Danielle Pacheco dreamt of starting her own clothing business for a long time.

She loves fashion and hunting for bargains.

“I’m a bit of a shopaholic,” she admitted. “But I’m not a risk taker. I was scared.”

But last December she finally decided it was now or never. She was struggling to find clothing for her daughter Sadie, 4, a budding fashionista herself.

“She loves to wear dresses, and considers shirts and shorts to be ‘school clothes’,” Ms Pacheco said.

She wanted to buy Bermuda, but found a lack of variety on island. Her daughter particularly liked clothing with Disney princesses on it, but looking around, what she could find locally seemed expensive.

“I was looking for affordable play clothes that I could send her to nursery school in,” Ms Pacheco said.

So she opened online store, Little Loves, selling children’s clothing in newborn to size 16.

“I sell affordable clothing that children are excited to wear,” she said. “I bring in a lot of Disney princess and super hero stuff.”

In the last nine months, she has developed a strong following.

“I have a lot of regulars,” she said. “I have quite a few clients who will buy something from me whenever I upload new items. I love the relationships I have built with clients.”

She has gotten to know some of her clients so well that she remembers their childs’ sizes.

Ms Pacheco started out selling solely on Instagram, but last month launched her own website.

“The website is working out really well,” she said. “It was a lot of late nights and a lot of work to get it up, but I am so glad I did it.”

Typically, she only sells one or two items in a particular size, so her clients do not have to see other children their age, walking around in the same outfit.

Sadie is one of her biggest supporters.

“She is really proud that I am doing this,” Ms Pacheco said. “When people mention her outfit, she says: ”Thanks. It’s Little Loves.”

And Ms Pacheco often asks for Sadie’s opinion on different items.

“I say sweetie, do you love this?” she said. “She is super sweet and loves everything. When her little friends buy from me, she often tells me she saw them wearing the items.

Ms Pacheco adores when parents send her photos of their children in the outfits.

She recalled one little boy who was obsessed with the children’s cartoon Paw Patrol. She sold his mother a pair of Paw Patrol Crocs shoes for him.

“His mother messaged me later, saying he was sleeping in the shoes because he was so excited,” she said.

Ms Pacheco loves seeing children and parents happy and smiling. Parents particularly appreciate that she delivers.

“The delivery option during Covid-19 has worked out really well,” Ms Pacheco said. “People like that. They prefer shopping from home. Usually, items are delivered the next business day.”

But starting a business during a pandemic, has meant challenges.

“There have been travel restrictions since I started, so I have not been able to travel to an actual trade show, yet,” she said. “I have had to look at different products through the computer rather than being able to travel and feel them and check the quality myself.”

Ms Pacheco works full time in the insurance industry. Sometimes its difficult balancing job, motherhood and her business. But she manages.

“I have lots of late nights,” she said, “but it is worth it.”

In addition to selling children’s clothing, she also sells quirky items, not easily found here, such as shirts and hats for parents with funny sayings, character bathing suits, and motivational water bottles for adults.

“I started selling the water bottles last September,” she said. “I only brought in a few in the beginning because I thought they were cool. They sold out within the first hour of me launching them in my profile on Instagram. Now, I bring them in regularly. They have been a hot seller.”

For more information see them on Instagram and Facebook under @littlelovesbda, e-mail littlelovesbda@gmail.com or see their new website www.littlelovesbda.com website.