Small Business Success Stories

Challenge: Manage a small rural Manitoba-based company from virtually anywhere in the world, maintain high levels of customer experience and satisfaction, and improve online visibility for the company.

Solution: Use Dell solutions to communicate, collaborate and run the business almost entirely online from any remote location.

Impact: Increasing online sales and brand visibility while improving team collaboration and time-to-market efficiencies.

Technology enables any business, big or small, to scale new heights, and that’s exactly what Baby Sherpa, winner of the 2006 Dell and RBC Small Business Excellence Award, has achieved. What began as a germ of an idea — a small, rural business empowered by the right technology — transformed itself into an international success.

Based in Stony Mountain, Manitoba, Baby Sherpa's purpose is to design, manufacture and sell ergonomic and multifunctional diaper bag backpacks that meet the needs of active and travelling parents. This small business has a handful of employees sprinkled across North America. The Baby Sherpa Diaper Backpack has been sold globally to online shoppers, who form their largest customer base. In order to achieve dramatic growth, this business recognized the need to embrace technology, strengthen its online presence and grow its global business, breaking free of geographical limitations.

As the winner of the Dell and RBC Small Business Excellence Award, Baby Sherpa was awarded $20,000 in technology and $5,000 in professional services from Dell. In addition to enabling the promotion of its business and facilitating interaction with customers, technology plays a key role in enabling Baby Sherpa to remotely manage design, production and distribution of its product line. With the new Dell technology solution in place, Baby Sherpa has significantly improved its time-to-market efficiency by delivering products within 48 hours at a minimal cost of $15 for shipping and handling.

"The biggest benefit to winning the Dell award is the great technology the Baby Sherpa team now has access to,” said Heather Campbell-Dewar, CEO of Baby Sherpa. “Dell understood our business needs and designed a customized solution that not only enhanced time-to-market efficiencies but also continues to save me a tremendous amount of time that I can channel into business development and quality time with my family."

Before winning the award, Campbell-Dewar’s technology “wish list” included a Dell server, a printer and a desktop in order to efficiently run customer contact software. After winning the award, she spent time with Dell consultants who designed the right solution to meet the unique needs of her small business. Dell’s simplified IT solution provided Baby Sherpa with the following:
 

Desktop solution — All-in-one dual-screen desktop computer with a multi-function printer-scanner-fax machine Mobile solution — Three Dell laptops and a portable printer Accessories — Two digital cameras, headphones, wireless mouse and keyboard and an external hard drive Networking solutions — Connecting the office computer to the laptop at home, and allowing remote access from anywhere in the world

Up to 95 percent of all retail and customer inquiries are online and a sound IT system now allows Baby Sherpa to respond to inquiries, track customer feedback and acquire information within minutes. This makes it possible for Baby Sherpa to efficiently communicate with hundreds of customers on a daily basis. "We value input from parents and our retailers, and the Dell-designed solution enables us to stay connected with our valued customers all the time," said Campbell-Dewar.

Campbell-Dewar also uses the Internet to communicate and collaborate with her U.S. counterparts, her designer in Seattle and her IT support in Winnipeg. "Our technology support team can remotely access our computers and fix things," she said. "Also, the new technology allows us to quickly design and send e-campaigns to purchasers and retailers informing them of our online products and services."

With the all-in-one computer and multi-capability printer from Dell, Campbell-Dewar can print colored photos, scan media coverage for the company Web site, and fax information to business partners in the United States. The two digital cameras take high-quality product photos and videos, and the color printer helps produce all promotional material and media kits in-house.

Dell also supplied Baby Sherpa with dual monitors, which have helped speed up the order fulfillment process. Baby Sherpa processes orders with a commerce hub and shipping software. Having both applications simultaneously running on dual monitors enables quick transferring and cross-checking of order information, thus eliminating errors. "I absolutely love working with the dual monitors," Campbell-Dewar said. "Tasks that used to take hours now take only 30 minutes."

When Dell helped Baby Sherpa turn its small business into a global entity, it also recognized the need for extreme mobility and connectivity to manage the growing number of customers and orders. Hence, Dell designed a networking solution that enables Campbell-Dewar to connect to her home office from her laptop, virtually anywhere in the world. She can process customer orders and arrange deliveries from her campsite when the family goes on summer vacation. In fact, last year, Campbell-Dewar was on vacation with her family at a ski resort in Banff, Alberta and even at 7,000 feet, high on top of a ski hill, enjoying a hot chocolate in the chalet, she was able to check e-mails and process orders. “It’s a great testament to how virtual our business has become since implementing the Dell solution,” said Campbell-Dewar.

By maximizing its use of technology, Baby Sherpa has been able to manage its growth in a resourceful manner — bringing the Sherpa brand to moms and dads around the world. Baby Sherpa has also been able to maximize its exposure with online customers and retailers and also secure well-known celebrity customers.

“Dell has helped me expand my business goals and become more efficient at serving my customers and retailers,” said Campbell-Dewar. “Thanks to Dell, Baby Sherpa is on a fast growth curve and continues to scale new heights.”