I’m competing with giants like Apple
NOVA SMITH is the founder of Direct E-Trading, which sells inexpensive laptops. Nova, 43, lives in Leeds with her husband, Jeremy, 44, a fitness trainer, and their children, Nellie, eight, Lukas, nearly six, and Celia, four.
SNUGGLING beside her desperately ill toddler on his bed in a hospital bed, Nova Smith turned on her tablet computer and prepared to talk to her daughter via Skype.
Nellie, then five, was at home, missing her mother, and desperate to tell her all the news from school.
As Nova listened to Nellie’s tales, she was almost able to forget her problems. And they were profound. little lukas was two, but so poorly that he hadn’t spent even one day at home.
Nova’s troubles started when, 25 weeks pregnant with twins, she went on a family holiday to Cyprus. The day before she was due to fly home she went into premature labour.
Baby george was stillborn three days later, but his unborn brother lukas managed to cling to life. Three weeks later, on December 6, 2009, he was born, weighing just 1.5lb.
‘He was so tiny my wedding ring fitted around his leg,’ says Nova. ‘But the spark in his eyes told me he wanted to live.
‘I flooded him with love, singing to him every day. The nurses told me it would need a miracle for him to survive. Well, I believe in miracles.’
Her devotion paid off. Nine months after his birth, lukas was well enough to be flown home.
He was taken straight to leeds general Infirmary, where his parents took it in turns to watch over him, while also caring for Nellie.
Those chats on Skype not only kept their family together, but provided an unlikely inspiration for Nova’s business.
As Nellie chattered on, Nova thought how lucky she was to have found her tiny tablet online for just £50. Imported from China, its price belied its incredible reliability.
Then she was struck by the idea that would transform her life. ‘‘Technology is all very well, but if you
can’t afford the Apple price tag, it’s useless,’ Nova says. Jeremy and I hadn’t been able to work since Lukas was born. He had been a fitness trainer and I sourced developments for investors. But after voting every minute to our family, were living on benefits.
My first job after leaving school at had been training people how to e computer systems. Perhaps I uld use that training now.’
Borrowing £3,000 from Jeremy’s ther, Nova found a manufacturer China who promised to send her eap tablets to sell on — only for m never to arrive.
Nova was devastated, but she kept ng. ‘I felt sick to have let everyone wn,’ she says. ‘I was determined to right the wrong. I convinced Jeremy let me use the £3,000 we’d put aside to pay our mortgage.’
nova found a reputable Chinese manufacturer who sold her 50 tablets at £25 each. ‘It was January 2011. We advertised them on the Gumtree website for £40 each and they sold like hotcakes. We were on our way.’
Nova’s accountant introduced her to an investor, who put £50,000 into Nova’s fledgling company, Direct ETrading Ltd. It gave her the buying power to start trading on Amazon.
Today, Nova employs six staff and sells 5,000 tablets a month. ‘I made £87,000 on Black Friday last year,’ she says. ‘My little tablet’s in the top-ten sellers on Amazon, vying with the likes of Apple. Our margins are small — that’s why it works.’
Nova gives a slice of the profit from every single tablet she sells to Bliss, the charity for premature and specialcare babies.
‘This is my way of helping other mothers,’ she explains.
Nova and Jeremy decided to add to their family with baby Celia, who was born in September 2011.
Lukas was finally allowed home from hospital just weeks before his little sister was born. While his development is slow, he is a happy little boy who is able to attend a mainstream school.
‘This year, my business is projected to turn over more than £2 million. And that’s what makes caring for Lukas’s every need possible, says Nova. ‘He has given me the fight to succeed.’