Facebook friend: Brandi Temple stitches an Internet success story from Lexington, aided by Steve Case and the king of the social networks.

• Author: Overman, Ogi
• Position: PICTURE THIS

Brandi Temple came up with one of those ideas that is so logical and workable to inevitably spark the question, "Why doesn't everybody do it like that?" But the Lexington native and former homemaker built a business through the power of Facebook without any particular business acumen, research or blinding flash of innovation. Rather, Lolly Wolly Doodle Inc. stemmed from the mother of invention: necessity.

In 2008, she dusted off an old sewing machine and started making clothes for her two preteen daughters. Her husband, Will, was struggling in what had been a successful career as a heavy-equipment salesman, a victim of the 2007-09 recession that devastated the construction industry. She then took some leftover cloth, made some young children's dresses, and posted them on eBay. They sold immediately, so in 2009 she set up a Facebook page to market her burgeoning line of children's clothes, which she called Lolly Wolly Doodle after the nursery rhyme. "That's really when the business was born," says Temple. "When I saw how easy it was to let people order through Facebook, I knew we were onto something."

Demand quickly outpaced supply because so many moms wanted well-priced custom clothing for their kids, and it was easy to order on the social network. Temple enlisted family members and church and Junior League friends to help make the clothes; Lexington's loss of manufacturing jobs made it easy to attract workers. Soon she had a garage filled with seamstresses and order-pullers, with clothing flying out the door.

In addition to eliminating marketing costs by selling via Facebook and the company's website, Temple initially cut inventory and its associated costs by only making clothes on demand. While the company's size now requires it to have more clothing in stock, it still relies on the social network to take individual orders. Buyers tell the company what they want, often customizing items with features such as monograms and bows, then Lolly Wolly sends an invoice. Once payment is received, seamstresses go to work, and the product is typically delivered within a couple of weeks.

The explosion of sales and associated pressures took a toll on Temple, and she almost sold the business in 2010. Fortunately, a mutual friend introduced her to Shana Fisher, a veteran investment banker in New York who convinced Temple that she was sitting on a potential gold mine. Fisher, a former executive at New York-based...