Indie Brand Builder: how to build a successful business online

As soon as I started talking to connect Mike, I knew we had found the right partner - he was right alongside with me in trying to understand our technology infrastructure so that we could automate the bulk of our financial processing. In addition I liked their pricing model which is based on a flat monthly fee which includes all of our accounting technology and include an unlimited amount of support - a huge change from wondering how much it would cost to pick up the phone and ask my accountant a few questions.

In this is episode of the Indie Brand Builder podcast, I speak with Alyssa Kerbel of Mini Mioche. Alyssa shares the string of disappointments and challenges that lead to her eventual insight and decision to open her own retail location, essentially become a vertically integrated indie brand – after many people told her she was crazy to do so.

Alyssa Kerbel of Mini Mioche began her entrepreneurial journey as the founder of her own wholesale fashion sales agency. After she had her first child she spotted a lack of  good quality, simple, organic infant and kids basics, so Alyssa drew upon her fashion industry background and started the children’s apparel brand Mini Mioche which she has grown into a 7 figure business that is sold through her two Toronto based retail locations as well as worldwide through her online store  minimioche.com

Alyssa credits her impatience with allowing her to quickly change direction when she wasn’t getting the results she wanted. However today she is leading a rapidly growing 7 – figure business both online and through her 2 retail locations, with plans to open more.

Another reason to love Mini Mioche is that Alyssa has taken her environmental commitment extremely seriously. All of the clothes are mad right here in Toronto at  their workshop/factory. The brand is environmentally friendly, using organic cotton yarn which is dyed using non-toxic, re-usable dyes. Marketing materials and bags are printed on recycled matter so they don’t ship anything in unnecessary plastic. 

“Definitely having to learn the numbers If you don’t know your numbers and where your business stands, it’s probably not going to work.”

Alyssa’s advice to young entrepreneurs

“Prepare yourself for a really insane amount of work. It’s extremely rewarding but it requires everything you have. You have to be extremely passionate about it you have to live and breathe it to make it work.”

To Learn more about Alyssa Kerbel of Mini Mioche visit www.minimioche.com

The purpose of this brief episode is to provide you with some background on who I am and what Indie brand Builder is all about.

I am an Indie Brand Builder myself. I am a partner and the Chief Marketing Officer at SoYoung, a brand of lifestyle bags for families that my wife, Catherine,  started in our living room about 10 years ago.

You can learn more about SoYoung at www.soyoung.ca or visit www.indiebrandbuilder.com and you’ll find a link under the about me section.