Elizaveta Piotrovskaya, designer and founder of Home Melody, an online store of decorative pillows and home accessories, shared her success story with Woman’s Day, how she created her own project from scratch. Read on and get inspired!
I graduated from the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University, specialized in visual communications. For a long time she was engaged in graphic design and advertising, led several large projects as an account manager. And always freelance. It so happened that I never worked for someone – only for myself. Of course, there were also periods of stagnation, when all projects were completed, and new ones had not yet appeared … At this time, worried about the lack of work, I sent my resume to advertising agencies and design studios. But after a few weeks, interesting customers, new projects appeared on the horizon, and the desire to sit in the office went away like a bad dream.
Overall, I was happy with this way of life. Each project brought acquaintance with interesting people, always taught something new. But at one point, ideas began to visit me to make my own project, which would bring joy and benefit to people. But what? I had no idea …
One day, my husband’s sister asked for two pillows for a new sofa. The brief was simple and clear: orange square cushions made of soft natural fabric. It would seem much easier: buy and give. But it was not there! We searched all the online stores and did not find anything suitable: either there was no right color, or the fabric seemed bad, or the price was equal to the cost of a new sofa.
Why not make a collection of cool pillows, my husband and I thought. The idea was supported by my mother and sister. We are all creative people, we began to invent, look for fabrics, decoration. We agreed with a familiar dressmaker, sewed the first pillowcases.
There was no business plan, none of us took this matter seriously. It was a hobby, which was given no more time than the main job allowed. They decided to sell through an online store. Fortunately, I worked with many programmers: they helped me with the site, I drew the design myself. The name was born out of nowhere – it just appeared, and the puzzle came together. As a melody is composed of notes, a house is woven from details. Each person has his own melody, and there are no similar ones. Home Melody!
To show our first first collection, we organized a party, invited friends and acquaintances. In a few days, the first pillows flew apart, and we continued to create with enthusiasm. Two months later, the site started working, the first order through the online store appeared a month later.
Then we began to actively promote the site, invested in contextual advertising, created an account on Facebook – and off we go! The project began to take more and more time, and a year later the moment came when one of us had to make a choice: either Home Melody, or the main job.
I made the choice because the idea was mine. As a result, I brought the current projects to the end and plunged headlong into the world of pillows.
At first, all Home Melody’s profits went into development: they bought new fabrics, hired new employees, finalized the site, and invested in advertising. I worked 12 hours a day and at first did a lot myself: I came up with a design, supervised the work of tailors, accepted and collected orders, photographed new pillows, filled the website, and promoted. On top of that, if couriers let us down, my husband or I delivered orders.
At first, we promoted the project through Facebook, used contextual advertising, published articles on online resources dedicated to interior and decor. At some point, we were ordered pillows for the “Clean Work” program on REN TV – this is how our cooperation with television began.
The next program was “Fazenda” on Channel One, with which we worked for two years, then “Kvartirny Vopros” and “Dachny Answer” on NTV. It was a success: Home Melody became a recognizable brand!
We now sell hundreds of pillows every month through our own online store and some decor stores throughout Russia and Belarus. We also make collections for other brands, we are ordered pillows for cafes, restaurants, hotels.
In the first weeks of the crisis, sales fell significantly, but after a couple of months they returned to their previous level. The fall of the ruble played into our hands: our main competitors at that time were European pillow brands, whose products were imported by large stores. In just six months, the cost of these pillows doubled, and buyers began to prefer us to European competitors.
We did our best to keep prices at an adequate level, despite the fact that the cost of fabric and accessories also doubled.
We currently occupy a middle position in the market between premium brands and the interior mass market. Our prime cost is high, we make all the pillows by hand, and we cannot compete in price with the products of large companies, sewn in a production line in China. But this is not our goal either. It is more important for us to maintain high quality and offer cool designs for a reasonable price.
By the way, about the design. Collection ideas often come up naturally. For example, when I am at a party, I often think: what kind of pillows would I use for this at home? I start to fantasize, I always proceed from the interests and taste of the owners.
Travel also inspires me a lot. I come from each new place with a bunch of new thoughts and plans. I just returned from Sweden with a collection fully formed in my head and sketches (of course, in a Scandinavian style). Photos of users on social networks, especially on Instagram, also often help.
I would advise everyone who also wants to open their own startup not to be afraid to leave their comfort zone. Only there, outside the usual, real life. The advice is banal, but very few people decide.
Take small steps to success. When you think about a new business and see how much needs to be done, it scares, depresses and deprives you of the desire to do anything at all. Therefore, set a goal for yourself, break it into small stages and go to your dream step by step.