How Kristīne turned sewing into an international business

Kristine has always loved sewing. Her first professional steps were in an underwear manufacturing company, where she started working right after school. There was a lot of work, but all orders were similar, and the work guidelines were very standardized. “It was a stable job with a fairly good salary, but it lacked creativity,” she recalls. Therefore, Kristine left the workshop and joined a trading company, where she could feel the dynamics, meet many people, and face new challenges.

Soon after, her life changed because she received wonderful news - Kristine was expecting a baby. During her maternity leave, she once again picked up a needle and fabrics to create special clothes for her soon-to-be-born baby. Each piece was made with love, and Kristine began sharing them on her Instagram profile. Her friends were delighted, the comments were full of compliments, and unexpectedly, the first follower questions appeared: “Can I order one for my baby too?”

From hobby to first orders

The feeling was wonderful - her handmade clothes were appreciated and turned out to be truly needed by others. But along with the joy came fear: “If I start selling - what about taxes? Will I be fined if I do something wrong? I can’t afford to hire an accountant right now.” These questions seemed the most difficult for Kristine, and she was almost ready to give up the orders.

Luckily, one day Kristine saw that pats.lv was hosting a webinar showing step by step how to start self-employment and manage accounting independently. She realized that accounting isn’t scary - everything can be done simply and automatically. Pats.lv takes care of tax calculations and reports and even reminds users about deadlines, so there’s no extra stress.

International business from a home studio

Today, Kristine’s handmade clothes have reached more than 40 countries. She smiles: “I never would have imagined that baby clothes made on my home table would travel to America, Japan, and Australia.”

This is where the pats.lv tools came in handy:

• Invoicing in different languages and currencies, making transactions with clients outside Latvia easy
• Automatic VAT rate adjustments depending on the client’s country
• The ability to easily issue invoices for clients both inside and outside the EU
• Fast payments via Apple Pay and Google Pay

This allowed Kristine to feel professional from day one and focus on what matters most - her creative work. Her income has increased, and since she doesn’t want to lose time with her family, Kristine also hires an external accountant who works together with her in the pats.lv system. The collaboration is simple: all receipts, documents, issued invoices, and bank statements are stored in one place - Kristine creates invoices from her user profile, and the accountant reviews transactions from their own profile. It’s that simple and unbelievably convenient!

Future plans

Her child has grown, but Kristine’s business keeps expanding. Although she liked working in trade and gained valuable experience, she now earns more from sewing, so she is unlikely to return to regular employment. She quickly reached a turnover threshold and also had to register as a VAT payer - pats.lv helped her organize everything stress-free, as the system is also suitable for VAT payers.

In the future, Kristine plans to hire an assistant to help her complete all the orders on time. She no longer worries about payroll either, because the pats.lv salary module allows her to manage employment relations as easily as the rest of the accounting. The external accountant simply reviews the transactions and matches them with the bank account, ensuring peace of mind and no unnecessary stress. “I saw that the salary module appeared in the system, and although I haven’t used it yet, I know - the system is so user-friendly that anyone can intuitively handle any task!” Kristine says happily.

Her story proves that a dream can become a real business if you have the courage to take the first step and the right tools to help you achieve it. With creativity, determination, and the support of pats.lv, Kristine has turned sewing into an international brand - and this is only the beginning!