Hannah Grace is a proudly South African online business that serves expectant and new mothers of South Africa with maternity and breastfeeding friendly clothing. The company was established in 2014 and is based in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.

Lyndall Moodley, the company founder, is a marketing and business information systems honours graduate and also a mother of four children. She was inspired to start Hannah Grace based on her own experience and perceived lack of innovation and diversity in maternity wear available in South Africa. She commented, “Hannah in the Bible was a woman who yearned to have a baby of her own and was driven by faith to dare believe she would have one. My journey has been founded in a similar faith and what started as a goal to own my time, has grown into a vision to build a legacy for my children, employees and their children.”

Lyndall is an active participant in the day-to-day operational activities of the business. This involvement, she says, “Allows for a hands-on approach to managing the operations of the business to observe areas of strength and weakness, and we can therefore adjust operational activities accordingly.”

In-house Operations
The company initially focused on designing its clothing range, with manufacturing fulfilled by a third party Cut Make and Trim (CMT) in the Durban area. At inception, the company serviced 28 Kids Emporium Stores nationally on consignment.

In 2016 a website was developed on a WIX (self-build) website platform. By 2017 the company employed its first operations manager to manage the despatch and manufacture of the stock required.

Hannah Grace then listed on Takealot and Zando. In 2019 the WIX platform could not sustain the website traffic and the company’s first contracted web developer was brought on board. In addition, the company took the opportunity to rebrand and develop a new logo.

In 2020 instability in its supply chain, as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic, resulted in the company moving manufacturing from the third party to its own in-house operations. Although this was a daunting task in the face of the added pressures related to Covid-19, the company invested in securing manufacturing floor space, additional staff and equipment.

The first official factory premises were rented in Berea Road with two machinists and production commenced.

“Every garment is sampled by myself or a team member before production to make sure that its ideal for both pregnancy and after. If you meet me personally there is a very high possibility that I would be wearing my own garment,” explained Lyndall.

Hannah Grace now employs six fulltime factory staff, two contracted staff and three admin staff. The company grew so much that it had to move to its current premises on Station Road (The Design Hub) in 2021.

Diversification and Flexibility
The move to in-house manufacturing has provided a platform for diversification in the product lines and target market, as well as allowing more flexibility to scale production up or down based on the sporadic nature of online sales.

In addition, in-house manufacturing allows for:
• Faster turnaround time
• Flexibility to meet consumer specific needs in terms of measurements
• Lower cost
• Better manufacturing control

New Growth Opportunities
The business now has two capsules, one the e-commerce platforms and two the manufacturing arm. The new capacity also presented new growth opportunities for existing staff who needed to upskill and take on additional responsibilities.

The manufacturing capability has allowed Hannah Grace to also take on promotional work. The growth in capacity will also allow the company to stretch into babywear, linen and even men’s wear.

Digital Space
The online channel provides access to anywhere, anytime shopping through the Hannah Grace website http://www.hannahgrace.co.za, and through e-commerce platforms like Takealot and Zando. “We have also launched our own app available for download on the Istore and Playstore. We are proud to say that we are the first maternity brand to be pioneering the way in this new digital space and we look forward to continuing in pushing the boundaries,” added Lyndall.

Hannah Grace currently enjoys 18,000 Facebook followers and 16,2k on Instagram.

Social Responsibility
Hannah Grace is a member of Embrace… The Movement for Mothers In SA.

The company also actively supports the Flourish Brand, which has been established to support disadvantaged black and coloured mothers with antenatal and postnatal support. They do so by sponsoring one mother every six weeks on the Flourish journey.

Recognition
Hannah Grace was previously chosen as one of 12 finalists in the Threads Business Accelerator powered by Standard Bank and Mercedes Benz. Lyndall was chosen by EMBRACE as a Mamandlela Fellow – representing leadership amongst mothers and promoting social entrepreneurship in the KZN community. In addition, Hannah Grace was a finalist in the Standard Bank KZN Top Business Awards 2022 in the Business Innovation category.