Today we’d like to introduce you to Lise Przybylski.
Lise, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I got the idea for PUREFunctional soon after I had my first daughter in 2009. Born and raised in Denmark there were baby products that I wanted for her but couldn’t find in the US and instead had to get my parents to send. That got me thinking about how many items my husband and I had brought back over the years for friends, that had fallen in love with the simplicity and functionality of Scandinavian style. I had some experience with building websites and started to think that maybe I could build a web shop featuring Scandinavian products both for children and adults.
In 2010 I quit my job and travelled to Denmark for my first trade show. I contacted a couple of suppliers, brought back my first inventory and then set about designing the web shop. I was naive about how easy it would be and more importantly how long everything takes when you are only one person doing the work. PUREFunctional.com launched in 2011 and featured 3 product lines for a total of maybe 20 products. Over the years I have added more suppliers (while dropping others), moved platforms and redesigned the shop and had another daughter, all while learning some important lessons about what it takes to run your own business.
Today I have 15 suppliers and about 250 products available in the web shop. I am pretty picky about what I have in my web shop, so I don’t sell anything I don’t personally love and would have in my own house. I also work very hard to make sure all my products are well designed and will last you a long time. Scandinavian Design is often very minimalistic and with very clean lines, but there are also products that then suddenly provides an unexpected pop of color or other fun detail. Above all though; it must be functional.
Has it been a smooth road?
Not. I don’t ever think it could be. I don’t know anyone who started a business and then said “oh, this is easy”.
Time has probably been the biggest obstacle for me. As a mother to two small children, there just never seems to be enough of it. Most people always assume that the hardest part of my business is the fact all my products are imported from Scandinavia, but I spend a lot more time boxing up and sending out packages than I ever do bringing them in. I left a 9-5 job back in 2010 because I wanted to have more time with my kids. I work more hours now than back then, but at least I can do it much of it after the kids go to bed at night.
Suppliers have always been a bit of a struggle. I have gotten better at picking my suppliers over the years. I will drop suppliers if they are hard to work with – even if I love their products. I simply do not have the time to repeatedly chase them down when I need more stock. Another lesson I have learned is, that I only work with suppliers if they can provide me with the product pictures in a style and format that fits my website. That isn’t to say, that I don’t still sometimes end up taking my own pictures for the site but mostly I can count on the supplier for that. In the beginning I took and edited about 80% of the pictures on my website. Now it is just a handful that I take myself and I mostly just edit for size.
In the beginning you also spend a lot of time figuring out what services you need when it comes to web site hosting, shopping cart services, credit card merchants etc. It is a little bit of a jungle and it can be hard to figure it all out when you are doing it by yourself. I am happy with my solutions today, but it has taken me a long time to get to that point.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
PUREFunctional sells Scandinavian and Nordic design products for people and their homes. In case you are confused about the difference, here is our very basic description of each:
Nordic Design tends to be black, grey, brown or white products with straight lines. Nordic Design also favors glass, stainless steel, leather and even stone. It sometimes has a rather hard/raw look to it.
Scandinavian Design has softer, but still simple, lines. The colors are often muted and will remind you of a day on the beach or a beautiful summer sunset. Scandinavian Design still uses a lot of glass, but you will also see lots of brushed finishes.
In Denmark we have this concept called “brugskunst”. Directly translated it means something like Functional Art. Functional Art can be used about any interior item such as furniture, lamps, table and kitchen ware and bath accessories that has an artful appearance as well as a functional aspect. I always try to make sure that our products are not just functional, but also a piece of art. That was how I originally came up with the name, PUREFunctional.
We carry a broad line of bar, table and kitchen ware such as decanters, water carafes, glasses, candle holders, vases and lots of fun things for the kitchen. We recently added a gorgeous line of lamps to our collection that will truly make any room stand out – and which can be customized to any situation as the mount/stand is sold separately.
One of our first product lines was baby slippers in 100% Norwegian merino wool. Today we carry the full line and offer both baby, children and adult sizes. The slippers are hand made in the Philippines for a Danish company in a social conscious partnership that helps the workers to a better life. And they just happen to be the best slippers you will ever own! About 75% of the customers that buys a baby or children’s size, comes back again for a larger size the year after. Unfortunately, we don’t see the same return rate for the adult slippers as no one seems to have succeeded in wearing them out yet, but I take that as a good sign.
In the past couple of years, we have also added jewelry from two designers in Denmark. Both designers are women that started their own little business in Denmark and both carry beautiful, but very different products. What I really love about these product lines – and the slippers mentioned above – is that it is all small business owners. We are all just individuals trying to make a living doing what we love.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Generally I think Newton is a great place for businesses like mine. Lots of people here are very supportive of small businesses and will seek you out.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2 Charles Street
- Website: www.purefunctional.com
- Phone: (617) 903-7873
- Email: shop@purefunctional.com
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/purefunctional/
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PureFunctional/
- Other: http://www.pinterest.com/purefunctional/
Image Credit:
Rosendahl
VITA Copenhagen
Aqua Dulce
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