DotComMothers

Leather Footwear Supplies - Meet Lisa Koba Of Cheeky Little Soles

sandy.naidu — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 01:42:35 +0000

My guest today is Lisa Koba of Cheeky Little Soles. Lisa sells unique, top quality, stylish and reasonably priced leather shoes for babies. These are soft, stay-on and non slip shoes - ideal for 0 to 2 years old. I have browsed through her range on her website and they look very cute - adorable!!! These shoes have been received extremely well by the market. Lisa has now expanded her product range into ladies leather slippers, convenient leather bibs and polar boots. The leather bibs are easy to clean and they also have a handy magnetic clasp that won’t pull or tangle hair, can be stuck and stored on the fridge and are easy to keep clean.

Read and Be Inspired…..

How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Cheeky Little Soles began early in 2005, when I searched for a way to keep my 6 month old daughters socks on and to stop her from slipping on our floorboards at our home in her early attempts at learning to stand.

I saw a gap in the market for top quality, stylish and reasonably priced soft soled leather baby shoes. Not one to sit back, I set about designing my own range.

After many months of research, designing and sourcing, the first range of Cheeky Little Soles footwear emerged onto the market. The response to the range, both from customers and retailers was fantastic, Mums and bubs throughout Australia and New Zealand just adored Cheeky Little Soles.

Can you briefly tell us what you did to take your business from idea to production stage? (Basically how did you go about finding the manufacturers, did you do market research, did you have to get any special tests done for the product and did you have to get funding from banks for the project and anything else you might want to add…?)

Once I had the idea that I wanted to design and manufacture baby shoes I put together an extensive business plan which included market analysis, finance analysis, marketing strategies etc. I had never prepared a business plan before, but it was a learning experience and I drew on lots of different resources including joining business forums.

Next I sourced the world the world for manufacturers to make the product. I came to a lot of dead ends, but at each dead end I asked if they could refer me onto any other contacts they felt maybe able to assist me. From there I had a selection of my designs made into samples. From there it was a process of elimination and negotiation. Negotiating can be complex when you are dealing with different countries, but there are resources out there that can assist.

It’s not easy juggling business and two small children. Can you give us some of your time management tips?

I think the main key to time management is being super organized and having supportive people surrounding you.

I am always working on my ‘things to do list’. I also have a yearly schedule which includes deadlines for designing, manufacturing, advertising, trade shows etc.

Being a mum and running your own business is no 9-5 job. I work at any and all hours of the day, 7 days a week. I work whenever is suitable for both myself and my family.

What is the best advice you ever received about running a business?

“Work smarter not harder”, which is now my motto. When running a business you are expected to be a ‘jack of all trades’ and it is very difficult to be good at everything. So in working smarter I have outsourced any tasks that I felt someone else could do better or more effectively or efficiently.

In the initial days did you ever want to give up?

No, never. I absolutely love my business, the products I bring to the public and what I do. Sure we all have our good days and our bad days, but if you are driven, passionate and make smart business choices, giving up is never an option.

Finally, your five keys to success?

1. Be passionate about what you do
2. Be organized
3. Believe in yourself and your products
4. Set and achieve your goals
5. And of course work smarter not harder

Sites Of Interest

http://www.cheekylittlesoles.com.au/

Visit Lisa’s website to get more information about her leather footwear supplies business…

This interview was published on 15th July 2008

To read more stories about women servicing the maternity or the baby products industry click Natural Baby Care Products.

Share This

Unique Aromatherapy Gifts For Babies And Mums - Meet Catherine Cervasio Of Aromababy

sandy.naidu — Thu, 22 May 2008 02:23:09 +0000

	My guest today is Catherine Cervasio. It is an absolute honor to interview Catherine for DotComMothers…I remember reading about her after my daughter was born in 2001…I was fascinated with what she had done and how she had managed to balance her family and business. And since then I have followed her success very keenly. She has inspired me in many ways… The year was 1994 - Catherine wanted to use good natural and organic skin care products for her new born son. She could not however find any product in the market that fitted her requirements. So she set about creating her own baby products. She handpicked pure, natural and organic ingredients for their therapeutic properties and thus enhanced the benefits of these products beyond any others. Fast Forward today - Almost 15 years later - Catherine’s business, AromaBaby is a multi million dollar business. Numerous players entered the market in the past 10 years - But AromaBaby was able to hold on to its market leader position in Australia - Thanks to its products’ far superior quality. Catherine has won numerous awards in Australia - Her company also has a very strong foot hold in the export market. In 2004 AromaBaby won the ‘Export Entrepreneur Of The Year’ award. AromaBaby exports to USA, Dubai, New Zealand, Korea and few other Asian countries. AromaBaby has now diversified into the skin care products for men and women. The products have a big celebrity following.AromaBaby’s products are perfect and unique gifts for babies and mothers. Catherine is an inspiring woman - The fact that she was a pioneer in her industry and still was able to create a strong name for herself makes business success story very interesting….Read and Be Inspired….

You are one of the pioneers in this industry. My understanding is that it is your interest in natural therapies that moved you towards this business. But in the beginning how confident were you that there was going to be a market for your products? Were you scared?

