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MumsClub Name: MotherOfTwo
Business Name:Urbanmummy
Business Contact: mona@urbanmummy.co.uk
What are the key features of the products or services that your business offers:
Hand crafted products, made out of natural materials.
Why should customers and clients use your services?
Most of our products are not available anywhere else in the UK. A very easy, user friendly way of ensuring expectant mothers receive useful gifts that they really want.
When did you start up in business?
2008
How did you decide what business to go into, and what was your motivation?
I lived between Paris and London for over ten years. I kept finding gorgeous items to decorate my baby’s room from France, which my friends loved. I kept having to lug these items back to the UK for my friends. When I saw that the brands I had found were not distributed in the UK and had limited access to the Internet, I decided to set up my own online boutique.
What were the most challenging aspects to setting up?
Leaving a secure, well-paid job in finance and entering a whole new world, which required quite a bit of technical knowledge. Getting the word around was also very challenging. Also, not being a web coder/programmer and having to rely on a third party (who is very costly and always late) has been a nightmare.
What has been your biggest business achievement?
Too early to tell!
Have, or do you do anything out of the ordinary to benefit your business?
Not yet, still learning.
What stage is your business at now & what are your plans for the future?
Still a start-up – once traffic increases, would like to add furniture and create “lifestyle” section for baby to show what the products can look like in various contexts. Would also like to add a “tips for decorating baby’s room” which would include ways of overcoming little problems such as small spaces, lack of natural light etc.
How do you manage to juggle your business with family life? Has it been challenging?
Very challenging but far more gratifying than being away from them as I was when in finance.
Has online networking, specifically with other mums, benefited your business?
The forums have helped me find specialised services such as PR/Marketing, as well as ideas on how to advertise the website for free.
What resources do you NOT have now that might make your life easier?
My dream is to have an in-house web-developer in order to continually add enhancements to the website without the headache and costs of going through a large web developer company
What advice would you give another mum considering starting her own business?
Plan well in advance and try and get onto forums to discuss your project and find out the difficulties that other businesswomen have had. This is also a good way of obtaining free advice and useful contacts.
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