Describe your business

Based in Leyton Green Studios in Leyton, By Kala x is a growing business providing Afro chic in the form of quality clothing and vibrant home decor. The mission is to close the gap between cultures, mixing African prints with everyday clothing and home furnishings.

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What issues was your business facing before you joined the E-business Programme? 

Having done markets for a while, I wanted to drive more traffic to my own website. Being a mum-of-two, personal commitments mean doing regular markets has been hard and going forward this needed to change. There was also the feeling that I needed to run my business, more like a business!

 

What advice and support have you received through the programme?

My allocated Digital Expert, Vernette John-Joiles, helped me move forward with my business plan and made me really think about things like marketing - for example, budgeting, email marketing.  It's been a mix of things I've been able to quickly change or update, to more long term tasks. Vernette made me aware of the fact that my website did not seem to reflect my branding and logo and suggested I update it so that the same colours were featured across the site. I also made some changes to the home page, following her suggestions on how to improve the customer journey.

 

What impact has the support had on your business? 

It has made me much more focused and able to evaluate where my business is going in a more objective way. I'm very aware of what is and isn't working for my business right now. 

 

What are your business plans for the future?

My plan is still to focus more on online sales, as well as sourcing additional stockists for my products and wholesale.  I'll also be trialling weekend lampshade workshops at my Leyton studios in January 2024.

 

For more details about By Kala x, visit: https://bykalax.com/