Did you know that you can turn everyday experiences into great toy ideas? Today’s podcast guest noticed that her toddler loved to play with pretend food toys. However, she saw that the food toys on the market didn’t represent what was popular in Hawai’i, where she lives. So, she created a toy company that started with Hawai’ian food toy sets and has now branched out with toys that represent other cuisines found in Hawai’i like Chinese, Vietnamese, and Japanese.

April Hail has lived in Hawai’i for between 20 and 30 years of her life. There, she started Keiki KauKau, after being inspired by her kids’ play patterns and the popular foods in Hawai’i. April shares about the struggles of being a parent and being an entrepreneur who is running a small one-person company. Her kids inspired her to create the business, but she also seeks to have balance so she can spend plenty of time with them. You’ll also learn about the unique struggles of importing from China to Hawai’i while also selling to the mainland US, which shipping platform you may want to try to save money, and advice on how to market a niche toy.


EPISODE CLIFF NOTES:

• Find out the benefits of starting a niche company in a small community.  [00:06:26]
• Find out which products are often cheaper: online or in-store. [00:10:32]
• Learn why shipping international products to Hawai’i is particularly costly and difficult. [00:11:51]
• Find out about an easy shipping website that could help you save money on shipping costs. [00:17:10] 
• Learn when you should hire someone to do your marketing for you. [00:20:54]
• Find out about the unique history of Hawai’i that has led it to become the most multicultural state. [00:22:29]
• Learn the value of offering niche products that people can relate to. [00:26:55]
• Find out what April finds difficult about being a solo entrepreneur. [00:28:01]
• Learn April’s best piece of advice for getting started with a niche product in the toy industry. [00:37:09]
• Find out how to target layered niches for even more specialization in the toy industry. [00:40:14]

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
For the links and resources mentioned in this episode, head over to the episode page at https://www.thetoycoach.com/166

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