EARLY ON IN THE RECESSION, entrepreneur Taylor M. Llewellyn was tired. He was tired of fighting to get boutiques to carry designs from his needlepoint firm Tucker Blair. And he was even more tired of not getting paid by the boutiques that placed orders.

His next move? Pulling all of his products from store shelves and setting up shop online. The switch might seem counterintuitive, but the bricks-and-mortar model wasn’t working for consumers, says Llewellyn, 27. “We weren’t able to deliver much value to customers, which during the downturn they craved,” he says.

That was in November 2008. Today, Tucker Blair, based in Washington, D.C., is selling its designs to the public for roughly 60% less than the prices retailers were charging, and the company’s costs have come down as well. It is a model that has helped Tucker Blair weather the downturn and turn a profit, says Llewellyn. But while 2009 sales were up approximately threefold over 2008, they are still short of expectations. Llewellyn is hoping to record similar growth in 2010 thanks to a recent deal he inked with Sperry Top-Sider to sell Tucker Blair’s products, such as hand-stitched belts and headbands, in the shoe retailer’s 40 stores.

SmartMoney asked Llewellyn about the ups and downs of running his nearly two-year old accessories maker. Here are his condensed answers.

Name: Taylor Llewellyn
Business: Tucker Blair, a needlepoint accessories maker.
Industry: Fashion
Location: Washington, D.C.
Year founded: 2008
Number of employees: 2
Web address: www.TuckerBlair.comDo you think your age worked to your advantage?

When I first came up with the idea for the company, it’s not like I had worked as a buyer for Polo or Brooks Brothers. I was just 25 years old. I had no experience and no contacts in the industry. But there’s no doubt, being naïve was great for business. Not only was I ignorant of the level of work that would be required of me, I had a lot of excess energy to ply toward the new venture. While the downside of this is not being able to foresee potential hang-ups, I noticed that in reaching out for advice, people were none-too-glad to help.

Your mother owned a catering company and your father started a newspaper in San Francisco. Did having entrepreneurial parents help you start and run your business?

It had an enormous impact on me. Being an entrepreneur, in my mind, doesn’t appeal to something like 99% of people. However, having entrepreneurial parents put me in that 1% category of people who thrive on entrepreneurship. If I hadn’t been exposed to it, I’m not sure I would have even considered starting up my own business.

In building the business what was your best attribute?

In starting a company, I’ve had to be a generalist. Not only am I canvassing factories and packaging products, I’m answering customer service calls and handling public relations tasks. Being resourceful is one of the best traits a business owner should have. Although I initially concocted Tucker Blair’s prototypes using a box of crayons and some sketch paper, I eventually asked around at art schools for design help. I even posted signs up at the Corcoran College of Art + Design in D.C., in my search for low-cost designers. I offered them creative license to come up with designs and eventually someone accepted and returned a mockup.

Being resourceful also led me to lining up an informal board of advisors. Having professionals with life and business experiences to bounce ideas off of and pool them as a resource has been instrumental.

Why did you decide to go solely online?

We weren’t being paid. Thirty-day terms turned into 60- and even 90-day terms. So, we pulled our products from store shelves. While going online presents other challenges, we were able to keep our prices down as well as our costs. Only recently have we begun considering placing our items on brick-and-mortar store shelves again. However, in the deal that we just ushered through with Richmond, Ind.-based shoe-retailer Sperry Top-Sider, the sale price will remain what people can find now at www.TuckerBlair.com.

Speaking of new challenges, what are they for your online-only company?

It is really hard having a web store with no physical presence. That’s why we have spent so much time and effort learning the ins and outs of online marketing. But since we don’t have a huge budget, we like to focus on the free modes of marketing -- namely, social media. Social networking and micro-blogging sites like Facebook and Twitter have been really helpful for getting our name out. In addition, we often send out mass emails to our list serve, and as often as we can, we head to trunk shows where we’ll sell belts and other accessories to the public. This venue offers a good way to gain exposure and reel in sales.

What is your best business advice for future fashion and accessories designers?

Surround yourself with people far, far smarter than you -- employees and business advisors.


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