For the latest in our series of editorials focusing on Irish Women in Business, we’re talking to Carol Anne Leyden who is the director of CA Design, a stylish furniture company inspired by original designs from famous designers of the 19th century.
Here, Carol explains in her own words how she got into the industry and what it has been like building the business from the ground up.
Having returned home from working for Digicel, Denis O’Brien’s mobile network in Honduras, I found myself increasingly thinking of ideas that would translate into a business where I could be my own boss. After extensive research and spotting a niche in the Interiors market, CA Design was born in July 2012. The business model was originally online only but we now have a showroom in Ringsend, Dublin 4. The company specialises in high end furniture in the style of 20th Century Design Classics, at affordable prices. I always had an interest in design before I started this journey, but now, I eat, sleep and dream design 24/7!
After making the decision to search for a product that I could build a business around, I travelled extensively in Asia, and went to numerous trade fairs overseas searching for "the product"! I had something in mind before travelling to Asia but I went over there with an open mind. My business partner, whose background is interiors, was blown away with the quality of leather and cashmeres and so we decided, with her knowledge of interiors and my business and marketing background, together we could form an online business with very little risk. There are lots of similar online companies in the UK and across Europe that specialize in similar products but we found a gap in the market in Ireland and people like to support an Irish business.
It is very daunting putting yourself out there initially. I never really factored in the whole PR side of it, which kind of frightened me. If you put your name against something there’s that extra pressure that you want it to be a success. We got a lot of encouragement but also some negativity, people thinking we were mad to start a furniture business in a recession when lots of furniture companies were folding so we really had no clue if it was going to be a success or not. We spent a lot of time and effort building the brand and website and we had no idea what the reaction was going to be like. It got off to a great start, which was really encouraging.
It seems funny now looking back at how simplistic my goal was and how the business has thrived and grown in the space of 18 months of trading. My naivety and enthusiasm were definitely advantages in the beginning as I believed anything was possible and no amount of complications with freight forwarding or building a website put me off! My friends and family would say that I am a very determined person!
When I had decided on the furniture business, the next task was to visit factories and thoroughly research the quality of the product. Next, we had to decide on how many pieces we would launch with and how we would get the business to market. I believe that the attention we gave to our website has been key in our success. The website is our shop window and that took months of tweaking and fine tuning before we were happy to go 'live'. We discovered quickly that Irish people were slow to invest in a piece of furniture without the "see it, touch it, and try it out" experience, so our next task was to find premises where we could run pop-up shops and see people by appointments.
We were very reluctant to sink money into a shop lease when we were still taking baby steps. In fact, for the first few months of trading, we brought potential customers to my business partner Una's home where we set up a showroom....not ideal! We set up shop on the mezzanine floor of Antica Ceramica, The Stone Gallery in Dublin, a favourite of architects and interior designers. However, we had always toyed with the idea of being closer to the city. We then moved into Ringsend in Dublin 4 when an opportunity came up to rent the mezzanine of a modern classic car showroom. With it’s white walls, wooden floors and glass exterior it seemed a perfect backdrop in which to show the furniture at its best!
I never take our success so far for granted and I do believe that you cannot let your guard down or rest on your laurels. So, while I have taken a moment once in a while and said "Wow, this is amazing", I haven't yet reached the point where I am relaxed and laid -back about what the business has achieved!
The biggest challenge would probably be logistics. When we launched we took a punt on a lot of stock and tried to second-guess what the potential customer would go for. Your taste might not necessarily be someone else’s! So we were bringing in containers, ordering new stock while trying to shift furniture in stock. Now we have got to the stage where most items on a container is sold before it leaves the factories.
There have been lots of great moments but the moment that sticks in my mind is when we got our first overseas online order from a random punter in Switzerland. It was soon after we launched the website, not a big deal but it was a nice feeling!
As for what comes next, we are currently looking for new products to expand the brand with complimentary accessories (such as lighting, throws, rugs, homeware etc) and that is very exciting!
To find out more about Carol and CA Design, visit their website here.
To suggest other great Irish women to feature in this series, please drop us a line to editorial@her.ie 
