Bumpa Success Stories: I went from a 9-5 Job to Processing over 1,500 Orders On My Website Alone in 1 Month!

Dresses by Lami is an online ready-to-wear store that sells fashion wear, and the brand is all about providing affordable corporate and casual clothing for women. Lami, the founder and CEO of the brand tells us how the journey started and what it’s taken to become one of the most successful stores on Bumpa. Visit their website here.

Tell us your story. How did you start your business?

It was the year 2020, and COVID was kicking everyone’s ass. I had a job, but I wasn't comfortable with my salary anymore. It was a full-time job but it was no longer enough to pay the bills. At the time, I used to shop for work clothes from a certain lady who was quite affordable, and everyone in the office always complimented my fashion sense and asked where I got my clothes from. So I thought "Why don't I start selling these clothes as well?"

And that's how you started.

And that's how I started. I initially started drop-shipping with her and then eventually switched my business model to producing and selling my own designs myself.

Why did you start with drop shipping first?

I didn't have any ideas about how to run a business, so the first thing I wanted was a mentor. She was a successful businessperson in the fashion industry and I learnt a lot from her first, before venturing out on my own.

And now you make your own dresses?

Yes, I do!

You're one of the biggest merchants on Bumpa. How did you go from selling to just your colleagues to where you are now?

Social media was very instrumental in the growth of my brand. Instagram and WhatsApp were especially key players in the beginning. Referrals were also a major strategy that we capitalised on because a lot of our customers were always happy with their purchases and willing to spread the word about the brand. Then, we launched our website through Bumpa in December 2022, and it was magical. Sales on the website shot through the roof.

Wow. And what was the reason?

Customers loved the website and found that it was easy to use, and it also became so much easier for us to run sales because of the website, so we capitalised on that, and also on the knowledge that customers love sales.

And also clearly love your products.

So much! We get so many glowing reviews.

Do you still get customers to buy through social media now that you have a website?

Yes, customers still come there but we know it’s better for them when they shop online, so we tell them to use the website instead. It's also very easy for us to accept and process orders through the website; everything is neater and automated as opposed to the DM where you could easily miss someone's order. Getting payments through the website has helped us battle the problem of fake alerts as well.

Fake ALERTS???

Yes. They were a huge problem for us at some point.

And how did you fix that?

It was one of our biggest reasons to get a website actually, and our Bumpa website has fixed that. Our customers check out and pay through the website now.

Lovely. Can you tell us any major achievement you've hit since you started the business?

I had an amazing April. Biggest number in revenue and customers since the start of the business!

Wow. How many orders did you get in April?

I got over 1,500 orders!

What was the secret?

Sales! It’s so much easier for me to run sales thanks to the Bumpa app and the features like discounts & coupons, inventory tracking, and order tracking and processing. So now I do it more frequently and it’s been so great for our numbers.

Amazing. Did you have any business challenges, and how have you overcome them?

Ah yes, I lost a lot of money in December and that was major because all our processes were still manual. We had a lot of orders we didn't record properly or lost track of, and remember I mentioned fake alerts? It hit us the most in December. Some people also didn't complete their payments and all of these things were very hard to track. In fact, these were some of the issues that informed my decision to get a website.

So this was when you got your Bumpa website.

Yes, a friend (Pelumi) told me about it after I mentioned all these issues to her, and I checked it out, downloaded the app and set up my store. It was all very quick and it's since solved all those issues for us.

Thank you so much for sharing your story. What would you say to new business owners or someone considering starting a business?

Consistency and doing things right are very important, and you have to learn from whatever you're doing, to help you improve your business. Don't give up; it's not easy running a business but it's very rewarding. So keep being consistent and always show up.

Read our Bumpa Success Stories, a series that features some of the most innovative and successful businesses on Bumpa. Through this series, we're showcasing how our merchants reach new audiences, engage with customers and increase sales. These stories provide real-world examples of how our platform can be a game-changer for businesses of every size and industry, inspiring businesses to try Bumpa for themselves and achieve boosted engagement, increased revenue, and limitless possibilities.

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