Internet Start-ups may be considered a bust by many these days… but not where puppets are concerned. When husband and wife team, Jeff and Joanna Baird, started their home-based company, Puppetuniverse.com, they never dreamed that they would corner the online puppet market in a mere 18 months. With first year sales of $250k, over 6000 new customers, and projected sales of $1 million for 2004, it looks like that’s exactly what they have done.
July 2, 2004 -- Internet Start-ups may be considered a bust by many these days… but not where puppets are concerned. When husband and wife team, Jeff and Joanna Baird, started their home-based company, www.Puppetuniverse.com, they never dreamed that they would corner the online puppet market in a mere 18 months. With first year sales of $250k, over 7000 new customers, and projected sales of $1 million for 2004, it looks like that’s exactly what they have done.
Based in Yelm, Washington, the Bairds originally hit on the idea for Puppetuniverse.com while looking for a business opportunity that allowed them to work from home and spend more time with their family. They gravitated toward puppets because of the wonderful experiences they had had using puppets as fun, educational toys for their son, Dylan.
Though it is the Bairds’ first foray into the world of e-commerce, they haven’t missed a step. They attribute their rapid growth and success to a mixture of Internet savvy online marketing, smart competitive pricing and a high level of customer service. According to Jeff Baird, “Our goal was to focus on a specific niche and then dominate it by providing the largest selection of puppets available ‘in the universe’."
This strategy seems to be working. Today www.Puppetuniverse.com has become the largest online purveyor of hand puppets, marionettes and puppet theaters with well over 1000 product choices. In fact, do to the company’s incredible growth they are looking for a new location with three times the space!
Of course, knowing how to be in the right place at the right time is often they key to success in business. According to the May 2004 issue of Entrepreneur Magazine, one of the hottest niches in the growing US toy market these days are Puppets! Such impeccable timing portends some very rapid growth over the next few years for Puppetuniverse.com.
While they started as simply retailers of puppets and puppet accessories, Puppetuniverse.com is now branching out into the largely untapped area of custom order manufacturing for advertising specialties, promotional puppets, and licensed character puppets and marionettes. To-date they have created custom puppets for Child Find Canada, Minnesota State Fair, and many others. Currently they have multiple projects under development for companies, universities, libraries, church organizations and even a rock band from Canada! Their international orders have also picked up especially to Spanish speaking Countries including custom orders to Spain, Chile, and Mexico. In fact, Spanish speaking customers account for nearly 10% of sales at www.Puppetuniverse.com now.
Most importantly, the Bairds are dedicated to their company and its mission. "We feel strongly that you need to be passionate and love what you sell to be successful" says Joanna Baird. In addition, they concede that true satisfaction comes from all of the positive customer feedback they receive daily about the joy parents and grandparents have in watching their children play and learn. "It is extremely gratifying to know that we sell products that stimulate creativity, learning and joy in children and their parents around the world. It's our way of contributing positively to society", says Jeff Baird.
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