This is a typical day for a Poly student (not in any particular sequence):
1. Attend lessons
2. Hang out with friends
3. Do homework
4. Surf the Internet
5. Eat
6. Sleep
Well, this is Sophia.
And this is her typical day (also not in any particular sequence):
1. Lessons and project discussions from morning till late afternoon
2. Filing invoices
3. Replying emails
4. Packing parcels
5. Sending parcels out
6. Collecting stocks
7. Attending a photoshoot
8. Editing the photos.
Wowed? Well, you should be! This is a day in the life of a teenage entrepreneur. 19 year old Business Studies student Sophia Chong has been running a blog shop since she was 18. This innovative teenager was inspired by Juice, a local magazine that covers music, fashion and entertainment.
The name of her blog shop, Juice Market, was named as such because Sophia “was reading through Juice magazine and was really inspired by them so that explains the 'juice'. As for market, I wanted my online store to have a wide variety of items like a market thus I named it "The Juice Market”.
Her online store is home to items such as:
This ruby leopard print slouch,
This Royal Umbrellia Top,
And this pair of Skull High Waisted Shorts
Drooling already? Well, you can check out some of The Juice Market's collection
Here!
What are sales like, then?
As Sophia has a “pretty good” amount of contacts in her mailing list, The Juice Market receives quite a number of hits whenever new products are launched. Most of the pieces that she puts out on sale are sold out and sales per month can range between $1000 and $5000. That’s quite a neat sum of money! Well, being a self sufficient and sensible young lady, Sophia uses her hard earned money to get her by and has in fact, started saving up for her University education. The money she saves could also be used as capital for future business investments.
With so many blog shops popping up all over the place, what sets hers apart from others? For one, you certainly do not see many blog shops marketing swimwear. Apart from that, Sophia strives to maintain a personal relationship with her customers and treats them like friends.
Sophia with some of her prized possessions.
When she first started out, Sophia did not expect such raging business. “I started it in the name of interest and fun instead of a money making business or brand recognition”.
However, as every good businessman (in this case, businesswoman) knows, diversifying is the key to reach out to a wider audience, which will in turn lead to a larger customer base and more profit. Therefore, Sophia has decided to launch JUICESEA, the swimwear line of Juice Market. The inspiration behind coming up with this expansion was based on her personal experience. Sophia struggled to find a piece of decent looking and affordable swimming costume even after scouring the Internet for ages. She “realised that there are so many nice designs around but they are either branded or not available in Singapore”. The creative side of her “love(s) how basic things like swimwear can be made beautiful” too.
Just by talking to her about her blog shop business, you would think the Sophia is a full time businesswoman. She single handedly runs the entire enterprise- she buys and restocks the clothes, models in them, launches them, replies queries from customers and sends out their items.
Sophia preparing for a photoshoot.
The model hard at work...
However, she is just a student who has just finished her final exams and will be starting out on her third year attachment soon. Her successful business does come at a price, though. Her online blog shop takes up most of her weekends. “I usually launch my collections on Sunday so my Friday and Saturday would be burnt just to prepare for the launch” Sophia shared. “Time is definitely a big factor as I’m juggling between my studies (and) Juice Market… so sometimes I have to stay up till 3am or 4am to reply all my customers and pack their parcels.”
Like any typical business, Sophia does encounter difficult customers too. “I do get quite a few dead buyers or buyers who are very demanding, and even a few who tried to cheat by saying they have made payment when they have not, but I've learnt along the way on how to deal with these customers. It isn't easy to smile it off when I face bad customers especially on a bad day but I'll still try to give in to them.” Certainly handled like a mature businesswoman!
Here are some of Sophia’s parting words to aspiring blog shop owners: “Success comes with passion and diligence. You must be willing to make sacrifices, work very hard and not give up easily. The whole journey will be a great learning experience.”
Photos courtesy of Sophia and The Juice Market.
Here's a special treat exclusively for you! Just quote "NP Dayblog" while you make your purchases at The Juice Market and get a 10% discount!