Featured – Page 16 – Business Plus Baby

April 25, 2012April 22, 2012

We started a business with kids: Carey Conway and Fiona Haldenby of Crafts4Kids

Today’s ‘I started a business with kids’ comes from Carey Conway and Fiona Haldenby (left) , directors and owners of Crafts4Kids, which sells crafts, educational toys and gifts for children.

They’ve also given Business Plus Baby readers a 15% discount of your first order at Crafts4Kids – just click this link: Crafts4Kids.co.uk and enter the code BPB15 (note: code can only be used once per person).

Tell us a little about your business

Crafts4Kids offers a stylish and contemporary range of Creative & Educational Children’s Toys, Games & Gifts that are both a pleasure to give and a pleasure to receive. Our products are selected to not only delight your children but to also help them learn. Crafts4kids range is selected from award winning brands and new inspirational brands with something just a little bit different to offer. With over 1000 products to choose from and excellent customer service, Crafts4kids is just perfect for the discerning online shopper – Great Gifts for Kids that you won’t easily find on the high street.

What was your job before starting your business?

Carey – HR and Business Process Consultant

Fiona – Director and Project Manager of commercial software solutions

How did you go from your old career to your new business?

Carey -Having nearly frazzled myself trying to be a full time professional in the corporate environment and wanting to be a brilliant Mum. I resigned from my job and dabbled on a part time basis in some freelance writing and project managing the start up of 3 after school clubs while taking some time to consider what business might provide the opportunity to ‘have the best of both worlds’.

Fiona – I was working part time and managing work/mum balance but wanted a change. I was able to support Carey on the technical and operational aspects of the business but kept up my other role for a couple of years.

What were your reasons for starting a business?

Definitely wanting to be able to work more flexibly and to be able to spend more time with the children.

Did you use any childcare?

Yes , it was important to have a few hours a day to be able do business when others were doing business so we supported this with childminders but apart from that it was a lot of evening work.

How did you get your business idea?

It was clear that ecommerce was a growing and attractive opportunity with relatively low cost of entry. Our decision to embark upon Crafts4kids was heavily influenced by the types of activities we liked to do with our own children and the awareness that good children’s toys were becoming increasingly difficult to get on the high street. Independent toy sellers were struggling. ToysRus and the Entertainer were the dominant players in many towns and character branded toys appeared to be taking over!

What were your challenges and how did you overcome them?

Well we knew very little about running an ecommerce business and very little about being retailers so it was a case of trusting our intuition on product range and making cautious investment decisions in areas where our knowledge was limited. There are so many people out there trying to sell you services that don’t achieve very much. Inevitably we made mistakes. It was a really steep learning curve (and still is) but keeping a cool head – learning from your mistakes and taking new things on board in bite size chunks has seen us make good steady growth in turnover and profitability over the last 5 years.

What training, information or advice did you need to get started?

Between us we had sufficient business knowledge to get started – our respective skills complimented one another’s. In terms of getting to understand ecommerce, seo and all other online marketing activities, we have read a lot, developed good relationships with suppliers and as a result learnt a lot from them, attended exhibitions and seminars.

If you could give one piece of advice to a mum starting a business, what would it be?

Do something you are passionate about – it’s easy to find that extra energy for a spot of late night work if you are buzzing about something!

To get your 15% discount of your first order at Crafts4Kids just click this link: Crafts4Kids.co.uk and enter the code BPB15.

(note: code can only be used once per person).

Contains affiliate links

April 23, 2012April 23, 2012

Ten tips for market placement

Today’s article comes from Laura Rigney, author of Pitching Products for Small Business. Laura’s book helps you along the path from developing your product to branding and pitching your idea to buyers at high street and online retailers.

1 – Ensure you have a strong brand.

When you are trying to bring your product to market, you will be seen immediately beside your biggest competition so you need to stand out as much as possible. Think like a consumer; what sort of packaging appeals to you? What kind of branding do you like? Take a look at the branding of other similar products and see what they all have in common and use this knowledge to your advantage. Most importantly, make sure that it is clear to potential purchasers what your product is and what it does! Continue reading “Ten tips for market placement”

April 12, 2012

You’re doing OK (yes really, you are.)

Are you feeling under a lot of pressure?

Pressure from you family and kids, pressure from your work, deadlines and clients. Then there’s the pressure you put on yourself.

We live in a culture that often values what we achieve over who we are.

I just want to tell you this: you’re doing OK. Really.

It’s OK to just be you.

You don’t need to be running a company valued in the millions, to have advanced degrees, a beautiful house or spotless children.

You’re OK just as you are.

