7 min read
Lekute - "Vi vill driva en webshop som vi själva uppskattar"
Lek Ute i Norden AB is a family business owned and operated by Mikael and Sofie Sjöstrand.
In 2018 Mikael and Sofie took over the business Lekute.se. Mikael has previous experience of working as a store manager and Sofie has worked with finance and together they were curious to run and manage something of their own. They bought a concept that already existed but over the years they have evolved from bringing in goods from 2 suppliers to 10. Lekute offers most things in outdoor toys for children but their biggest category is trampolines, pools and football goals. Mikael and Sofie have also expanded the business over the years and bought two more webshops, so today they run lekute.se, kickbike.se and alhobby.se.
Mikael tells us more about the history of the family business:
What do you sell in your shop Lekute?
Our goal is to provide our customers with high quality outdoor toys at a good price. We want to run a webshop that we ourselves would appreciate shopping at. Therefore, our focus is on sourcing high quality products that will last. To extend the life of our products we also sell spare parts for them. For us it is important to offer durable products and provide personal assistance to our customers, both before, during and after the purchase.
I have always had a lot of energy and drive and I enjoy selling. I have many years of experience in retail and I felt it was time to develop in a new way. Running my own store had been on my mind for many years and in 2018 we felt ready to take that step.
You only sell your products on the web, have you thought about setting up a physical shop in addition?
Yes, we have, but we have decided that the best thing for us and our products is to stick to having only an online store. However, in our warehouse we have a display hall where customers can come and check out our trampolines that are set up there. We do this so that our customers have the opportunity to test and feel our products. We do not have fixed times, but customers can contact us and decide what time they want/can come and we will arrange it.
What I like about running a webshop compared to a physical shop, which I have worked with for many years before, is that it is a faster pace and you need to keep more balls in the air at the same time. You still have the fun part of selling and taking care of customers, but at the same time I enjoy finding new solutions to constantly improve the business. It can be anything from customer service to margin strategy.
Why did you choose Abicart as your e-commerce platform?
When we took over the business, the previous owners were using Abicart and we saw no reason to change. We saw the potential in Abicart to grow our business and one of the key pieces for us was that it provides smart solutions that streamline our work. Shortly after we took over the online store, we connected Abicart to our Specter business system and to our Nshift supplier system. Abicart, Specter and Nshift interact very well, so a lot of work is automated and it streamlines our work enormously.
As a self-employed person, you have a lot to do and it is important to prioritise your work and for us it was important that we got this automation. I'm not good at IT and I don't want to spend a lot of time on that part, it just has to work. Abicart allows us to let go of that part and I appreciate that very much. It allows me to focus on our customers and our business.
Our other two businesses were using other e-commerce platforms but we have chosen to move them over to Abicart. The reason for this is that we are very happy with the connections that make the online shopping automated and efficient and the communication with Abicart has worked very well over the years. We are very happy with Abicart and it feels great to expand with another store soon on.
We absolutely recommend Abicart. If you're like me and want to let go of the IT bit and focus on your business and selling instead, Abicart is a simple, cheap and effective solution.
What is the best thing about running your own business and online store?
I think the best thing about running your own business is doing business. That you get to be independent, you get to make your own decisions when it comes to doing business and you get a receipt for whether you're doing a good job or not. Hopefully you also make money from it in the end. You get to decide for yourself what is important to spend time on and you get to think outside the box. We like and believe in what we do and we work on something that is fun. Sure you spend a lot of time on your business but it's usually a lot of fun along the way, the fun bits definitely outweigh the boring bits.
Do you have any tips for others who want to start an online store?
You have limited time as a self-employed person so I think the most important thing when running a webshop is to focus on what you are good at. Pick a few things to focus on to become the best at, because no one has time for everything. You have to prioritise and limit yourself so you do some things really well. Also remember to focus on the things that will actually generate money. Do fewer things but make sure you do them really well. This will generate more money and you will feel better in the evening.
The challenge that exists if you want to grow your webshop is to find the right price that covers all costs. Make sure you get a margin on what you sell that covers all costs. The step from running your own business to growing is a difficult one, if you want to grow you have to remember that the margins have to cover the expenses even when you have grown and need rent, extra staff etc. Include this in your plan from the start when setting your prices so that your margins can cover those costs as you grow.
Make sure you find something that differentiates you from others, you certainly shouldn't offer the same as your competitors. Then it will be difficult to reach out, but find your own and be unique and it will be easier to cut through the noise.
Make use of Trustpilot, it's a great way for new customers to get an idea of what your company is like while you get feedback on what you need to improve. We display all our reviews. Sometimes show customers aren't happy and we'll reply and if we've done something wrong we'll fix that problem.
Which of our subscriptions do you use and why?
I think we have had the PRO subscription from the start. The reason for that is that we wanted to make use of the connection with Specter and Nshift and we wanted to have more stores.
