Juliette Knox Photo: Craig Ratcliffe
Juliette Knox has turned a shopping disappointment into a burgeoning internet business with little more than hard work and a solid business plan.
Juliette is the co-founder and CEO of the internet-based The Little Black Dress Empire. It grew from her original idea of a one-stop shop for the much-celebrated garment.
The idea popped into her head after a failed shopping expedition to find her own little black dress. Juliette originally pictured a bricks and mortar shop but her now business partner suggested cyber-selling. Their feasibility study showed “seven million people a month looking for a little black dress online”.
“We were going to buy and sell stock online but then the global financial crisis hit and consumer confidence hit an all-time low,” she said. “We needed to take some risk out of the business and that’s when we came up with the idea of connecting customers to designers rather than carrying stock ourselves.”
From that point, it was hard foot-slogging — working 15-hour days, knocking on designers’ doors and selling the concept. Once she had 10 designers onboard, Juliette launched her website. “Now we’ve got designers coming to us,” she said.
The growth has been phenomenal since launching in December last year and Juliette and her business partner are pushing hard for it to continue. “We want to build up the best reputation for the best black dresses online.”
Aside from the low business risk, selling online means The Little Black Dress Empire has a far lower carbon footprint than an ordinary shop and most online stores as the dresses are shipped direct from the designer to the customer.
Juliette’s experience has produced some sound advice for other Indigenous Australians. “Have your vision on where you want to be and what you want to get, and never lose sight of it,” she said.
“We started with no more than an idea and a business plan. I had my vision and I found ways to get there.”
Juliette has been nominated for Cosmopolitan magazine’s Fun, Fearless Female Entrepreneur 2011.
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