Newcomer To Toronto Realizes Dream Of Opening Online Business

Lorena Valadez Basso moved to Toronto, ON, 3 years ago “in the name of an opportunity to thrive as an entrepreneur in one of the fastest-growing cities in the world.” After struggling to get her sustainable baby food delivery service off the ground, Lorena’s frustrations were compounding. Luckily for her, she came across ShopHERE Powered by Google and soon found the free eCommerce and digital marketing tools offered through the program to be exactly what she needed to bring Amamil.com to life.

Landing in Toronto, ON, from Mexico, and initially finding work as an early child educator, Lorena noticed a hole in the market for pre-made organic baby food. That’s when she came up with the idea for Amamil, a service that provides fresh locally made farm-to-table baby food. Beyond the admirable support of local farmers, and the environmental efforts (the baby food is even delivered using eco-friendly scooters!) Amamil saves parents an average of 6 hours a week on steaming, chopping, cleaning, and all the other hassles that come with preparing fresh food for your precious little ones! Coming up with a product that allows parents to spend more time with their babies, it was clear to Lorena that she had a winning idea on her hands. The only thing left for her to do was execute it.

Lorena felt an immediate sense of relief upon being matched with her ShopHERE eCommerce Coordinator. With no previous eCommerce experience under her belt, the program was able to identify the exact steps she needed to take to get her store up and running in a matter of weeks.

“Building my online store hand in hand with my Coordinator made my ideas into something tangible I'm proud and happy to share with my customers.”

Lorena’s Coordinator listened to the goals she had in mind for her business. They worked together to develop brand imagery, typography and the colours that accurately represent all the elements of Amamil.

The end result is a website with a clean and jovial energy that emphasizes welcoming blue hues, and captivating imagery that lets the product speak for itself.

“I find my store very user-friendly, with an appealing design that’s suitable for my target audience.”

The ShopHERE Powered by Google program not only assisted Lorena in creating a fully functioning online store, but it also gave her the digital marketing tools she needed to connect with the busy parents who can benefit from Amamil within Toronto. Being equipped with the knowledge to market her store to an online audience has aided in Lorena’s business being live for over 6 months to date!

COVID-19 has made it increasingly necessary for businesses to have a web presence, and Lorena is glad to have found ShopHERE Powered by Google to help her tackle running an online business during these tough times.

“I'm beyond grateful for the help provided, which gave me the tools to take one of the most important steps in my life, having my own business.”

To learn more about Lorena’s business, visit Amamil.com. If you’re looking for help with your own business, you can do so through Digital Main Street.