Small Business Saturday Moms Amal & Venera

We are back with Small Business Saturdays. We love our moms and their work.  Check out our latest duo in Orange County will their adorable clothing shop. You will want to be following them on instagram by the end.

Amal Ishak & Venera Nenna, two moms from Chester, run a trendy children’s boutique, Karapouz Kidz Boutique. Amal has two boys Christian and Noah and Venera has a little girl Noura.  After a year of being an online business they expanded to a retail store in this past December.

 

How did the idea came about?

The idea came about when Noura turned 1 year old and Venera was looking for the perfect birthday outfit. At the time, I decided to quit my job to stay home with the baby, and spend more time with my oldest who is on the Autism spectrum. Best decision I could have made. Being able to work closely with my son’s teacher and carry over everything he learned at school.

Venera & I always knew that we wanted to be in business together, and when the time was right, we jumped on the opportunity.

What is special about your business?

We are both mommies, and we know what other mommies want. We custom make all of our birthday outfits, and special occasion dresses to fit anyones vision and budget. We also work very closely with the community and give back as much as we can.

How do you manage having your own business and motherhood?

We try to balance our home lives and running a business as much as possible by spending time with our families, thats why we are close on Sundays. We also bring our kids with us to the store sometimes (keyword sometimes lol).

Walk us through a typical day:

A typical day for us is, drop off kids at daycare, get coffee, open the store, check emails, Etsy for orders, Facebook and instagram. In the meantime, Venera is in the back (our craft room) where she’s reviewing her orders that need to be made and shipped.

After Venera makes the outfit, we both check to make sure sizing, spelling (if any) is correct, packing orders, post office run to mail everything.

Some days we have appointments where mommies come with their cute babies to design their outfits (its always fun when we have babies in the store), help walk in customers, place any orders for fabric, shirts, etc.. Check Etsy again, answer any emails, clean up, lock up store, pick up kiddies, and go home to mommy duties!

If you had to give one piece of advice to a mom wanting to start her own business what would it be?

First, do your research, follow your heart and take chances! but remember to be patient.

Business Info:

Karapouz Kidz Boutique, Located at 137 Main St, Chester NY 10918

www.karapouz.com

www.facebook.com/karapouzboutique

Instagram: @Karapouzkidz

Photos taken by photographer Amy Rose Webb