How Babyboo founders turned $1000 into $40m

With no experience and no external help, siblings Argylica and William Conditsis turned a $1000 investment into a net worth of $40 million. Here’s how they did it.

It was a teenage desire for good shoes that spring-boarded global e-commerce juggernaut Babyboo, which 12 years later, is worth more than $60 million and sold in 145 countries.

Argylica Conditsis was just 17 years old and living at her parents’ Baulkham Hills home, when she had the “crazy idea to start something up herself”.

“I was looking for shoes that made a statement and there was nothing I could find, so I started embellishing shoes for myself,” Ms Conditsis said.

Babyboo co-founder Argylica Conditsis built a multimillion dollar empire with $1000. Picture: Supplied

“It was supposed to be a hobby, but when I popped them on Facebook, it went viral.

“There was no website, no business plan, no strategy. Just buy the stock and pop it online and see what happens,”

Before long, Ms Conditsis was receiving more than 100 orders per week, but with each pair of shoes taking hours to hand create, she knew she couldn’t keep up the pace.

So, she and her brother, William, dropped out of university, introduced clothes into the product mix, and watched the brand take off at a rate neither of them could have imagined.

Here’s how they turned $1000 into more than $40m of combined net worth.

Babyboo founders, Argylica and William Conditsis, dropped out of university to focus on their rapidly growing business. Picture: Supplied

SENSIBLE SPENDING

“The stock was selling out instantly, which meant we could reinvest the profits and build the business. Selling and reinvesting, and selling and reinvesting.

“No backing. No funding. No experience. No assistance. Still to this day, this is the business model we use.”

Ms Conditsis said a sensible approach to growth helped the business maintain its trajectory more than a decade later.

“I see a lot of brands chasing maximum growth with capital but then they go down very quickly because they’re essentially playing with somebody else’s money.

“We’re spending our money very wisely in the right areas to maximise growth. It’s worked over the past 12 years, and I don’t see it changing anytime soon.”

Babyboo has reinvested its profits since day one, and is completely self-funded. Picture: Supplied

SOCIAL MEDIA

Babyboo’s first Facebook page launched with zero followers, but the pair had a solid knowledge of how social media worked.

“We understood social media very well and knew how to market ourselves. We had no marketing spend but we knew how to put the right content out to get that virality,” she said.

“We kept an eye on trends and make sure we were the first to provide them.”

To this day everything Babyboo does revolves around social media.

“And I think that’s why we’ve had so much success,” Ms Conditsis said.

Babyboo founders, Argylica and William Conditsis, have retained control over their global e-commerce juggernaut. Picture: Supplied.

START UP MENTALITY

“We still have that kind of start-up mentality where we’re responding to what the customer wants, even as the business continues to grow,” Ms Conditsis said.

“The customer we had 12 years ago, is not necessarily the customer we have now. You have to be trend focused in order to give the customer what they want at the right time.

Ms Conditsis said her enduring passion is why Babyboo has been able to maintain its connection to its audience.

“It’s become very natural to us - because I am our customer, it’s nothing that I’m forcing, I’m pushing ideas for things that I would like.”

DON’T FEAR FAILURE

“When I started, I had nothing, everything since day one was trial and error,” Ms Conditsis said.

“If it worked, we doubled down on it. If we failed, we learnt from it and made sure not to do it again.

“A lot of businesses are petrified of failing, but when we fail, we learn from that and keep moving forward.”

Argylica Conditsis says working with her brother, William, is “amazing”. Picture: Supplied

SURROUND YOURSELF WITH GOOD PEOPLE

Ms Conditsis said working with her brother had been instrumental in the company’s success.

“It’s been really amazing to join forces with an incredibly like-minded person and build something amazing with him,” she said.

“We both add different values to the brand and it’s been really easy to split aspects of the business up where he can focus on one and I can focus on the other.”

Ms Conditsis said because they’re self-funded, they’re able to make decisions they know will benefit their customers.

“It can cloud your direction when you’ve got people coming in and telling you how to do things.

“We know what works for us.”

Originally published as How Babyboo founders turned $1000 into $40m