We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Beth Frankenfield. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Beth below.

Beth, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Almost every entrepreneur we know has considered donating a portion of their sales to an organization or cause – how did you make the decision of whether to donate? We’d love to hear the backstory if you’re open to sharing the details.

When we started our business, my sister, Susan, and I knew we wanted to include some type of charitable component. We decided it would be really neat to focus on the needs of our local communities and support charities that are doing work where we live. To that end, we pick a new charity each year (alternating between Delaware and Virginia) and donate 5% of our sales to that charity. Picking the yearly charity is one of the most fun parts of this- asking our customers for recommendations, crowdsourcing ideas on social media, and doing our own research to determine which charity to use next. There are so many great organizations and causes- it’s sometimes hard to choose! We love knowing we are putting good back into the world and offering an easy way for more people to engage with, learn about, and donate to new charities.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Susan and I are sisters who are separated by about 9 years in age a several states in geography. We started 2 Paper Sisters in January of 2020 when Susan called me up one day and said, “I’ve been listening to a podcast… let’s start a business!” I thought about it for maybe two seconds and said, “OK!” (I’m not even exaggerating; this is pretty much exactly how that conversation played out). Anyway, she had the idea to create printable educational activities and sell them online as digital downloads. It sounded like fun, and 2 Paper Sisters was born!

After the start of the pandemic, we found demand exploded for easy educational printables and activities parents and caregivers could do at home with their kids. Through interactions with our friends and customers (and our own families), we also saw a need for hands-on, screen-free alternatives to get kids playing and imagining again, so late in 2020, we launched our first physical products- story card decks, peg dolls sets, and, eventually, our best-selling sensory rice kits.

Susan has two grown children (18 and 20) and is currently a High School Principal. She has over 23 years of experience in education, from teacher to district staff to administration and more. She is passionate about making learning fun and accessible. Her background and expertise are invaluable as we develop new products and lean into current research about best practices in child development and education.

I have three children (5, 7, and 10) and am currently an IT Project Manager for a large company. I have over 13 years of experience in IT and Project Management. Having three young kids has made me appreciate the benefits of screen-free time and unstructured play, and I have become a huge advocate for ensuring all kids have the opportunity to just play. I use my own experience with my kids to help with new product development and also handle most of the technical aspects of 2 Paper Sisters (like our website).

We are excited to share about our brand-new quarterly Sensory Subscription Box! Each box contains a variety of hands-on and sensory activities around a central theme, along with suggestions for play. These subscription boxes are a great way to refresh your toy closet and encourage creativity and imagination in your child. Contact us for more information or head to our website for all the details and to order! Spring boxes will be sent through the end of April and the Summer boxes launch in June.

We are proud to be a mom-owned, women-owned, sister business that supports and gives back to our local communities. We’ve donated over $1,000 to local charities since we started 2 Paper Sisters, and we’re excited to see that number continue to climb as 2 Paper Sisters grows and our products find their way into more homes.

Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?

When we first launched our business, we sold exclusively on Etsy. We picked it because it was familiar to us, and it was easy- buyers were already there and it doesn’t take much to get an Etsy shop up and running. As we continued to grow we decided we wanted more control over our image and our products (photos, videos, descriptions, etc), so we launched our own website on Shopify.

There are some big benefits to selling on a large platform, like Etsy. Etsy does a ton of advertising. It may not be specifically your products (although they do have offsite ads now that can bring traffic to your shop), but it gets people ONTO Etsy and searching for products, where they are more likely to run across your listings. Additionally, Etsy is a household name. When we started selling, we had a ton of people ask us “are you on Etsy?”. So, even if your Etsy presence isn’t huge, it’s a well-known platform and can introduce people to your brand. These perks do come with some drawbacks, mainly in the way of fees. We haven’t found the Etsy fees to be too prohibitive, but they are definitely a factor and something you need to consider when determining if it’s the right platform for your business. Another drawback- there is very little customization in Etsy, so it’s hard to make your shop stand out. Every shop pretty much looks the same and so it can be hard to let your brand personality shine through.

Having your own website, whether you self-host or use a provider like Shopify, also has its pros and cons. There are almost too many choices for website providers these days, but we went with Shopify for a lot of the same reasons we originally chose Etsy. It’s easy to use, and it’s set up specifically for ecommerce. Shopify is really a signup and go platform. Yes, you can add custom things and work with developers and do all sorts of really neat things, but you can also just pick a free theme, design your site, add your products and start selling. As newbies to online selling, we appreciated the ease of entry here. We also like that we can really personalize our website to make it feel more like us and our brand. From our main page to product pages and landing pages, there are lots of ways to differentiate yourself when you have your own piece of the internet. Obviously, there are some disadvantages to using Shopify, too. For one, you HAVE to have some kind of advertising strategy. Unfortunately, people aren’t just googling “shopify store products” and mindlessly looking at all the stores like they do on Etsy. And, of course, there is a cost to Shopify. You don’t have all the fees of Etsy, but you do have your subscription plus any add-on apps and payment processing fees.

We currently sell on both Etsy and Shopify, and also have our products listed wholesale on Faire. We mostly use Etsy for our digital products and Shopify for our physical products, but there is some cross-over on the platforms. We also use Etsy as another advertising/avenue for exposure to our Shopify website. This multi-platform approach has worked well for us so far, and we’ll likely keep doing this for the forseeable future!

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Our best source of new clients is definitely in-person markets and vendor events. Our products do really well when people can see, touch, and experience what we have to offer. We always have a large bin of sensory rice and toys set up at our displays and encourage kids to play and imagine while their parents shop. Seeing their kids happily entertained (by themselves!) is huge for parents and helps them realize there is a place for our products in their homes.

We can also be more personable and personal during face-to-face interactions. We can ask questions and better understand our prospective customers, and thus suggest products or items they might like.

Not all events are successful for us- we have learned how to be discerning and think about the target market at each event before signing up to attend. But for those events where we have the right audience, our products do incredibly well and we serve lots of very happy parents and children!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.2papersisters.come
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/2.paper.sisters
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/2papersisters
• Other: Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/2papersisters Email: [email protected]

Image Credits
Professional photo of Susan and Beth: Tiffany Caldwell Photograph (IG: @tiffpicsphotography) All other photos taken by Susan or Beth themselves