	I had worked in product development for some major Aussie fashion retailers for some years prior to starting Aromababy. This involved travel to London, Paris and New York for example and enabled me to understand what trends were emerging in which countries. My specialty was adapting those trends to suit our domestic market. There were no natural/organic mum & baby care brands 14 years ago. I had a strong passion for and understanding of natural health. In Australia we are known for actually ‘creating the category’. More than a dozen years on our first brand Aromababy still remains in a class of its own based on our key points of difference. I believe my commitment to research (both marketing and dermatological) sets us apart from any would-be competitors even today. I was a little worried about the market’s acceptance of this brand new concept – caring for babies’ skin with natural ingredients however my strategy to enter the market via retailers and hospitals proved a winner.


A lot of mums start a business and do well but the business stays reasonably small. You started small and today you have converted it into a multi million dollar business. What do you think is your point of difference? (I mean what do you think is different in your business philosophy that has helped you to grow to such a huge level)?

	I’m the kind of person who sets goals and thinks ‘big’. From the time I launched Aromababy I had very specific goals – for example to be available in a department store chain, to appear in Vogue editorially, to reach my first million dollar sales in a year, to be accepted by hospitals/health professionals, to export and so on I always envisaged Aromababy would be a world-wide brand. I knew that to be global I had to create a brand that was identifiable and strong. It had to continually evolve, launching new products, sponsoring relative events and organisations. And I built my own personal profile to go along with the business. I went back to school and studied for a Diploma in Aromatherapy. Then I trained as an Infant Massage Instructor. When stores or international distributors deal with Aromababy, they also deal with me – my qualifications, my market knowledge, media connections etc. I have dozens of published articles, have presented dozens of workshops and am involved in various organic and skincare/cosmetics associations. Its one thing to be ‘first in the market’ with a new product or service – there will always be copy-cats within a short time. But to remain ahead of the pack and to have strong key points of difference is really hard work. I’ve pumped a lot of money back in to the business to ensure its longevity, to ensure the brand strength and never compromised on our market positioning or ingredients. We are not a ‘supermarket’ brand. We are a professional, more ‘clinical’ brand that oozes prestige and expertise. There’s nothing like Aromababy in the market.


You export your products to US and Asia. Do you treat each market differently or do you apply the same principles to every market?

	The same principals apply to every market our skincare is exported to. We have earned our stripes as a brand and have a business model that works. Having been established for so long offers lower risk to our export partners. Even though each market differs and consumer spending habits or cultures may vary considerably, we research the country ourselves and then work with our partners on the best ways to advertise, market and educate on natural babycare. We observe competitors in each region and provide our partners with strategies to deal with each. Having specialised in one specific market for so long, we are experts at what we do when it comes to organic and natural formulations, interactions with neonatal skin, aesthetic appeal, education etc. We now have a ‘bank’ of information and experience we can draw from to support each market.


You have also got another product range called ‘Pure Spa’. This already has a huge celebrity following (big names like George Clooney and Tom Cruise among others). Tell us a bit about Pure Spa and what plans do you have for it in the future?

Pure Spa was launched to provide a slightly lower priced brand in the organic/natural mum & baby care market. We don’t want to be known for only one brand but rather be involved in the entire category. We therefore need to have several brands under the one umbrella. Pure Spa is a smaller, uniquely formulated brand offering a range of babycare essentials. Our massage oil contains 99% certified organic ingredients – more than some competitor products which sell for 50% more so our content is still premium. With so many baby brands launching and failing, store buyers become frustrated and lack confidence in taking on a new range. Our Company is known for its expertise in natural mum & babycare – not simply for having launched Aromababy. This offers peace of mind. We find particularly with export partners, they have a desire to deal with our Company – if one of our brands has already been snapped up for a particular region, they will ask for one of our others. It is working well. Having a ‘gorgeous’ brands as opposed to a grocery brand means we get the opportunity to market in some great ways. Last year I had the pleasure of being asked to provide Pure Spa men’s organic face crème to a host of US celebrities. I was in LA for the event which was attended by the likes of George Clooney and Leonardo Dicaprio. It’s a real buzz to be amongst Hollywood royalty because you’ve worked hard to develop a great brand. Aromababy too has been put in the hands of many well known faces including Princes Mary and Sly Stallone.


Can you tell us the most effective marketing/publicity you have ever done for your business?

Certainly the US events I’ve participated in have generated sales and exposure – it’s such a huge market there; you only need a small slice of that market to be successful. George Clooney was definitely a drawcard for publicity. He’s a big name. I don’t know of any other brand owner that has dined at an event with Robin Williams or Morgan Freeman or had their products delivered to Tom Cruise. Of course something like this is a sizeable financial investment. The flight to US, the hotel room in Beverly Hills, the outfit for the event (it’s a hard life…) No, really. If you’re going to think big and you want your products to make a big splash, you have to put your money where your mouth is. You have to look the part. Our products are not for everyone. They are mid to top end. I need to ensure my marketing strategy matches my brands’ image. I think this is something that some fail to realise. There is no point marketing to hospitals if you don’t understand how neonatal skin reacts with certain ingredients (even natural ingredients) or marketing to celebrities if your products are not positioned as ‘luxurious’. Last year we celebrated our official 10th birthday – our events attracted many local identities and coverage appeared in the social pages of a number of leading newspapers and magazines. It was a great pr exercise.


If you had a chance all over again is there anything in your business that you will do differently?

There are several things I would do differently if I had my time over. I’ve learned so much that it would be impossible to say I’d do things exactly the same. An example is that I invested in trademarks for USA then launched in UAE first. Had I been more strategic about my export foray, I could have invested more wisely in IP for the right region, which would have then eased the cash-flow pressures which resulted from investing in a market which was not generating income.




