With the stay at home order extended to May 15, there has never been a better time to try out new hobbies. During this unfamiliar time, many students have taken the opportunity to start a home business.
Lily Morgan ’21 is one of the many South students who decided to turn something she enjoys into a business: tie dying and creating custom clothing pieces to sell through social media.
“I made some stuff for myself last summer and it came out really good,” Morgan said. “When you’re bored during quarantine, you have a lot of time to think, so I thought maybe other people would be interested too.”
Sophie Smith ’21 has been actively selling original clothing pieces on Instagram for around four months.
“I have always loved thrifting, so when I realized I could give old clothes a new life, I got really excited to start experimenting,” Smith said.
Tie dying and revamping old pieces can take a while, but online school has opened up a lot of free time to try new things, according to Smith.
“It usually takes an entire day to make a batch of tie dyed pieces because the dye needs to be set for six hours to be the best quality,” Smith said.
During these past weeks, small Instagram businesses have been getting more business than ever, according to Sarah Rogers ’21.
“I was pretty shocked when I saw people constantly buying things and coming back,” Rogers said. “It is doing much better than I ever expected.”
The primary way to attract business and advertise is to be active on whatever social media platforms you are selling on, according to Smith.
“I post at least one Instagram story every day, and try to drop new items weekly,” Smith said. “I think a consistent aesthetic is key to staying relevant.”
A great thing about being a small and local business is that people are able to place custom orders that are exactly what they want, according to Morgan.
“Every piece is unique, and I accept all personal requests with whatever color or style someone may want,” Morgan said.
Even during the lockdown and closing of many stores, new clothing is still being produced and supplies can still be bought, according to Rogers.
“It is really convenient that I don’t even have to leave the house to get supplies,” Rogers said. “Everything I need is on Amazon.”
These online stores have become a passion and part-time job, and teach a lot about responsibility and maturity, Smith said.
“Part of why I love doing this is because each piece is so unique and personalized,” Smith said. “I truly have made this such a big part of my life, and couldn’t be happier meeting new people and reducing clothing waste.”