True Hut Village won the AusMumpreneur Digital Innovation Award
- Written by Candice Meisels
It takes a village. A Melbourne Mumpreneur has grown a village for parents both online and offline.
Plus, what parents are hiring, how Mums are making money from home and Australia’s most popular baby brands for 2018.
Australian parents are flocking to an online village where they can borrow baby equipment, try before they buy and get paid for lending their baby items to other parents.
Australian Mumpreneur, Eva Wintersberger, travelled on holiday to the Whitsundays with her baby in tow. She did not want to take her own pram and borrowed one from another Mum online.
Eva says:” It was so convenient and lovely to meet a local person that I thought this should be easier for all parents in Australia.”
This interaction inspired Eva to start True Hut Village, a village where parents can borrow baby and children’s items from other parents.
Eva adds: “When I was on maternity, I also found that having another $50 once in a while would be very beneficial as it afforded me some freedom to do what I wanted without feeling guilty that I was spending our family's budget. “
Parents can also try before they buy by hiring the equipment from other parents and seeing which brand works for their family.
The business has grown from strength to strength. Eva has listened to feedback from users and has added additional features such as turning their hire listing to a sale listing, buy new baby equipment, users have pro badges if they have completed more than 10 hires as a lender and users can see if their ID has been verified which adds to credibility. Tree Hut Village have even connected Mums to a Facebook group where they can ask questions about hiring items.
True Hut Village won the AusMumpreneur Digital Innovation Award in 2017 and is a Finalist in the 2018 Emerging Business AusMumpreneur category.
What we can learn from Eva and The Tree Hut Village:
What are the top baby items that Australian parents are hiring or trying before they buy?
- Strollers/Prams
- Travel Cots
- Car Seats
- Medical Grade Breast Pumps
- Travel Equipment
- Hiking Packs
How to make money from home?
Become a Virtual Assistant
Design Facebook or Instagram graphics
Hire out your baby items via Tree Hut Village
Sell homemade items on Etsy
Respond to requests on Airtasker
Do social media for businesses
The most popular brands are:
Babyzen YoYo+
City Tour by Baby Jogger
CybexEezy S
Mountain Buggy Nano
Baby Bjorn Travel Cot
Jetkids by Bedbox (which was recently hired from Tree Hut Village to be featured in a Westpac ad)
Joolz Earth Day2
Uppababy Minu