Finally, your five keys to success?

Don’t be a “me too” product or service if you can help it. Find an idea with a fabulous point of difference and concentrate on being unique. There’s no substitute for the pride that comes with having actually “invented” something or having created your own marketing materials or your own concept for example. Store ‘buyers’ love this. And consumers love it. People are always looking for something different. Do your homework and keep doing it. With internet comes access to a global, ever-changing market. It’s far easier for competitors to be hot on your heels. You need to keep abreast of what your competitors are doing and remain a step ahead of them all the time to ensure your business is sustainable. Decide where you want your business to be and how you’re going to get there from the onset. It’s far better to plan your business in advance, than to stumble along – not knowing which path to take first. Ensure you have balance in your life. There’s no point spending years building a business and creating wealth if you’re missing out on your baby taking his first steps or cheering your child on in their sports event if those things are important to you. Lastly, be passionate about your business – love what you do. Look back on the challenges as lessons learned that helped you on your journey to success!


Sites Of Interest
http://www.aromababy.com/
http://purespa.com.au/



This interview was published on 25th July 2007

Visit Catherine’s website to get more information about her aromatherapy products - unique gifts for babies….

This interview was published on 18th January 2007 To read more stories about women in hip maternity clothes and natural baby care products businesses click Natural Baby Care Products

Share This

Finding A Baby Sitter Made Easy - Meet Delia Timms

sandy.naidu — Sun, 11 May 2008 08:47:29 +0000

	My guest today is Delia Timms. Delia runs a business called ‘Find A Babysitter’. It is an unique online introduction site that helps parents meet babysitters and nannies. Delia was a speech pathologist by trade. In 2002 after the birth of her first child, she quit her regular job. In 2004, Delia was contemplating returning to work - Delia however had problems finding a babysitter for her kids. It was this problem that marked the origins of ‘FindABabysitter.com.au’. With the help of her husband, she created a website which introduces parents to nannies and babysitters. The design of the site, the ease of use, the unique concept, the huge database of nannies and babysitters and the happy clients are all responsible for this rapid growth. Since its launch the website has attracted lots and lots of parents - It has grown tremendously and by Delia’s own admission has exceeded all expectations. For all the mums who are not based in Australia - Delia is creating a media buzz here in Australia with her hugely successful online business. She has become a role model for many business mums. Read and Be Inspired….



What was your main motivation for starting the business? How did you come up with this business idea?

	The seed for Find A Babysitter.com.au was planted in late 2004 when I was contemplating returning to work, with two small children under 2 yrs of age. I read a newspaper article about a site in the USA that was an introduction site helping parents meet babysitters and nannies. I felt like I had been on a crazy childcare merry-go-round since my first child was born in 2002. It seemed that the methods of finding care (centres, agencies, newspaper classifieds, big job posting sites, word-of-mouth) were difficult, slow, unreliable or prohibitively expensive. I had been using a lovely nanny to care for my first child (and had referred this great nanny onto a friend when I stopped work to have my second child). Facing the nanny search again I recognised that a website was a wonderful way to find a carer. It would offer an efficient and affordable way to get in touch with a range of babysitters and nannies who could meet my needs. I realised that I was not alone in this childcare struggle. It was a hot topic amongst friends. Most of my friends needed help with their children and very few of them had support networks for childcare. I decided to do some market research, write a business plan and convince my husband to build the site! We launched in July 2005 and the site took off immediately. We had customers joining online within days in Melbourne, then the site took itself to Sydney one month later, then Brisbane the next month, then Perth and so on. By Christmas 2005 we were national!


Your website works on a subscription/membership model. As a business owner I can see that there is a huge advantage in that you get paid upfront. Having said that membership/subscription models must be very hard to sell to the customers. How do you address this? Any suggestions on what key points a business owner must focus on when trying to sell this kind of model?

We chose the subscription model because we felt we could offer a service that was really good value for money. I decided against advertising on my site because as an internet user I disliked being bombarded by ads on other sites. I think it is distracting and too ‘busy’ visually for the user. I didn’t want that experience for my customers. To help my customers do a price comparison I created a table (posted on my site) to show the costs associated with each method of recruitment. Find A Babysitter’s memberships ($50 for a babysitter and $80 for a nanny & job posting x 3 mths) are very affordable, particularly when you look at job sites that charge over $150 for 1 mth and agencies charging over $1000 nanny placement fees. Finally I think our testimonials also help visitors decide whether the membership is a good investment. There is nothing like words from another parent to demonstrate genuine results.


I understand that your business has grown greatly since its launch. Do you ever get overwhelmed by its growth? How do you stay on top of it all and focused?

Yes Find A Babysitter has grown significantly! We have not been overwhelmed, if anything we have been pleasantly surprised and have grown with it! (just like our parenting skills have grown as our kids have!) We have been fortunate that the site is designed to manage larger and larger numbers without significantly increasing our workload. We have enhanced and upgraded the site to cope with bigger numbers and to offer better features to meet customers’ needs. Personally I have structured my work time more, have more processes and a routine to keep organized. I try to manage my phonecalls and emails efficiently during set work hours. We also stay on top of things by having regular meetings ourselves, writing action plans and documenting progress. We also take advice from other experts to help us stay on track and move forward in the right direction! That said, there is no doubt that the site is much bigger than anticipated and there is more work and responsibility involved. We do find ourselves working late at night to fix something or respond to a late email at times. And we do take laptops on holidays! However we accept that this is part of running our own business and overall the rewards for building a successful site outweigh the stresses.


