Wrapping up the market

Words Dianne Christian
Originally published in ProDesign #93, page 68

Photograph by George Passmore



Two time winner of International Forum Product Design Awards, enterprising Amie Nilsson's carefully shepherded global business is putting New Zealand natural wool on the backs of children everywhere.

Award winning designer Amie Nilsson has stitched together enough design talent, marketing acumen and self belief to build a thriving global business in just a few short years - while raising three young children.

In 2003, with a modest bank loan and a small revenue base of internet sales, she launched Amie Design, starting with a unique baby sleeping bag and now produces a range of natural fibre baby and children's products through brands Go Go Bag, Merino Kids and Pure Cotton Kids.

The company has doubled its size every year and strong growth is forecast to continue. Originally run from home, Amie Design now employs nine staff and has completely taken over the house, forcing the family to move nearby. Then again, says Nilsson, the house with prime Jervois Road frontage in Auckland's upmarket Herne Bay was originally bought with this in mind. Meticulous planning and background research coupled with work and life experience has been vital to business success.

'I am not the sort of person who will sit around and watch the daisies grow," says Nilsson, who has packed a fair bit into her 34 years so far.

Determination

She came from enterprising stock, as both mother Cec Buchanan and grandmother Bobby Robertson ran home-based craft businesses (boutique muesli and garden sculptures respectively). Upon leaving college in Christchurch at 17 she first began designing and hand painting ceramics under mentor Kath von Tunselmann, who provided private art lessons and the use of her studio.

Nilsson's first design, a large hand-painted platter, won a national prize. This attracted orders from a department store, followed by corporate commissions, keeping the hands on teenaged artist busy. But she was not too young to ignore the business side of her burgeoning popularity. She attended courses to learn more about book-keeping, sales and marketing, financial planning and basic administration.

At 21, Nilsson did what many young New Zealander's do and headed to Europe on her OE. But rather than stopping in London, she went to Spain and ended up house-sitting for a family who invited her to paint a room in their villa. Some creative thinking that matched new colours to elements of their favourite curtains spawned a new venture when other Spanish families now wanted her to colour their rooms too.

Nilsson's artwork featured in an English House and Garden Magazine. Thanks to this attention and business contact John Dunlop, of James Dunlop textiles, the next move was to London and a handy six-month stint as a trainee textile designer. But adventure called. Finding wintertime London depressing, Nilsson decided to go skiing in France but, as with every other venture, planned it carefully and confidently, ringing ahead to one of the largest ski tour companies and asking for work. She ended up cooking in resorts on French ski fields and all the way to the African Savannah, the later after being offered work for an upmarket Zambian safari lodge. "There were a lot of high profile business people who I visited and I found it amazing meeting such incredible people who had done amazing things with their lives; very inspirational."

After nearly two years away, Nilsson returned home with the intention of staying a couple of months and jetting overseas again. Romance - and a plum job at Montana Wines organising corporate events - kept her here. "Working for Montana involved all the skills I had to build up when I ran my own businesses: sales, marketing and event management. Besides, I'm passionate about wine so it was very easy to love that job." But it wasn't long before she wanted to pour those skills back into art and design, so she took a one year graphic design course and set up her own business.

Niche Conceived

Nilsson intended keeping her home-based Graphic Design business after the birth of her first child, but fate again intervened.

"Lily kept waking up cold in the night after wriggling out of her blankets. I had seen baby sleeping bags for sale so I went looking for one. I found several on the market but they all contained polyester, which gave Lily an awful rash," she explains.

"I looked for a natural fibre alternative and when I couldn't find one, I decided to make my own." Using as a broken sewing machine, Nilsson tried cotton, which didn't work so well but, determined to come up with something, she switched to merino which she knew a bit about having grown up on a farm.

Fine merino's temperature controlling properties gave the very first Go Go Bag a unique point of difference. The pure cotton outer and bleach free merino inner provide the ability to absorb and release moisture, allow air to circulate and regulate children's body temperature through-out the night.

Nilsson fine tuned the design until it met fully her needs. Because she was leaving home early to take her fund manager husband, James, to his ferry, the bag had to allow easy movement of a sleeping child from cot to car-seat. She added a 'vent function' to allow the bag to be safely strapped in. Soon others began asking for similar bags for their youngsters - and she quickly realised that potential for business, which would fit more seamlessly with her new life.

Business advice

Nilsson went about setting up the business in her usual determined manner. She sought the advice of Canesis (formerly Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand) which assisted with fibre, safety and quality tests to ensure the products met all necessary standards.
Banks were approached early in the process, seeking advice and, eventually, a loan. They supplied basic CDs which help budding entrepreneurs write business plans and make financial projections.

'I could run the books myself, I knew about the importance of having a good website and things like getting business cards printed." But she also recognised the advantage of employing a good accountant. "Visualise everything that can go wrong and plan for it so you are always twenty steps ahead."

Crucially, Nilsson also sought help from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) within months of registering the company, initially obtaining generic information. Richard Barrand, NZTE business service manager, says closer contact came 18 months later when Nilsson sought advice on a specific funding programme.

"Research had already been undertaken and as a result, Amie was knowledgeable about her competition and had developed a highly differentiated product," says Barrand.

There was a commitment to ongoing product development, increasing the likelihood of further innovation. Business planning was seen as a critical tool. Amie was interested in broadening her networks and accessing good advice and combined a passion for design with a drive to see commercial results.

"Initially, NZTE provided information on business development and exporting, followed by referrals to Enterprise Training and Exporter Education (specifically workshops on raising capital to fund growth and taking their business into overseas markets) and access to funding support to further develop business capability."

In this case, merino wool is sent from New Zealand to Italy where it is spun and woven and then onto China, where it is cut and sewn. The off-shore manufacturing houses have to meet international standards; all packaging is made from recycled plastics and the bleach free merino wool is biodegradable.

It was through NZTE that Nilsson entered the International Forum (iF) Product Design Awards. Established in 1953, the iF awards are one of the top three international design awards programmes. Each year, more than 2500 products from around the world are judged in Hanover, Germany - with BMW, Apple and Audi numbered among the previous winners.

In 2007, Amie Design won an iF 'seal of outstanding design quality' for the Go Go Bag; a feat repeated by winning a 2008 award for a new product, the Merino Kids Cocooi Babywrap this year. "It has been amazing overseas exposure and we have developed new contacts such as retailers who want to stock our products and agents who want to market it," she says.

While the company continues to develop and sell through its internet channel, it is also developing a global retail base. Says Barrand: "New Zealand businesses that can deliver unique differentiated products and services to world markets are increasingly critical to our economic future because of their ability to compete internationally and grow export earnings."

Developing new products maintains momentum. The Cocooi Babywrap, due for market launch in March, was developed with Nilsson's youngest children George, three, and Scarlett, 18 months, helping as test models.

Also made of Merino wool, the wrap is a lightweight swaddling for newborns and young babies. Like the Go Go Bag, it has a vent function so it can be used in car seats. It features 'wings' which wrap easily around a baby and can, as the child grows, be gradually opened to let them become used to looser clothing.

Other product lines include merino garments for toddlers and a new range of cotton clothing. Having three children herself, Nilsson is ideally placed to understand her customers' needs and wants and to realise there are potential clients all around the globe.

"My aim in starting this business was to build an international brand that made a difference to people's lives. We are in the business of providing sleep solutions and I want to be a leader in that category."

And her advice to others? "I think there are four fundamentals to business success: talk to people who have been there in business; have good advisors and key people around you; look at courses, like Business in the Community, to gain new skills and qualifications, and don't underestimate the value of life experience."