Modern Languages graduate Freya Samuel has created an e-commerce website which is aimed at yoga enthusiasts. Kanga Yoga sources East African fabric and turns it into yoga accessories, namely mat straps and bags.
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Freya Samuel's story
Kanga Yoga is an eCommerce website selling yoga accessories, including yoga mat bags and yoga mat straps, which I make by hand in the UK from beautiful East African kanga fabric. The business also donates 10% of all sales to a charity based in Nairobi, Kenya, which empowers women through employment - it has been a real pleasure working with them so far.
I received funding from the B-Enterprising team which has been invaluable in making my business idea a reality, and I have been able to overcome a big milestone that would have been very difficult without the investment: the website!
I worked with a really skilled web designer to come up with a brand identity that is cohesive across the website. We also had to design all the individual pages, and decide how to lay out the online shop - this last part was difficult, as every item is unique and has to be updated frequently. However, after lots of hard work we came up with a design that works seamlessly, and a website that I am really proud of. There are a lot of costs involved with setting up a high-quality website, and for an eCommerce business this is especially important.
I have learnt a lot about setting up an eCommerce business in my first few weeks: from producing a high-quality website, to organising branding, packaging, and delivery, to navigating the maze of online marketing, I still have so much to learn and lots of new avenues to explore. I am really excited to see what the future holds for Kanga Yoga.