In this op-ed, Ready Freddie co-founders Georgia Dew and Allie Goodbun reveal how they scaled their one-piece jumper brand in two different continents.
Launching a business from opposite sides of the world (Paris, France and Perth, Australia to be exact), was a risk we were willing to take. We spent a full year living and working on building Ready Freddie from the ground up together first and when it came time to separate, we had a good business foundation built already. We knew we had a strong friendship but we both agree since starting Ready Freddie, it has brought us so much closer.
It took a lot of trial and error to see what worked for us living so far apart, yet working on the same project and tasks simultaneously. Knowing each other's unique skill sets definitely helped us delegate tasks, and we built the brand up from there. Knowing we would be in opposite time zones, we assumed this would be the most challenging part, when actually it’s been the most beneficial as this way, someone is always working. In our early days of launching this came in handy, with Georgia being in the same time zone as our warehouse and factory. At the end of their workdays, Allie would pick up the leftover tasks and complete them ahead of Georgia’s work day and so on. To our surprise, it was actually a very well-oiled machine!
All our communication is done via voice note and WhatsApp messaging so it's instantaneous and quick. In the beginning, Allie would stay up late in Paris to catch Georgia in the early hours in Perth to have a work meeting via Facetime. Now, one year later, we do this on a weekly basis instead. We are still learning as we go to see what works for us – it’s definitely a process but it’s an exciting time for us and the brand.
Since launching Ready Freddie on December 1, 2023, we have grown significantly more than originally anticipated. When we look at the overall picture, we like to say we've graduated from small business status, and have moved more into becoming a recognizable/notable brand. In our first month of trade, we hit $50k in sales with just three colours available.
We could see how much people loved the product solely from that and this is what officially got Ready Freddie off the ground! As a self-funded business, we were relieved to know we could keep designing and releasing more colours and products, without digging into our personal savings too much – 100 per cent of revenue thus far has gone back into the business.
With it only being half way through December 2024, we have already launched two separate collections, which has resulted in our monthly earnings doubling revenue since last December. Our most recent launch, the Red Limited Edition, completely sold out of adult sizing in 8 hours.
The target audience for our Ready Freddie products are dancers alike. As professional dancers who utilise onesies on a daily basis ourselves, we know and understand the need for a product like ours. To keep warm while getting ready to perform, we believe Freddie has filled a hole in the market nobody noticed was there. Dancers all around the world have seen our social media posts, wearing the product backstage while getting ready (makeup routine, hair routine, stretching routine, etc.) and clearly understand the need for a product like this in their daily lives as well.
What we are seeing are non-dancers also engaging with Freddie’s and purchasing their onesie to wear when getting ready to go out for the night in lieu of their dressing gown, to wear post shower and even to don when nipping to the shops.
One year later, it is still just Allie and Georgia working together to build Ready Freddie. With every cent dedicated to going back into the business to solely grow the brand, this was the intention for our first year of business to begin with. Starting in the new year 2025, we hope to hire a customer service team to better focus our time towards new collections, creative direction, marketing and product management – this is just the beginning!
We have many goals for the near future, including the expansion of sizing, the exploration of new fabrics & designs, as well as the building a bigger team to help support the brand and allow us to focus our time together on parts of the brand that are starting to require more attention.
One of our biggest goals is to hit our target revenue of $1 million CAD (~A$1.1 million), and we hope to achieve this in 2025. We would also love to explore wholesale opportunities and put Ready Freddie in reputable department store fronts.
In our wildest dreams, we want every dancer to own a Freddie backstage, every mother and daughter to have one hanging on the door of their bathroom, and every kid to have a Freddie they can cosy up in at home for movie night.