It's common knowledge that until you have children of your own, baby bottles, changing mats or diaper bags are about as relevant and interesting as a pension plan to a teenager. But not if you are Stephanie Jung. The German-born businesswoman took an interest and spotted a gap in the market, which she is turning into a thriving concern. 'Many things change when you start a family, but there's no need to sacrifice your sense of style,'' she says. 'Most diaper or family bags are covered in horrifying cartoon characters, and just aren't practical. My friends were constantly complaining about their shortcomings.' Allerhand Bags was born in April last year and manufactures a range of trendy, functional, coloured bags with clever pockets and accessories for babies and families. Twelve months on, business is looking good. Ms Jung has forged relationships with distributors in four different markets and is selling through 10 retail outlets in Hong Kong. She has sold a total of 4,000 bags locally, in Singapore and Indonesia, and has also just secured an order for 6,000 bags with her new German distributor. But it has not all been plain sailing. Ms Jung's biggest challenge continues to be protecting her ideas from copycat competitors, who change zippers and colours, and sell her designs under their own labels. It is a familiar problem. 'In 2002 I set up Bag Attack, a design, development and production company for fashion handbags and accessories,'' she says. 'It was successful but frustrating that somebody else was marketing my ideas as their own, and reaping the profits. 'In some cases clients would take my designs to China directly and have them manufactured. I wouldn't get one order. I decided to start my own label so I had control over the relationships I forged.' Setting up Allerhand in Asia was straightforward, using the knowledge and contacts she had built through Bag Attack. Expanding into other markets posed a variety of challenges, but Ms Jung is nothing if not resourceful. Recognising she needed to build strong logistics and distribution networks, she set about finding international distributors by trawling the internet. 'I looked at who was selling good-quality toys in Europe, tracked down the individual distributor, and called them up. I said 'I've got this product, I'm coming to Germany, are you interested?' All of a sudden I had eight appointments, and at the end of my trip I had my distributor.' She is also exploring innovative ways to bring her bags to market. Aside from ensuring her leaflets and products are available in schools, kindergartens, medical practices and maternity wards, Ms Jung is using Hong Kong as a test market for her Home Direct concept. In the same style as Tupperware parties, Allerhand representatives throughout Hong Kong will host family events showcasing the bags. If it works, she plans to extend the idea to other ''expat'' cities in China such as Shanghai and Beijing. Ms Jung has been using profits from Bag Attack to fund Allerhand, and is at a point where she has to invest substantial sums in manufacturing before she has confirmed orders. 'Small quantities have meant my profit margins have been low, and a small production run means I haven't been able to negotiate on price with manufacturers. But quantities are increasing, which will give me better leverage. 'People realise I'm offering a quality product for a reasonable price, and in the end that's all they want.'