I must say that I absolutely love your site. It’s easy to navigate and the colour scheme is wonderful. Did you do a lot of business planning and research before you started your site?

Our site design is a tribute to our talented graphic designer, clever IT input (from my husband), usability testing and my own judgement. My main research was surfing lots of other sites (not necessarily parenting ones – but just good sites I liked) and reading about website usability. We also sat friends and family down at our computer and did usability testing before launching, accepted the feedback (sometimes with a big gulp) and modified the site. Our customer feedback has also been invaluable in educating and guiding us to improve the site. It is crucial to listen to customers!


What kind of online and offline marketing strategies do you employ to get the word out there?

We use a range of marketing strategies that we’ve refined over the last 2.5 years and continue to monitor! We think it is important to check the Return On Investment on each strategy to see if it is working. Most of our marketing dollars are spent on search engine marketing. But we do invest some money in traditional print ads. Additionally I’ve been very fortunate with gaining great publicity (based on the childcare topic and starting an internet business). Finally ‘word-of-mouth’ has been incredibly powerful. Parents (& mums in particular) are great at sharing ideas and supporting each other – so I think this has helped spread the work about FAB! We are very grateful for this and do our best to ensure our customers have a great experience. So combined, these things make a great marketing mix for us!


If you had your time again is there anything in your business you would do differently?

Good question! Things to do differently would be – to ‘expect the unexpected’. This sounds clichéd, but it is true that your business journey will be full of ups and downs. You need to anticipate that it won’t be smooth sailing all the way and be ready to deal with it! - be prepared to work harder on the site AFTER it is launched! It is easy to think that all the hard work is in planning and creating a site, then after launch day it will be simple. The hard work starts after you go ‘live’ and have real customers with real questions and real feedback! - create clear boundaries between work and home from the beginning. In the early days of starting-up it was very tempting to work day and night. There were times when I took phonecalls or sent emails with the kids in tow when I should have waited until a better time (when the kids were asleep!). I am sure all working mothers can relate to this! I don’t know if there is a magic bullet for this work-family-life tension. My own answer has been to write down some personal rules about work time (eg not checking emails at 11pm at night!), family time, exercise etc. This is a great way to keep everything in check and give different aspects of my life the right focus.


Finally, your five keys to success?

do your market research – you must be sure there is a genuine problem and you are providing a real solution believe in yourself, if you don’t believe, no-one else will! get good advice / a mentor / a business coach outsource things you don’t like doing or are not good at (eg book-keeping) plan adequate childcare - working from home is still work!


Sites Of Interest
http://www.findababysitter.com.au/



This interview was published on 11th May 2008

Visit Delia’s website to get more information about her finding baby sitter services….

To read more stories about women in service industry click Idea Home Based Service Business.

Share This

All Entrepreneur Home Business Success Stories

sandy.naidu — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 05:27:04 +0000


How To Find A Baby Sitter	Unique Body Care Gifts For Babies	Leather Footwear Supplies

Idea Home Based Service Business	Making Shadow Boxes	Stroller Exercise



Embroidered Burp Cloths	Advice On Property Investment	Natural Soap Products



Buying Gifts Online	High Fashion Accessories	Personal Leadership Development Plan



Healthy Fast Foods	Sporty Kids Exercise Clothes	Party Plan Consultant



Natural Hair Products	Ideas For A Home Based Business	Birthing Clothes



Printable To Do Lists To Get Organized	Moms Club	Cool Maternity Clothes



Custom Fortune Cookies	Virtual Assistant Jobs	Healthy Times Baby Food



How To Make A Baby Diaper Cake	Easy Low Fat Recipes	Fine Handcrafted Jewelry



Prepare For Kindergarten Books	Furnishing Home Plaque Wall	Family Planner Organizer



Idea Home Based Service Business	Home Improvement Leads	Home Business Ideas And Opportunities



Hair Beauty Products	Gift Wrapping Supplies	Fashion Accessories Online



Publicity Tips For Women Owned Business

Share This

Public Relations And Marketing Strategies For Promoting Children’s Products - Meet Melissa Talago

sandy.naidu — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 23:25:01 +0000

	My guest today is Melissa Talago. Prior to setting up her own business, Melissa was working for big companies in the corporate world - providing public relations and marketing strategies. After having kids, she quit her 9 to 5 job. Almost by accident, she noticed a gap in the market and she seized the opportunity and set up her own PR firm. She talks more about this in her interview. Her company specifically targets businesses run by parents - businesses that are selling baby related products / services. She provides public relations and marketing strategies to these companies. She provides a friendly, personalized and professional service to all her clients. And thanks to her service levels and expertise, her business has been growing steadily…She recently won a Gold Award at a business function in UK. The award was for a Low Budget PR campaign she ran for one of her clients. Read and Be Inspired….



Why and when did you start ‘Peekaboo’?

	I started Peekaboo in April 2006 by accident. I had been in PR for over ten years before I had my children but really didn’t want to go back and do what I had been doing, which was tech PR. I also couldn’t do the long commute into work anymore. However, I didn’t want to be a full time stay at home mum so started looking around for things to do.At the time I was weaning my baby and started to investigate the prepared baby food market, thinking rather foolishly that if I could puree for one, I could puree for many. I quickly realised that making baby food wasn’t for me but did stumble upon a company called Babylicious. I couldn’t believe that the company had such a great product but I’d never heard of it. I wrote to the founder and told her I thought she could be doing more to promote her products. She invited me in and hired me to help her promote her products.Once I started looking at the baby/parenting market – or as I like to call it, the tums-to-tots market – I realised what a booming market it was. I also realised that most of the companies operating in this space were other mums trying to work around their children. Most of these companies need cost effective PR and marketing support from someone who not only understands their target market, but also understands what it’s like to work around kids.And so I set up Peekaboo Communications to help these mums build the visibility of their businesses.


