But six years ago, that was not necessarily her plan.
The former real estate office secretary was just looking for a stay-at-home job so she could care for her newborn son.
The side business evolved into OC Designs Online, which creates business logos and designs websites for eBay store vendors and individual businesses.
Kline's Internet-based company now has five employees spread across the country and nearly $200,000 in annual revenue, she said.
"It's become my livelihood. I went from sitting at a desk making $14 an hour to creating this entire business that I could never have imagined would be bringing in the kind of money that it is," Kline said.
The 33-year-old mother said she had no particular training in website design when she started in 2005, and she never went to college.
Kline, a 1997 graduate of Ocean City High School, wanted to make money from home so she could spend time with her son, who is autistic, without putting him in day care.
She started small by creating and selling logo designs.
Two years later, she accidentally discovered what would become the bread and butter of her business - designing websites for people selling items on eBay stores.
As eBay became more popular, it evolved from an online auction site into one where individual retailers also sell their goods.
One day, a customer asked if she could design a site. So she taught herself.
Kline trained herself with videos and Web tutorials - from Photoshop to Illustrator - and solicited advice from others in the industry.
"I don't think people realize how much money there is in eBay and selling your inventory," Kline said. "It's not like an auction website. They are trying to be like Amazon. I have some sellers that are making $200,000, $250,000 a month just selling their stuff. It's amazing the kind of volume you can do on eBay."
Her company now designs e-commerce and Facebook commerce sites, areas where she sees big growth potential.
The business designs websites for about 50 eBay stores per month at about $800 each, she said. E-commerce websites can range in price from $1,300 to about $2,200, she said.
OC Designs Online customers include small brick-and-mortar stores, home-based Internet retailers and others who purchase their inventory from wholesale distributors and have it shipped directly from their warehouses.
"Basically they'll come to me, ‘I have a store and I want to sell my items online. What can you do for me?' I usually give them the option of eBay because it's the simplest, cheapest way to start," she said.
Her e-commerce business - which uses independent websites, not eBay's - has included some South Jersey businesses, although most of her customers are from other parts of the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Italy.
She attributes her success, in part, to her high ranking on search results on Google, as well as word of mouth from past customers.
And her small office will soon be a thing of the past.
Currently, Kline is having an addition built on her house - a larger office space with more windows.
"I put my son on the bus at 9 o'clock every morning and I'm in there from 9 until 4, and then when he gets home, I make dinner, then I go back in there when everyone's in bed from 8 to 12," she said.
"I am so proud of my business, and it's very important to me. When I'm not with my son or husband, all my time goes into it."
Contact Brian Ianieri:
609-272-7253
BIanieri@pressofac.com
No comments:
Post a Comment