We chose the Bountiful theme because we found it the most practical, it has a clear and simple structure. We hear from our customers that they find it simple and easy to find on our website and that is exactly what we are looking for. We want our website to be easy to find and inspiring.
Welcome to Lekute!
Check out Kickbike
Allvar and Lek Distribution
"We want to run an online store that we ourselves appreciate"
What do you sell in your shop Lekute?
Our goal is to provide our customers with high quality outdoor toys at a good price. We want to run a webshop that we ourselves would appreciate shopping at. Therefore, our focus is on sourcing high quality products that will last. To extend the life of our products we also sell spare parts for them. For us it is important to offer durable products and provide personal assistance to our customers, both before, during and after the purchase.
I have always had a lot of energy and drive and I enjoy selling. I have many years of experience in retail and I felt it was time to develop in a new way. Running my own store had been on my mind for many years and in 2018 we felt ready to take that step.
You only sell your products on the web, have you thought about setting up a physical shop in addition?
Yes, we have, but we have decided that the best thing for us and our products is to stick to having only an online store. However, in our warehouse we have a display hall where customers can come and check out our trampolines that are set up there. We do this so that our customers have the opportunity to test and feel our products. We do not have fixed times, but customers can contact us and decide what time they want/can come and we will arrange it.
What I like about running a webshop compared to a physical shop, which I have worked with for many years before, is that it is a faster pace and you need to keep more balls in the air at the same time. You still have the fun part of selling and taking care of customers, but at the same time I enjoy finding new solutions to constantly improve the business. It can be anything from customer service to margin strategy.
Why did you choose Abicart as your e-commerce platform?
When we took over the business, the previous owners were using Abicart and we saw no reason to change. We saw the potential in Abicart to grow our business and one of the key pieces for us was that it provides smart solutions that streamline our work. Shortly after we took over the online store, we connected Abicart to our Specter business system and to our Nshift supplier system. Abicart, Specter and Nshift interact very well, so a lot of work is automated and it streamlines our work enormously.
As a self-employed person, you have a lot to do and it is important to prioritise your work and for us it was important that we got this automation. I'm not good at IT and I don't want to spend a lot of time on that part, it just has to work. Abicart allows us to let go of that part and I appreciate that very much. It allows me to focus on our customers and our business.
Our other two businesses were using other e-commerce platforms but we have chosen to move them over to Abicart. The reason for this is that we are very happy with the connections that make the online shopping automated and efficient and the communication with Abicart has worked very well over the years. We are very happy with Abicart and it feels great to expand with another store soon on.
We absolutely recommend Abicart. If you're like me and want to let go of the IT bit and focus on your business and selling instead, Abicart is a simple, cheap and effective solution.
What is the best thing about running your own business and online store?
I think the best thing about running your own business is doing business. That you get to be independent, you get to make your own decisions when it comes to doing business and you get a receipt for whether you're doing a good job or not. Hopefully you also make money from it in the end. You get to decide for yourself what is important to spend time on and you get to think outside the box. We like and believe in what we do and we work on something that is fun. Sure you spend a lot of time on your business but it's usually a lot of fun along the way, the fun bits definitely outweigh the boring bits.
Do you have any tips for others who want to start an online store?
You have limited time as a self-employed person so I think the most important thing when running a webshop is to focus on what you are good at. Pick a few things to focus on to become the best at, because no one has time for everything. You have to prioritise and limit yourself so you do some things really well. Also remember to focus on the things that will actually generate money. Do fewer things but make sure you do them really well. This will generate more money and you will feel better in the evening.
The challenge that exists if you want to grow your webshop is to find the right price that covers all costs. Make sure you get a margin on what you sell that covers all costs. The step from running your own business to growing is a difficult one, if you want to grow you have to remember that the margins have to cover the expenses even when you have grown and need rent, extra staff etc. Include this in your plan from the start when setting your prices so that your margins can cover those costs as you grow.
Make sure you find something that differentiates you from others, you certainly shouldn't offer the same as your competitors. Then it will be difficult to reach out, but find your own and be unique and it will be easier to cut through the noise.
Make use of Trustpilot, it's a great way for new customers to get an idea of what your company is like while you get feedback on what you need to improve. We display all our reviews. Sometimes show customers aren't happy and we'll reply and if we've done something wrong we'll fix that problem.
Which of our subscriptions do you use and why?
I think we have had the PRO subscription from the start. The reason for that is that we wanted to make use of the connection with Specter and Nshift and we wanted to have more stores.
We chose the Bountiful theme because we found it the most practical, it has a clear and simple structure. We hear from our customers that they find it simple and easy to find on our website and that is exactly what we are looking for. We want our website to be easy to find and inspiring.
Welcome to Lekute!
Check out Kickbike
Allvar and Lek Distribution