In your experience what are a couple of the most common mistakes mothers in business make (in relation to PR)?

There are two mistakes that I see over and over again.The first – and biggest – is that when they’re setting up, they either forget to do any PR or try to do it themselves to save money. But launching a new business is the biggest news hook you’re going to have and you need to make sure you make a great first impression. I often get approached by mums who’ve sent out their own press release which isn’t picked up, usually because they’ve written it as an advert rather than a press release, They then want me to try again – but they’ve already wasted their ‘newness’. It’s difficult to go back to a journalist and relaunch a company that’s already been ‘launched’ just a few months before. So make sure that when you do your launch PR, you do it properly.The second mistake is that many mums don’t want to be the visible face for their business. They think that the products will sell themselves. But all businesses need a spokesperson, and if it’s your business, that person should usually be you. Mums need to realise that they’re going to be the ones whose names are going to be in the paper and the voice on the radio. If they want publicity for their business, they need to be willing to put themselves out there and speak with confidence about their business.


For your company, what has been the most effective bit of marketing you have ever done?

Marketing is about 4 Ps – product, price, place and promotion. If you look at all four of those, I would say the most effective bit of marketing is getting my product right by specialising in a single sector. By focusing exclusively on the tums-to-tots sector instead of trying to be all things to all people, I have given myself a big differentiator against the many other PR companies out there.If by marketing you mean promotion, it’s probably a combination of getting the right clients on board who have opened up doors to other clients - most of my clients come through word of mouth – coupled with being active on mums in business and parenting forums online to build awareness for virtually no money at all.


It’s hard to balance raising a family and running a business. Can you share with us some of your time management tips?

• Getting good childcare in place is essential (and something I have battled with!) • Use the hours you have for work to really work. I find that the more I have to do, the more effective my working day becomes as I don’t stop for a second to procrastinate. • Learn to multi-task. You need to be able to switch from mummy mode to business mode in an instant. • Plan ahead. I’ve been planning Christmas since September. That way I get less stressed about having to do everything at the last minute, so if I have any work emergencies I’m not completely unprepared on the family front. • Do everything online. Shopping. Holidays. Passports. Whatever. It takes far less time than getting out and about and it can be done after hours when the kids are sleeping


What is one business tool you cannot survive without?

The internet! Also, having a wireless network at home so that I can work and keep an eye on the kids if I have something that has to be done while I don’t have childcare.


If you had your time again is there anything in your business you would do differently?

I would plan better before I set up. My business has evolved without me really having a firm plan and now it’s got so busy that finding the time to plan is really hard. And I’d be less shy about asking for help.


Finally, your five keys to success?

Treat people like you’d like to be treated Be prepared to give a little gratis! If you give something away for free (in my case a bit of advice or an ad hoc press opportunity) it’s far more likely to generate additional business than if I tried to charge for it. Be honest. . Don’t underestimate yourself and don’t overlook some of your skills. Even skills you might think are nothing to get excited about, can turn into a major advantage. My being a mother gave me an innate understanding into this target market which I now use as a differentiator. Do a little bit of business promotion regularly. Don’t let it become something you’ll get to. Do it today!


Sites Of Interest
http://www.peekaboocoms.co.uk/



This interview was published on 23rd April 2007

Visit Melissa’s website to get more information about marketing strategies and public relations for children’s products…

To read more stories about women in service industry click Idea Home Based Service Business.

Share This

Creating A Successful Business By Selling Unique Handmade Shadow Boxes - Meet Meagan Gardiner

sandy.naidu — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 06:01:55 +0000

My guest today is Meagan Gardiner. Meagan runs a successful business called - ‘Cards With A View’. She started out selling handmade cards. Her designs were quite unique. The cards had wildflowers and seeds. On her website this is how she describes her handmade cards - “The front of the card had 2 layers with plastic windows. When the two layers were glued down the wildflowers and seeds were trapped between the plastic windows“.Today, Meagan has moved away from cards and specialises in the production of handmade shadow boxes. Her business has also outgrown her home and she now works from an external business office.Meagan is a great example of someone who created a successful business out of her hobby craft. Read and Be Inspired….

How did you come up with the idea of placing wildflowers and seeds in cards?

I think it initially came about while I was teaching in the Pilbara region. The students wanted to raise funds for art supplies. From there I moved to Kalgoorlie and I sold some of the cards to staff members. One of the girls framed a card in one of those glass & clip frames, which got me thinking about doing a series of pieces in actual picture frames.

You have now moved on to making miniature shadow boxes. You have got branches in USA and UK. This success could not have been easy. What are some of the toughest challenges you faced on your road to success?

I think the success has been very incremental. Nothing massively ground breaking happened overnight, just little bits at a time. Had a lot of assistance from Craft Australia, Austrade, SBDC, the W.A. office in Kobe, Japan.
I think the toughest challenge was feeling like I never had any money!

What is the most rewarding thing about your business?

