are a great mix.  Even more thrilling was the fact that the writer praised our pricing saying " (Fair Eire is) much lower than most high-street stores on the price point and a lot higher on the ethical value". This is the aim of our company so i know we must be delivering something the market wants. 

 

I take onboard the comments about our designs - but hey i know we are not hitting the high fashion stakes yet.  I need to learn tonnes about fashion buying, trends, colours etc and i can't buy much at the moment because we have started up with just 1000 euro...so funds are tight. 

 

But thats our entire raison d'etre laid out in one article - beautiful fair trade fashions at great prices.  Give me a year and we will deliver on both those goals!

 

 

How apt that we should make the big switch from dole que to business owners during fair trade fortnight - i think that is poetic. 

 

For those of you that don't know what i am on about this fair trade fortnight we are all making the Big Switch - switch anything from your tea, chocolate or even roses to fair trade ones.

 

I hope our choice to launch a fair trade company sooner than waste one more day looking for jobs that just aren't out there (due only to the recession) will prove fruitful.  By this i mean create an successful business, giving our family security, and also help producers in developing countries to improve their lives and their families through fair trade.

 

We want to be Irelands biggest fair trade retailer, supplier and wholesale company.  Today was the first of many we will have in business i hope!

 

Well fair trade fortnight is here and this year we are all being asked to make a BIG SWAP... from our normal goods like roses, coffee, bananas to fair trade ones. 

 

We are swapping FAS courses and job hunting for running Ireland's newest fair trade business...is that a big enough swap for fair trade fortnight? 

 

Swapping to fair trade goods is really easy as most supermarkets stock at least the basic fair trade goods - coffee, tea and bananas but if your looking for fair trade fashions why not check out our new range at www.faireire.ie. 

 

With unique items, handmade to the highest standards using ancient traditional techniques fair trade goods make brilliant buys - and your not likely to see the world and his wife wearing them in the pub either!

Well after almost a year of planning, some market testing and a whole lot of soul searching the launch of our new company is nearly here.  Fair Eire (Ireland's newest Fair Trade retailer/wholesaler) will begin trading on 1st March...YIPEEEEEEEEEEE.

 

We are just waiting for the business to become an LTD - gives us this great corporate tax break for three years.  This meant we have now managed to register (and dissolve) a partnership and a sole trader name with Companies Registration Office (CRO) in the last few months.  They must wonder what kind of eijjits are setting up this business.