Bizstartup.ie - ENTREPRENEURS

Claire Lanigan

Molly’s Pet Boutique

Molly’s Pet Boutique of York Road in Dún Laoghaire is a little gem of a place supplying cat and dog accessories, but what’s even more surprising about it is that the owner was just 23 when she set it up.

Claire Lanigan says she had been thinking of starting a pet business since the age of 20, when she got her first rescue dog – the eponymous Molly, a Dalmatian-Pointer Cross – and realised how hard it was to find pet accessories to fit her. “I’d been to the US and had seen the kind of selection over there so it had always been in the back of my mind.”

In 2006, Lanigan took the plunge and set up a website. “I did so much research, sourcing designers and products I was interested in stocking. I went to a lot of tradeshows; I talked to a lot of companies and put together lists of who I wanted to work with. Luckily there wasn’t really anyone in Ireland doing anything like this at the time.”

Securing finance

In terms of financing, Lanigan invested her own money at the beginning to launch the website and, in typical entrepreneurial fashion, started working from her bedroom. Soon, through word of mouth, popularity grew and after her boyfriend grew tired of the growing amount of boxes snaking around their house, she moved into her current premises in Dún Laoghaire while also keeping the website up and running.

Lanigan admits that getting the bank to back her during this move wasn’t easy. “I went in with my proposal, but my loan application was turned down at first. I couldn’t understand it and said to the bank official: ‘I don’t understand, I have loads of retail experience. I used to be a manager for Claire’s Accessories.’ She just turned to me and said ‘Really?’ Apparently, I’d forgotten to mention that bit, but once they found that out, the loan was approved!”

Lanigan says that the obvious moral of the story is to let banks and investors know about all your relevant experience.

In terms of her current financial position, Lanigan says she has nearly paid off her start-up loan, although she says she hasn’t taken a wage since she set up three years ago. She pays the bills by holding down a second job as a radio presenter at Spin 103.8FM, and says, if you can, this is a tiring but good option for the budding entrepreneur.

Online business

She recently sold half of the online business to an e-commerce company that is working on a new design for the website, due to be launched shortly. “The nature of Google searches has really changed, and you need to be aware of things like search engine optimisation and how to move yourself up the rankings. It’s not just a case of build it [the website] and they will come. You really have to work at it and it takes a lot of time and effort, so bear that in mind.”

Effect of the recession

While the recession has certainly slowed things down, Lanigan says business is still reasonably brisk. “We still have our loyal customers, however I didn’t buy the really high-end luxury products this year. So, for example, cute though it was, the €300 cat sofa didn’t make it into the shop this time round.”