We recently connected with Alina Khoma and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Alina, thanks for joining us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I’m Alina, an educator, a Montessori mom and creator of the bavka brand. The idea to craft my own materials in Ukraine came to me during my maternity leave in 2021. Professionally, I am an educator, and I have always been interested in various methods of child-rearing, especially those popular abroad. Thus, I discovered the Montessori method and positive discipline.

At that time, only few in Ukraine had heard of this method. It was impossible to find Montessori toys here. So I began searching for woodworking craftsmen here, in Ukraine, who could produce the materials I needed for my daughter. I showcased these toys on social media. They caught the attention of many people, and requests for purchases started coming in. Gradually, my personal need turned into a business.

Every step, from creation to delivery, involved my hands and my husband’s support in managing our online store and promotions.

Due to 8 woodcraft masters, I finally achieved the quality I dreamed of. It was a challenging phase of setting up the work, but it was worth all the risks, as it helped to shape our values.

I knew nothing about business or marketing; I only had a dream. That’s how my business started with a $35 investment.

As my daughter grew, we moved from my appartment to the office.

Last year, I participated in the “Vidvazhna” business accelerator (https://www.visa.com.ua/en_UA/about-visa/newsroom/press-releases/prl-14062023.html). I joined the project precisely because I knew that if I could understand business as well as I understand child-rearing, my venture would be a successsuccess. The training lasted six months, during which I completely changed my business strategy. My income doubled, I doubled the number of employees, and these results were recognized by the show’s jury. Thus, I became the winner and received a grant for the development of my own business. (https://vogue.ua/article/culture/lifestyle/v-ukrajini-viznachili-peremozhnic-biznes-akseleratora-vidvazhna-shcho-pidtrimuye-zhinok-u-biznesi-52614.html)

Functioning for three years, we’ve widened tthe number of clients to a thousand in Ukraine. However, during these hard times for our country, we’ve decided to extend our possibilities globally.

I hope our toys become cherished parts of many childhoods, spreading joy and delight! bavka isn’t just about toys; it’s about childhood. Understanding that a child’s development depends not only on the materials, we made tools for parents to create a safe environment from birth to school.

Alina, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

bavka — all the necessary Montessori materials for raising children in one place.

By choosing childhood with bavka, parents lay the foundation for a successful future for their children.

We use certified raw materials of the highest quality and follow all conditions of wood processing and grinding, and we polish our toys carefully before sending them.

Our materials are thought out very well to develop your child’s particular skills, creative talent and imagination.

We provide aesthetic and minimalistic packaging that can be perfect as a present.

Our products and packaging are ecofriendly and recyclable.

Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?

I’ve always been absolutely certain that I’d never give up on my business, no matter what! Everything was going great! We were expanding, introducing new products, and boosting sales. But one day, war broke out. What we experienced on that day cannot be described in words! I shudder to recall that morning when I wrote to my employees: “We’re not going to work today! Save yourselves and your families!”
The dreadful reality paralyzed our business for three months. Our parenting blog turned into an information hub with announcements about finding safe shelter, humanitarian aid, and searching for lost children. At that time, I couldn’t even think about business development or its existence at all. I had enough funds for three months to cover wages, taxes, and rent. But I had no idea what to do next. Sales dropped to zero. That’s when my digital products saved me. Ukrainians who had moved abroad began actively supporting the remaining businesses so that we could continue to pay taxes. Our customers placed orders we couldn’t fulfill and requested to donate these products to children in shelters. I’m still not sure how we managed to get through it.

Just as things started to stabilize and we returned to work, a new challenge arose.

Mass power blackout began due to shelling. There could be no electricity for up to 22 hours every day. For our manufacture, this was a disaster! We couldn’t operate the machinery, there was no internet, no means of communication. We resorted to working in cafés with generators. We slept during the day and went to manufacture at night when there was electricity.
All this was happening in winter, precisely when demand for our products was at its peak before the holidays. Everyone wanted to purchase toys for Christmas, but our warehouse was empty, and we physically couldn’t produce new goods quickly enough. It hit our business hard! It took us a year to recover and return to our previous work volumes. This year, I underwent training on developing a resilience strategy through SURE (Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure). This training helped me analyze various potential risks for my business to anticipate such challenges and be prepared for difficulties. I joke that even in the face of a nuclear war, my business will survive.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I can confidently tell you that the success of our social media channels comes from the consistent effort and careful planning put into them. It’s a daily routine of thoughtful and strategic work! It was crucial to understand that I’m not creating content for myself; it’s not a hobby. Everything had to be carefully thought out to showcase our brand and build loyalty to it. To become a lovemark in our niche, we chose a caring tone of voice. Customer service is particularly important to us! We demonstrated this through customer feedback and communication.

Over time, we accumulated enough material from our clients, who themselves showcased our product. The audience is particularly captivated by videos featuring my own child. People want to see that what I’m saying isn’t just empty words. It demonstrates my expertise and earns trust. When people see that our product delivers results, it impresses them. Everyone is thrilled to see a child truly engaged in play for hours. Everyone wants to achieve such results.

The discovery for me was that each social media platform has a different audience. We all don’t have enough time to be on five different social media platforms every day. That’s why we all choose our favorite one and dedicate most of our time to it. That’s why it’s so important to use multiple communication channels to expand your audience. It’s also important to understand that each social media platform has its own rules and vibe, so adapt to it and create content in a format that will be convenient for people on that particular platform.

I realized that having a personal presence in the blog significantly boosts engagement. After all, people are curious to know who they’re interacting with.
Many agencies advised me to observe what my competitors were doing and replicate their strategies. Well, I never listened to them. Perhaps that strategy works, but not if you want to create a unique brand that stands out. By doing so, you risk getting lost among others, failing to convey your values, and damaging your reputation. Not every trend fits into your specific niche.

Without trendy content, growth is impossible. We must evoke emotions in our audience if we want them to remember us. It was challenging for me to accept this fact because, I wanted to please everyone. But that made me uninteresting and led to a decline in engagement. We decided to create new content that people would want to discuss and debate. Hype can be positive and effective even in our delicate niche.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bavkatoys.com/en/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bav.ka/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bavka.toys
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alina-khoma-031831218/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI3qTokFWouUxRXhVEx2BdA
• Other: TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@alina.bavka Etsy – https://bavkatoys.etsy.com

Image Credits
All rights belong to me, and I give full consent for their use.