My mompreneur series is back! Today, I’m super excited to have Marigold Duncan talks about starting her business from scratch while juggling motherhood. Marigold is the founder of Bakipa – Singapore’s first mobile market place designed especially for parents. Now parents can buy and sell their children items at the best price possible via an app on their phone. Bakipa is available for downloads on App Store and Google Play.
Describe your business in 1 – 3 sentences.
Bakipa is the first mobile market place designed especially for parents where parents can buy and sell their children items at the best price possible.
How did you decide on this business idea?
I am a mother of my almost one year old daughter. Being a Mom is never easy and I am sure you know that. One of the many challenges as a Mother was the need to find the best products for my baby girl. Often I had to search over different sites and read tons of reviews before deciding which is the best for my kid and yet making sure they are affordable. I often wished there was an easier and quicker channel for me, so I have decided to create one myself.
What motivates you?
My daughter is my main inspiration. I am always looking for the best things for her that she might love. So our house is now so cluttered with all her stuff. I am sure that there are many Mothers out there that wants the best for their children too. When I face problems or challenges, I will try to write a blog about how I overcame them or I will create a solution through my app.
How long have you been running your business?
6 months.
How long did it take you to start becoming profitable and/or successful?
As a start up, we have already reached 7500 parents over 6months and facilitated over $50,000 worth of transactions. One of my greatest achievement would be that our business was chosen as the top 50 start up of the year! yay!!
How many children do you have? How old are they?
A daughter who is 1 year old.
How did your family react to you starting your own business?
My Husband, Tom has been very supportive of me. He even quit his job so he could help me to run my business. My parents and sister are very supportive as well. They are very active on the app, and have sold a couple of things already!
What do you enjoy most about what you do?
I think the greatest takeaway is when I see parents connect with each other through the app! Not only are they just users of the App, they also found a community and interact with other parents. It is really heartening to know that the App has made their parenthood easier. 🙂
What is the easiest part of building your business?
I have received many emails and comments from Parents and it is so heartening to know the differences I have made. So gaining support amongst parents was not tough.
What is the hardest part of building your business?
Finding enough hrs a day to achieve the things I want to do.
What were your biggest mistakes, or biggest waste of time/money in your mompreneurship journey?
Trying to design the app myself at first, instead of hiring a professional.
What are the biggest pains or frustrations you face on a day to day basis?
Time, I NEED MORE TIME.
If you have a magic wand and do anything to solve the pain/frustration, what would you do?
I have so many ideas and visions, and I wished there were 25hrs in a day.
What resources or tools did you find most helpful when you were getting started?
Mailchimp for emails and canvas for design.
My life…. is awesome.
I’m currently reading…Â The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz
Thanks so much, Marigold!
PS: If you (and your business) like to be featured in this MomBoss In The Spotlight series, email me at mich@thechillmom.com with the subject “Feature Me in MomBoss Spotlight” and I’ll send you the questionnaire to fill up. It’s really that easy!
