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.
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.