PROVING THAT the recession can be a catalyst for innovation, husband-and-wife team Mark Canavan and Damini Kumar have launched an online lifestyle shop with an ethical twist aimed specifically at the Irish market.
Boutiqua.com founder Canavan is a former Hewlett Packard engineer. He was made redundant earlier in the year and decided to fight the downturn by creating his own web company. “If you can make it succeed in this environment, you’re setting up for long-term prosperity,” he says.
Kumar, his wife, who is designer-in-residence for Boutiqua, also happens to be the inventor of the non-drip teapot and is an EU Commission-appointed European ambassador for creativity and innovation. She also created the BSc degree in product design at NUI Maynooth where she currently lectures.
Kumar was appointed as an ambassador with 24 other leading experts in design, creativity and innovation including Phillipe Stark, Edward de Bono and the inventor of the Rubik’s Cube.
“In my role as ambassador, I travel quite a lot and I got to see that this economic crisis is the best time to start something,” she says.
“Any business can boom in the good times but right now, if you’re willing to take a risk, overheads are cheaper and it is ripe for innovation.”
Canavan says there is plenty of space for niche products like Boutiqua’s ethically sourced products but that there is also a need for user- friendly sites that cater specifically to the Irish market in terms of pricing and delivery.
“If you’re starting a business in a recession, you have got to think about what people can afford, not only in terms of the product but delivery costs. Most Irish online shoppers are forced to order from UK or US sites, the delivery costs alone are monumental and next- day delivery is usually not an option.”
Kumar says that for anyone unemployed and hoping to start their own online business, it is possible but you must think outside the box and be aware that a bank loan is probably out of the question.
“Most importantly, we kept the user in mind from beginning to end. We wanted to create something they would return to.”