(Need more convincing? Take a look at this post Your children need YOU and its 425 comments)

I know that sometimes the pressure gets too much and you end up flipping your lid.

Like shouting at the kids a split second before you switch to being Mrs Ultra-Professional when a client phones up. Or ending up in floods of tears because some old fool criticises your parking at the supermarket.

Yeah, it’s not big or clever. But it’s OK. It happens to us all.

So just for today, give yourself a break. Cut yourself some slack.

It really will be OK.

photo credit: theinfinite

April 10, 2012

This is why your tasks take longer than you expected…

Introducing new Business Plus Baby guest blogger Alison Bradford of www.alisonbradford.com…

Do you ever have a morning when you’re up really early but still late for the school / nursery run? The morning started so well – you were feeling relaxed and in control and then before you knew it there’s a last minute dash to get coats and shoes on, bags together and out of the door. How did that happen?

Or the other way round and the kids were up late (I wish! doesn’t happen often in my house!) but you still managed to get them fed, washed, dressed and out of the door at the same time?

This is Parkinson’s Law in action – a task will expand to fill the time you allow you for it.

So, roughly translated, if you allow two hours to get ready in the morning it will take two hours. If you allow half an hour it will take half an hour.

It’s like when you have a new baby and you cannot imagine being able to leave the house with both of you dressed before midday. Then you join a baby class that starts at 10am and somehow you manage to get out of the house for 10am. Then you go back to work and (by a miracle some days, I know) you manage to get your baby to nursery for 8am. (I’m not saying it’s not stressful getting out earlier by the way!)

The same principle applies to work tasks too.

When you’re running your own business it can be easy to keep going with a task and not set yourself deadlines. You don’t have a boss hovering over you wanting that report by 5pm and you can easily start to be busy taking your time over things.

Maybe you want something to be perfect and spend too long trying to get it so.

Maybe it’s something you don’t enjoy doing and keep getting distracted from.

Whatever the reason that means something is taking too long to get done – start setting yourself deadlines for completing tasks.

This may mean that something isn’t perfect (haven’t you heard that good enough is the new perfect?) It may also mean that you need to start making decisions more quickly. Both of these are great habits to get into when running your own business.

If you don’t have enough time to get everything done then you either need to not do some stuff or to start getting stuff done more quickly. By setting deadlines for even the smallest of things you really can start to get things done more quickly – just remember those late mornings when you still make school or nursery on time and think of Parkinson’s Law.

Biography:

If you want to get more tips, advice and inspiration for being a Mum running a business then visit www.alisonbradford.com and sign up for the free newsletter.

Alison works as a Business Coach and Life Coach with Mums who are running a small business from home and want to make more money in their business and have more balance in their life. To find out more please visit www.alisonbradford.com/about

April 5, 2012February 3, 2014

Turning pennies into pounds: How to save your business and family money

If you’ve got enough guts to juggle a baby and a business at the same time, you already possess enough savvy to know that running a business from home doesn’t have to be expensive. Whether you want to save for your family’s future or increase your business’s bottom line, you can turn pennies into pounds with these energy-saving and cost-saving measures for your home business.

Electricity prices are a main concern for most entrepreneurs whether they work from home or in an office, so it is natural to start your cost-saving quest here. To save electricity, set up your office with energy-efficient equipment, such as a three-in-one fax machine, printer, and copier. Better yet, invest in computer software that does away with the need for paper copies and mailing. You can get a comprehensive email programme that also functions as an instant messenger. And to cut down on the need to commute (which also uses costly petrol) you can get video conferencing software like Skype to keep you in contact with business partners.

If you’re setting up a business for the first time or you are revamping your overhead costs budget, it is also worth the time and effort to compare energy prices to see if you’re really getting best deal on your energy. Switching tariffs is becoming a common practice amongst homeowners and business owners who find a better rate elsewhere. Just be cautious with companies that claim that you’ll be better off with their services; sometimes they quote the highest cost for electricity in the industry, which may not apply to your situation.

You should also make sure that you have proper insulation, which is especially important during the winter. Cracks around doors and windows can let heated air out and cold air in, defeating the purpose of you turning on the heater. But in addition to a little caulk and weather stripping, you may also want to make a project out of insulating your attic or loft; nearly 15 per cent of your heat escapes upward, so reinforcing insulation here could make a big difference in your bill.

The key to saving on energy is looking in all the small places that cost you just pennies individually. For example, you could also benefit from conserving water, unplugging electronics (all over the house), and using a programmable thermostat for heating and cooling. If you keep a diligent eye on your home and its work space, you’ll be better equipped to take over the world with your baby in tow.