I guess the most rewarding thing about the business is that it’s still going. I’ve moved several times, married and had a child (who is now a very active toddler) and I can still earn my own money. Cards With A View has very much helped me avoid PND I’d say because I have kept alive something that was a very important part of my identity before these changes.

What’s your number one stress relief tactic?

Swimming in the ocean. I love the silence that comes from being under the water. It’s so incredibly calming.

What do you believe is your greatest business achievement so far?

Being invited by Craft Australia to participate in the San Francisco International Gift Fair.

If you could give us one time management tip what would that be?

Finish tasks through to the end and try not to be distracted by little side distractions.

Finally, your five keys to success?

1) Make your bed in the morning (I’m not kidding! Get the day off to a good start)
2) Exercise
3) Write up a plan for the day and stick to it as much as possible
4) Set aside time to “play” with new ideas. Have some creative fun inside your business
5) Be prepared to work hard for quite a few years

Sites Of Interest

http://www.cardswithaview.com/

Visit Meagan’s business website to get more information about her unique handmade shadow boxes…

This interview was published on 13th April 2008
To read more stories about women who sell various kinds of crafts click How To Sell Crafts.

Share This

Multi Talented Mom - A Hugely Successful Stroller Exercise Business, Speaker & Author - Meet Lisa Druxman

sandy.naidu — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 05:31:06 +0000

My guest today is Lisa Druxman. Lisa is the founder of ‘Stroller Strides’, a unique stroller exercise program - It is a total fitness program for new moms. What started out as one woman company is today a multi million dollar business. It was recently named the ‘Fastest Growing Franchises’ by the reputable Entrepreneur.com website. Lisa has been nominated for and has received number of awards from organizations such as the National Association of Women Business Owners. She has also been featured in many high profile magazines and media networks.
In her latest book, ‘L.E.A.N Mommy’, she writes about the stroller strides fitness program and how it can help new moms to get back to shape.
Lisa is also a well recognized speaker…She is considered an expert in the field of fitness. She also writes regular columns for Entrpreneur.com magazine. She in one busy lady and an inspiration to many.Read and be Inspired….

Stroller Strides seems to be a good and an attractive business model for moms. Do you plan to expand Stroller Strides internationally?

Yes, we’ve secured trademarks in more than a dozen other countries. We’ve started franchising in Canada and will expand in to other markets in the coming years.

What has been the biggest hurdle you have faced in your business so far and how did you overcome the hurdle?

Believe it or not, the biggest hurdle is in balancing work with motherhood. When you are working, you feel like you should be with your kids and when you are with your kids, you feel like you should be working. Of course, growing a new business, there are financial challenges. We have chosen to fund the company ourselves rather than bring in investors. This way, we can truly run the company as we see fit and only have to answer to ourselves.

You are a regular contributor to Mompreneur section of Entrepreneur.com. You write about home based business moms. In your experience what are a couple of the most common mistakes moms in business make?

1) They start a business without thinking it through. For instance, they start a business so they can be home with their kids but failed to realize the amount of time it would take to launch that particular business. In reality, many mompreneurs are with their kids less than if they had a traditional job. Make sure to start a business that truly can be done from home and on your hours. 2) They are unwilling to take risk. You need to take some financial risk to start almost any business. The money won’t come rolling in right away unless you are extremely lucky. You need to be willing to stay the course. 3) They think it will be easy. Juggling work and motherhood is one of the hardest things you’ll ever do. I thought it was easier when I worked in a traditional job by far. However, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

How do you balance work and motherhood? Can you share with us some of your time management tips?

1) Have a plan. If you just wait for work time to happen, it never will. Plans may fall through if kids don’t nap, get sick or nanny cancels but at least you get it done more often than not. 2) Be organized and stay organized. Your work time is precious. If you have to search through files and organize yourself every time you sit down, you waste that precious work time. Be ready to work efficiently as soon as you sit down. Don’t answer your home phone just because you’re home. 3) Work on the fringe hours of the day. You’ll get a lot of work done before your family wakes up or after they go to bed.

What is the most enjoyable part of your day?

When my kids wake up, we sit on the couch and snuggle together. It’s a great way to start the day and keeps me going!

If you had your time again, is there anything in business that you would do differently?

Hire the right attorney from the start. A good attorney and a good accountant are priceless.

Finally, your five keys to success?

1) No fear of failure
2) CNEI – Constant Never Ending Improvement
3) Hire people that are more talented than me
4) Believe that anything is possible
5) Realize that I’m human and sometimes good enough will have to do

Sites Of Interest

http://www.strollerstrides.com/

Visit Lisa’s business websites to get more information about her stroller exercise business…

This interview was published on 12th March 2008
To read more stories about women servicing the maternity or the baby products industry click Idea Home Based Service Business.

Share This

Embroidered and Personalized Burp Cloths - Meet Sheila Goldrick

sandy.naidu — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:13:32 +0000

My guest today is Sheila McGoldrick. Sheila is a ‘mom inventor’. This is how her business story began - Her three children suffered from acid reflux. Sheila was allergic to a preservative found in most of the baby toiletries. This allergy caused the skin on her hands to open up and form blisters. When the kids spit (when they burped) touched the skin on her hands, it caused an extremely painful burning sensation. Initially Sheila did not know what was happening but after a visit to an allergy doctor, she found out what the reason was.She then found a solution to this pain by inventing the burpee cloths. She donated a few of these to a local hospital. The response was extremely positive. This prompted her to take her business further - Today she offers burpees in various colors and patterns. She even offers embroidered and personalized burpee cloths. Apart from burp cloths she also sells diaper cakes.Read and be inspired….

