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Baartjes kids make big money from e-Commerce

Je-Mé Kruger Baartjes started her business selling dwarf rabbits in 2004 when she was four years old. Her parents, Neale and Charlaine Baartjes, say they believe it is important to be business savvy from a young age. “Children need to learn about the value of money and how to make money or create a job so that they can have jobs even in times of economic standstill where unemployment rates are high.”

For Je-Mé learning about money would come in the form of breeding and selling dwarf rabbits, which was similar to a scale farming operation. When she started out she had only 3 adult rabbits and sold her baby rabbits or babbits as she called them, at R10 each to pet shops in the area where she lived. By 2007 she was delivering to a wider network of pet shops and so increased her price to R50 to cover the cost of delivery.

When she was 10 years old her parents approached Kwikweb and asked them to help her set up a website so that she could grow her business and enter the world of e-commerce. Not long after the website was set up, Je-Mé had a dwarf rabbit order list which just kept growing. Within a year she was receiving 5 000 hits a month to her website. Even as the price of dwarf rabbits increased she simply could not keep up with the demand and had to increase her price to R250 to tone down demand - the e-commerce multiplier effect in action. Some breeders still contact Je-Mé every year to enquire what price she will be selling for the year ahead. Her web-presence is so significant she has now also become a price setter.

At the time of setting up the website, she had a dream, to motivate her to keep growing her business. When asked she would say that she was going to go to Disney World. “My mom always says that your dreams, just like clothes need to be a size too big so that you can grow into them”. In 2011, only 1 year after her website was set up, she had raised enough money to pay for her and her brother’s accommodation, food, flights and entrance fees to Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

“It would not have been possible to reach the goal amount for Disney World so quickly (if at all) if we had not set up a website for Je-Mé with Kwikweb”, her parents said.

Je-Mé however, is not the only child in the family with her own business to run. Her younger brother, Viam, also started his rabbit kennelling business when he was four years old. He charged R15 per rabbit per night. In his first 2 years of kennelling he did not make much money since the idea was still new.

The next challenge is how to multiply the income generated. In 2014, the Baartjes-parents came up with a challenge to motivate the kids to greater excellence in their businesses, “the R8000 challenge”. In essence the task was to grow a R1000 to R8000 in one year. It took a lot of planning, thinking and negotiation, but each child managed to make their R8000 within six months using their existing businesses as a springboard.

After seeing the success of his sister’s website, Viam also put up a website with the help of Kwikweb when he turned 10. This year (2016) his December kennels were filled 16 days after opening for bookings in October (again the multiplier effect in action). He had to buy more cages to ensure that his usual clients, who still had not booked, would have room.

Both of the children love what they do, because when you love what you do, it never feels like work. They accredit their success to the undying support of their parents and the tremendous help that Kwikweb has been to them through the websites. They say their business never would have gotten as big if it wasn’t for Kwikweb which got them noticed and clients all around Gauteng.

Je-Mé, currently 16, says “In the world today you simply must have a website to succeed as a business. More and more people are searching for things that they would like to buy on the internet. My dad says that by the time people are looking to buy something on the internet, their mind is already made up to buy it. After that it’s just a question of which supplier to buy it from. You have to make sure that supplier is you.”

The Kwikweb platform provided brilliant results in a short space of time with a limited understanding of the internet and websites (even 10 year olds could navigate it). With Kwikweb’s help it took two children from being kiddy-farmers and kennel host to being e-commerce business builders. Kwikweb never sold itself as the solution, merely a step onto the next level.

Full case study of a Kwikweb Client - Bubble soccer

Bubble Soccer Cape Town is an amazing new sport that takes the game of soccer to a whole new level and has been described as “an exhilarating remix of soccer, American football, and sumo wrestling”. Bubble Soccer Cape Town aims to bring this fun game to kid's parties, corporate events and social gatherings – all at affordable prices. This company has grown tremendously over the last year, especially with the help of Kwikweb, who designed and hosted a web site to promote this new, fun new game.

When Niki Breinstampf (a youth minister by trade and the owner of Bubble Soccer Cape Town) and his wife heard that they were expecting twins, he started looking into part-time jobs to help boost their income.

"At that stage Bubble Soccer was starting to grow overseas, and as I work with kids it seemed like the perfect avenue to create an extra income, while still being involved with the youth.

I ordered 10 bubble soccer balls from China and approached Kwikweb to help me set up a website to promote my new business."

He didn't have a lot of capital on hand, but with the help of Kwikweb his site was up and running in no time. “Within two days I could see the first draft and I then worked with the designer to tweak my ideas, which changed a lot during the course. The guys were very patient with me and I never felt like a burden. I was still waiting for my equipment to arrive, but the website was already generating enquiries! By the time I received the first 10 bubble soccer balls on 24 December 2014, I already had an event scheduled for 26 December."

Niki says that the service he had received from Kwikweb was fantastic. "They are always willing to help, they listened to my ideas and turned them into a reality. I especially like the booking form on the site, which makes it so much easier to book an event. All you do is fill in the form and the necessary details get forwarded straight to me."

By July he was getting over 3 000 (monthly) hits on his website. Since then his business has grown even more. He had to order another 22 balls and he is currently hosting up to 10 events during a weekend. His web site is currently getting up to 5 000 hits (every month) which generates 3-4 enquiries per day.

To learn more about Bubble Soccer Cape Town, visit Niki's site: www.bubblesoccercapetown.co.za

Kwikwap Client Charter / Service Level Agreement

To choose a template, change colours and upload a logo

To add and edit Product / Service, Newsletter, Documents, Events, Specials, Photos

Activate FAQs and how to answer them

Change contact details, activate the map & demonstrate how the advertisements work

Find the additional modules and to assist in setting up the applicable module for the client

To set up the online shop (but not necessarily open the internet banking account)

The Communicate with Customers section works (including showing where the instructions for the CSV file can be found)

Show the client where he can find Email Set-up Documents as well as the section called "How to Improve Web Presence"

To find the Help sections in the portal (including the two overview documents) and to show them where the Online Help is