If you’ve ever purchased pickleball paddles from A Little Ripple, you’d be surprised to learn that the person handling your order is a 13-year-old girl.
Meet Eleora Liang, the very definition of a girl boss.
While keeping up with schoolwork like other students her age, this Singaporean also manages inventory, answers customers’ queries, and updates her business website.
Homeschooled from a young age, Eleora was encouraged by her mum to explore a variety of life skills. Beyond running A Little Ripple, she also learned how to code, crochet, cook, and even play the violin.
“Being homeschooled and attending mainstream school is very different. Homeschool allows me to have time to pursue my other passions and manage this business,” the former South View Primary School student told AsiaOne in a recent interview.
“If I were still in school, I don’t think I would have the time to manage the business.”
While Eleora misses her friends at times, she doesn’t see herself going back to a mainstream school.
“I understand that homeschooling will not suit everyone because it requires a lot of self-discipline. For now, I would prefer homeschooling so that I can continue this and my violin passion, as well as spend time with my family.”
From stationery to pickleball paddles
With encouragement from her mum, Eleora first explored entrepreneurship in March 2022 when the family was based in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
She was only 10 years old when she tried selling stationery and small gifts to teachers for Children’s Day.
“The business was not very sustainable because you could only rely on special occasions,” she explained.
Later on, Eleora considered selling clothes, but abandoned the idea due to a limited budget for stocking various sizes and colours. She also toyed with the idea of selling home decor but decided against it as the items were too fragile to ship.
Having played pickleball for four years, Eleora recognised a growing market for paddles, especially since they had been hard to find until recently.
Sourcing the items, however, proved to be challenging due to limited supply. After about six months of searching, she finally secured an overseas supplier and launched A Little Ripple in early 2024.
The pickleball paddles are stored in a temporary storage space shared with another business. Most of the stock is kept in Malaysia, but the items are shipped to Singapore regularly.
Eleora, who now lives with her family in Perak, starts her day with studying in the morning, practising violin in the afternoon, and working on her business in the evening.
She usually spends four to five hours a day updating the website, creating social media content, packing stock, and responding to customers‘ queries.
When business is brisk, she dedicates more time to managing it. And when it slows down, she shifts her focus back to her studies and violin practice.
The teenager also receives support from her family.
Her parents help with financial matters and assist when there is a surge in orders, while her older sister offers guidance on marketing the products on social media.
Eleora’s uncle in Singapore also helps customers who choose to self-collect their paddles.
“Currently, we are based in Malaysia and we send out our stocks every week to my uncle,” she said, adding that they update him daily on the orders.
A Little Ripple sells a range of pickleball paddles for beginners and advanced players, priced between $29 and $55. It also offers children’s paddles for $22, as well as paddle sets that include balls and two to four paddles.
On average, Eleora sells around 200 pickleball paddles a month, with the majority of customers from Singapore and some from Malaysia.
During slower months, she earns less than $1,000 in profits. But when business is good, her earnings can reach up to $3,000.
Part of the profits is reinvested into the business, while the rest goes towards funding her violin hobby.
Ups and downs of entrepreneurship
Like any business owner, Eleora has her fair share of challenges.
She shared that she has had to manage customers’ expectations during shipment delays and occasionally absorb losses when products arrive damaged.
The teen has also encountered unreasonable customers. In one such instance, a buyer placed an order at around midnight and requested to self-collect the pickleball paddle at 2am.
“It gets very stressful when buyers rush us,” she said.
Despite the challenges, Eleora enjoys the entrepreneurial journey.
“I think it is pretty exciting and also an experience,” she told AsiaOne. “It was not something that I had in mind since young, but I enjoy running this business very much and would like to do this long-term.”
Beyond selling pickleball paddles, Eleora is already brainstorming other business ideas.
Recently, she launched DIY crochet kits, which are also available on A Little Ripple’s website.
With prices starting at $7.90, the kits include all the materials needed to crochet animals such as hedgehogs, penguins, and capybaras, along with step-by-step video tutorials.
If you’re Eleora’s age and thinking of starting your own business, she encourages you to not be afraid of failure.
“The first few months or years may be difficult, and some months, you will not have orders. And you may not always succeed on your first try, like my first business,” she said.
“But you’ll always learn a lot of valuable lessons that will not only help you in your next business venture, but also important life skills like communicating with customers, financing, budgeting, and marketing.”
[[nid:710635]]
Read the full article here