How did you come up with the idea for your business?

The reason for inventing this product was due to having an allergic reaction to a preservative found in my children’s body washes and wipes. This preservative caused my hands to blister and break open badly. My babies were HUGE spitters and I always managed to wear the spit-up on my hands and everywhere else as well. On day, after no longer being able to stand the pain of constantly washing my hands, a picture of this style burp cloth popped into my head and I immediately started working on a prototype.

What was your main motivation behind starting your own business?

My main motivation behind my invention was to save myself from any further pain I was in due to wearing spit-up. My main motivation behind starting my own business was to help other parents with the same or similar problem of constantly wearing spit-up. If this product helped me so much I was sure that it would help others.

I have visited your site and I love all the wonderful and different kinds of patterns you have.
Can you tell us how a ‘burpee’ works?

Slide your hand into the protective pocket leaving your thumb out.
Cradle baby’s face with covered hand.
Lean baby forward, gently patting and rubbing to help baby burp.
Now, when baby spits up, it will run onto the Handy Burpee keeping your hand and baby free from spit-up.
You can continue to bottle/breastfeed your baby while this unique burp cloth is still on your hand. It won’t get in the way and is always ready for use.
Of course, the Handy Burpee can be put over your shoulder as well, so whether burping baby on your lap or over your shoulder, our unique burp cloth will keep you and baby free from spit-up. Handy Burpee is made big enough for a man or woman’s hand and can be used by both right and left-handed people.

How is a ‘burpee’ different from traditional burp cloths?

This burpee is so different because it has a protective covering for your hand that is made specifically for protection. No other burp cloth on the market helps protect you in this way. The towel like material that hangs down also protects baby as well from becoming wet and wearing their own spit-up.
This burp cloth has a patent pending and is mom-invented.

In the initial days what were some of the problems you faced and how did you overcome them?

I remember in the VERY beginning I contacted a company that was resourceful in helping small businesses get started. I remember speaking to a woman from the company who had pretty much shot down my entire product and dream for my product. I was truly upset and it did get me down for a few days. Then I realized that “I” believed in my product and it was up to me to get it out to the public and prove that it is an extremely useful burpee. I realized that she made me work harder to prove how wonderful it is and I will never give up if I truly believe in myself and my product. You will run into those who are pessimistic about your idea and you have to learn to learn from them and ignore the downside of their comments. Do not give up because a few people tell you it is no good!
Believe in yourself!

Being a mom and managing a business is tough. Have you got any tips for our readers on time management?

Hmmm, time management is tough. Honestly, the time that I seem to give up is sleep time. I try to work on almost everything that has to do with running my business when my children are sleeping. If I need to hit the hay early, I try to schedule a certain amount of time during the day to work on my business and not All day. That would take away too much time from my children. At night, when it is quiet, is my best bet.
There are some days where I don’t have a chance to work on it at all. Life happens and I try to remember what is the MOST IMPORTANT thing in my life. And definitely my family comes first.

Finally, your five keys to success?

Belive in yourself
Networking - you have to educate the world about your product and what better way to do that than networking
Stay true and honest and don’t become GREEDY!
Be open and motivated to continue to learn each day about new ideas and ways to run your business
Stay optimistic - You never know what is coming your way around the next corner.

Sites Of Interest

http://www.loveprints.net/

Visit Sheila’s business website to get more information about her embroidered burp cloths.

This interview was published on 28th February 2008
To read more stories about women in hip maternity clothes and natural baby care products businesses click Natural Baby Care Products

Share This

Advice On Property Investment In Australia - Meet Margaret Lomas

sandy.naidu — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 11:10:39 +0000

My guest today is Margaret Lomas. Margaret Lomas is a well known, highly successful, Property Investment Guru in Australia. She currently owns more than 34 properties across Australia. She runs a very successful financial advisory company called ‘Destiny Financial Solutions‘. This company assists clients to achieve prosperity using direct property investments as the vehicle. In 2006 Margaret Lomas won the ‘NSW Telstra Business Woman Of The Year‘ award. Now for all my readers outside of Australia, this is a most coveted award - it is the award given to the best business women in the country.Margaret Lomas’s business journey began from very humble beginnings. She and her husband built their property wealth from nothing. When they started they had five kids and zero wealth. But through commonsense, dedication, hard work and a strong will to be successful, they have now built a multi million dollar company and have accumulated a multi million dollar personal property portfolio. Margaret has also written five best selling property books. I have read three of her books. I highly recommend her books to anyone who is interested in property investment. I have great admiration for this business woman. She has inspired me in more ways than one. Despite all her successes she still continues to be an extremely down to earth person - and that in itself is a huge inspiration.
Read and be inspired…..

You started Destiny Financial Solutions. You worked hard on it and it was doing well. And then you took it to the next level – the level which won you Telstra Business Awards. A lot of small business owners want to take their business to the next higher level but it’s not always easy. What do you think helped you to take your business to the next level? Was it a change in the way of your thinking or employing right people…What was it?

