Rent, property and starting a business in the heart of London is flat out expensive. Like, really expensive. But, the 27 year old friends behind Whistle & Bango said launching their brand and business was only possible in London because they chose to do it solely online. After building out their Weebly e-commerce site they began shipping their bespoke, British bangles all over the world and dangling them on the wrists of starlets, bloggers and influencers around the globe. Their dream is to see Princess Kate wearing her Buckingham Palace postcode on one of their bangles (which she can now effortlessly purchase on her phone or laptop at whistleandbango.com.)
The Cotswolds of England is known more for its rain rather than its snowfall. But mother nature didn’t stop these two blokes from starting the only handmade snowboard business in the UK. They called it DOUK- which stands for David Ombler UK- and because it’ s a playful pun on the dukes of England. They are proud to have hand crafted snowboards for notables in the snowboarding scene, the King of Bhutan, and hundreds of other people around the world. They even run their business from the slopes, checking orders and responding to customers on their mobile app mid-mountain. Sick concept, bro.
She’s the first to tell you she’s a dairy farmer’s wife and not a web designer, but that didn’t stop this mother of two boys from starting a side business and e-commerce site on their farm in the remote southwestern part of Ireland. She had her light bulb moment for the business while trying to save money for her own farm. She switched to LED lights, cut her electric bill by 70% then decided to source and sell those same “fantastically bright” lights directly to other farmers across Ireland. It’s a way for them to help fellow farmers, but also supplement the often unstable income of dairy farming.
Passionate about interior design, Alexander created Wall-in from a coworking space in Angers, in Western France, where he cherry picked each design wall covering and distributing them to clients. Just by building his website and optimizing the SEO, this young entrepreneur quickly saw an increase in orders and business, which allowed him to focus on bringing his growing company international. Because of his explosive growth online, Alexander is planning to open a new branch in Hong Kong in 2016 to address the increasing demand he already has from Asia.
It started with friends, and then friends of friends. They all asked Hélène and Larissa to help them plan their visit to Paris: they wanted it to be artsy, romantic, or with a lot of parties, were both locals with deep knowledge of the secret gems of Paris, that only Parisians can navigate. Facing increasing demand, they decided to turn this fun hobby into a new small business, and through their website, any traveller willing to experience a more local taste of Paris can reach out to them and plan their trip, live ‘their’ Paris, while enjoying exclusive insider tips.
Markus was supposed to take over his dad’s carpentry shop, a longtime family business. Recently his biggest client switched to his competitor, though, so he knew he had to get creative to find new customers who have a passion for handmade wooden furniture. It was time to move the shop online with smart web design at an efficient cost. Markus set up his page on Weebly, and clients from all over Europe started showing their interest. Now he’s back building quality furniture and moving the old family business into a modern digital storefront.
Ricardo Yepes is the director of Fundación Yepez, an NGO dedicated to the preservation of five turtle species –out of seven existing species in the world– which inhabit the coast of Veracruz. With Weebly, his foundation has not only become an internationally recognized organization, but he has also been able to attract volunteers from all over the world and receive donations online.
