How we started our own business- Hippie Kids at only 16 & 18....

Hippie Kids is a womens and mens online and sometimes on wheels clothing store. Started by us, two sisters Scooby and Kissie at just the age of 18 and 16. With just a day dream and adventurous spirit we started our company Hippie Kids.

If you have a dream thats the best place to start! Here's some things we first got going when we started Hippie Kids. 

It will help you get a better understanding of where you are with your business and where you would like to see it go. There are plenty of outlines on business plans to give you a idea on yours.

Business License 

Our first thing we did, our first move as entrepreneurs was getting our Business License- Hippie Kids LLC (Limited Liability Company) Since it was just the two of us starting out we decided an LLC was best for us and Hippie Kids. 

Then we headed over to LGE, and made a Business account with them. We wanted to have a something separate from our personal so that we for one didn't get confused or two tempted to spend the store's money on personal stuff....like shopping sprees lol! 

Hippie Kids was started as more of a boutique styled business, so we knew we needed a Tax ID number/ EIN essentially a wholesale number. A boutique is where you buy wholesale from different designers. That was the angle we first took Hippie Kids since we were just starting out and designing right off the back requires a lot of money and time. So we went the wholesale route at first so we knew we needed to get into the mart. Which see this article on what it takes to get in- The typical Credentials to get into a trade show. 

I won't forget our first experience at the mart it was seriously magical to us. We were overwhelmed with the hospitality from the Atlanta Apparel Mart. They have breakfast ready for you, free gifts. And every showroom was giving out something lol we felt like two kids trick or treating. Placing our first order was such a cool moment. We were so clueless, thank the lord our mom was with us. Some showrooms didn't take us serious, thought we didn't own our own company just thought we were coming to look and not buy probably because of our age. They were wrong and over the years we have made and grown new relationships with different labels and brands. We have been inspired and inspired other brands and show reps. So below is one of our first milestones as little business women. Thanks mom for the photo! 

We had to come up with something that represented our brand and who we were and would be recognizable to others. We made sure to have the bus in the logo and a seventies font for our name. Since our brand is revolved around a seventies aesthetic. 

When we started Hippie Kids, we actually started it on etsy... made a lot of decent sales and then decided it was time to upgrade to a website with more tools and features. We tried Wix for a few weeks... We weren't in love with the feel and look of it. It didn't fit our Hippie Kids aesthetic... it just didn't fit us but doesn't mean its not a good one to go with. We landed on Sqaurespace we loved the overall vibes and tools were easier for us to use. We bought our domain and started creating. Sqaurespace is amazing it has a lot of tools and it is an amazing blogging platform. We recently switched to Shopify... honestly we are still figuring out all the quirks of it. But its been great so far. 

What are people going to type into google to find you?

It was crazy our demographics were mainly in Australia and California. It took us a few months to actually get an order from our home state- Georgia. So these packages were going internationally and to the west coast. I think its an amazing thing that Hippie Kids has landed in different countries...Some we have no clue to pronounce lol! 

Every thing is a learning experience in the beginning there will be a lot of trial and error. Lol well at least we sure had a lot and still do...(Blog post coming soon on that lol). So it took us a while to figure out shipping... Since in the beginning we were just walking into the post office and individually sending each one off and waiting in line for at least 20 minutes or more. We were not aware of shipping tools online...Like ship station which connects to our site which is amazing and perfect for us. First class is the cheapest, but sometimes depending on the weight your better option is to go with priority mail- Which will get there faster & cheaper in some cases. 

Picture of our first orders! (One was to Australia!)

 

One of our favorites aspects of Hippie Kids is popping up shop at different festivals and pop up shops. It gives us a day to feel what its like to have a brick and mortar. We love to put a face to our customers and meet new ones. It also gives us a feel for the location we are setting up sand gives us an idea how foot traffic in that area would actually be if we were to ever permanently set up shop. Plus we just love daisy and setting up with her. 

This year we will be set up next at:

Come see us!

When we first started out it was Kissie photographing me then me photographing her. Which we still do and love to do. Because no one can capture our vision like us, since its our vision. But the Kids at scad are pretty darn good. We became friends with Drew McCrary which is an amazing artist and friend. And really was a huge part of our creative process with Hippie Kids in the beggining. He was always willing to shoot and do creative projects with us. While Kissie was still growing as a photographer he helped her teaching her new things on set. As far as modeling we love new looks, natural, raw and ethnic. So we are always on the hunt for new faces signed or not signed. Scooby modeled at Factor and thats what gave her a good eye for the Hippie Kids look. Plus friends who loved to be in front of the camera looking groovy in Hippie Kids.

(Providence Canyon Shoot- We love to shoot in unique places that make you stop and think where exactly is that. This is the little canyon in Georgia! So cool & a must see! Great for shooting.)

Studio Shoot at the Goat farm

It was Easter day in 2013 when we drove all the way to Asheville, NC to see our soon to be bus. We saw an ad on craigslist which we were really skeptical about... The main thing to look for when buying a vw bus is rust. From the pictures it looked like the whole bus was rusted on the front. But it was thankfully only rustroluem. 

 

Kissie and I had to make goals if we wanted Hippie Kids to go anywhere. We set personal goals for ourselves and company goals for where we wanted to see Hippie Kids go and grow. Let me tell you we are still working on achieving those goals, but it is so rewarding to reach a goal. You have to have faith your company can achieve anything and everything you put your mind and trust in, passion, you definitely want your armor of God on... not everyone is going to see your vision sadly. They may tell you to quit it. But when people do see your vision and encourage your dream it wipes out all the negativity. But having a focus and a goal will keep you looking ahead. Heres some of our goals. Goals we reached & goals we still have set for ourselves. 

She got a camera and underwater camera case. 

January 2017 we did just that

This is a goal of ours that we haven't achieved yet. We don't think finically it is the best for us. Plus we are not sure where we want to land yet. So one day y'all! We can't wait!

In the meantime stay groovy!

Comment below any questions you have for us!