I have always been a person who does not take a great deal of risk. This is probably because, when you have 5 children you have such a great responsibility to feed and clothe them that they must come first. Making the decision to expand a business requires you to be quite selfish in many ways, even if you feel you have pure motives (like we did, believing we wanted to help more people).For me the decision to expand was about the need to reach a greater audience with important messages about property investing. In fact, our local branch here on the central Coast had a good reputation and we were quite prosperous without having to do a proportionate amount of work. It wasn’t enough for me or my husband though – we wanted the country at large to be able to get independent advice of good quality from people who had real integrity. Because of our disliking of debt, we funded the expansion from (meagre) company profits, and it was many, many years before we even got close to the incomes we were earning prior to our expansion. It was during those times that we had to hold fast to the dream and remind ourselves of our motives (helping others) to continue and not just throw it all in!Employing the right people came later – it can be hard to share your dream in a way that you capture the passion of others and in this market (high employment) a small business which can only afford smaller wages can have difficulty attracting good people. We found a few, made many promises about the ultimate reward in staying with us, shared our vision, and those people are still with us today.

Who is your biggest inspiration and why?

I am continually inspired by most people around me, and I try to find something inspiring each day. My husband Reuben, inspires me with his commitment to me, our family and our business. Our current staff inspire me because they share our passion and continually go over and beyond the call of duty simply because they believe in us. Our branch managers inspire me because they work long hours for the pleasure of seeing others get ahead. And my children inspire me because they are all good, independent people with a great love for our family, even though society has said they should be dysfunctional because they have been through divorce and had a working mother!

You have five kids and an extremely successful business. It’s always hard for working women with kids to create balance in their lives. If there is one tip you can give to women about staying organized, what would that be?

Give up thinking you are every going to get 8 hours sleep again – in fact, give up thinking you need it. Instead be thankful for whatever you do get and know that a waking hour is provided to you so you can achieve something new. It is on those days that I wish I had more time/rest/hours in the day that I don’t cope as well. On those days when I know that I have all I am ever going to get and I might as well utilise it as best I can that I achieve more!Be sure that you get your kids to learn about responsibility early on. My children are 22,20,19,15 and 13 and they all do their own washing. Why? Because they would have no clothes to wear if they didn’t! They can all cook too, which can be useful when dinner time comes!

If you had a chance to start your business all over again what would you do differently this time?

I do think I would go into debt for my dream. We could have done what we have done a bit sooner had we asked for financial help. Instead we used whatever money we were creating and that makes for a slower road.Mind you, that is not necessarily bad. We started with only a few branches and sat for a few years trying to iron out the bugs and get it all right before opening more. In hindsight, I do believe this was a good strategy.

When you are looking to invest do you first look for a property in your price range, then research that suburb/region for its future growth Or do you first research and pick the region and then find a property that fits your criteria in that region?

This is a hard question. I like to use Australia as my search area and start with perhaps a fairly open price range and then start whittling down from there. If you spend too long in one region doing the research, and then get to question 15 (of the 20 must ask questions) and find the area is not right, you have wasted a lot of time on that one area.

What do you think are the key ingredients of your success?

Firstly you must have a big business mentality. When we started, we had a desk in the bedroom. We still answered the phone using a corporate greeting and really did visualise ourselves as being a big business from day one. We ensured we had comprehensive systems in place even when it was just the two of us, and always asked ourselves questions like ‘What would AMP do? What would the St George Bank do?’ when planning our next moves.Next you must have a long term vision. If we had been in this for short term profits we never would have come the distance. Not once did we ever focus on small issues which may have impacted on weekly or monthly profits. We just plunged ahead, spent whatever we had and committed 100% to this business. In the early days, there were many weeks where the staff got paid and we did not, and we got by using our personal debt capacity.The other few important things include – only do something if you really love it (because working hard doing work you hate will make you bitter and you cannot be successful if you are bitter!); Do whatever you do better than anyone else does – you don’t have to be the first at anything but you do have to be the best; know your competition and always add value to your service or product and, most importantly, START TODAY. If you think about it too long you may never get started.

What’s next for Margaret Lomas?

I want to be a fiction writer. I have started my first book and each chapter I write I read to my husband – he cries and laughs in all the right places so I am hoping it comes off.Writing a novel is so much harder than the books I write now – I can write one of those in just 2 weeks because I have all the information in my head. A work of fiction requires far greater time commitment, which I don’t have right now.Of course I would also love to have an educational Property Investment TV show – but I have tried and tried to get the networks interested and they say that there is not enough interest in Property Investment to do a whole show!

Sites Of Interest

http://www.edestiny.com.au/

Visit Margaret’s business websites to get more information about her property investment advisory company…

This interview was published on 10th February 2008
To read more stories about women in service industry click Idea Home Based Service Business.

Share This

Press Release From Gazelle Simmons - MUST HAVE E-BOOK FOR VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS!

sandy.naidu — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 00:05:20 +0000

Newnan, GA - Ms. Gazelle Simmons has recently become an author of her first e-book entitled “What is a Virtual Assistant (VA) and How you can become one?” available to the public for only $10. This informative book details the initiative for becoming a VA as well as tips on networking, marketing, education, business strategies and scam alerts. This book is a must read for anyone looking to become a VA, find a VA, or market to VAs.

VAs are mostly home-based entrepreneurs who assist with administrative support from their own offices. VAs work with other business owners to help them become more successful by freeing them to work on other aspects of their business.

Ms. Simmons is a Virtual Assistant and will be celebrating her 10 year business anniversary in June of this year.

Her clients have been and continue to be small business owners, independent contractors, website owners, financial advisors, undergraduate and graduate students, writers, realtors as well as individuals looking for administrative assistance.

For more information about Ms. Simmons and her new e-book, she can be reached by phone 678-423-3187, by email help@admnsrvcs.com or visit her web site at .

Share This