“Mummy’s Online!”

After being a high school teacher for 13 years, Fiona decided that she wanted to spend more time at home with her children. While she loved teaching, the thought of having to resume fulll time work loomed in a couple of years when her youngest daughter Emily went to school, so she decided that she needed to create something for herself that would allow her to stay at home with her children, as well as create a challenge for herself. After many shopping experiences searching to find presents for her own children or gift ideas that were not only stylish but unique for someone else, she was astounded with the lack of truly personal gift items. Even decorating rooms or finding suitable toys for her daughters was hard enough, without adding the time, travel, negotiation and tantrums that accompanied such trips. She wanted the shopping experience to be a pleasant and easy one. And thus, Unique Kids was created.

Unique Kids offers a range of gifts and toys for babies, boys and girls. From baby gifts and gift boxes, to toys, accessories, and a full range of bedlinen and artwork, there is something special for every child at Unique Kids.

Fiona is really enjoying the challenge of setting up her own business and running it. Coming from a different profession entirely it has been a steep learning curve, but one that she is happy to embrace and learn from every day. She now does everything online from networking to ordering, communicating with customers and suppliers and finding avenues for marketing and advertising.

Fiona is a member of the following business forums, Business Mums Network, The Messy Desk, She Essence.

Here are her tips for other mums wanting to start an online business:

•    Choose something that you are interested in so your passion can be enjoyed.
•    Get networking……this is a powerful tool for any new business owner. I don’t think that my business would be as far advanced without the help and support of the great people that I have met through the network forums.
•    Aim to create a good balance between work and family as spending more time with your family is usually one of the main reasons for starting your own business in the first place.
•    Above all….enjoy what you do and congratulate yourself on your achievements, however small.
•    Life is what you make it…..so go for it!!!

As well as her mumspace at uniquekids.mumspace.net  she has also just started a blog at www.uniquekids.com.au/blog/ which offers articles, gift giving ideas and product reviews. Keep an eye on this blog as it is new and will be added to continually.

 When Bridie first became a mother she found herself in a bit of a dillema - as a breastfeeding mum, the choice between the hideously huge zippered nursing shirt or just a regular tee that gave way to her "stretchmarked tum" saw her ducking around corners to allude the fashion police.

Nine years or so and three more boob-loving babies later, Haute Mama opened its doors in October 2006, featuring a line of Bridie’s favourite tried-and-tested breastfeeding gear as well as a huge range of organic baby skincare, carriers and slings.

As well as running her own successful online business, Bridie is also a frequent visitor of parenting forums, and is passionate about women accessing valuable and helpful information online. She believes that it is important not to set women, particularly mothers up for feelings of failure or to give them unrealistic expectations of their baby.

Here is Bridie’s advice to other mums online:

• Babies run on instinct, so let instinct be the compass that guides you mothering journey. Rely on that wisdom when the current "advice" doesn’t feel right.
• Google is a girls best friend! If you can’t find a product locally, chances are you’ll find it online and at the right price

Check out Haute Mama at www.hautemama.com.au and the Haute Mama blog at www.onehautemama.blogspot.com. You can also check out Bridie’s personal mumspace at www.onehautemama.mumspace.net.

For Monique, running one online business is not enough. She runs three.

As a 35-year-old mum to two gorgeous boys, aged 3 and 13 weeks (wow!), Monique first began That’s Art, an event organising and cake decorating business in 2002, which has been hugely successful through word of mouth. Her first online business project however was Bella Creations, which provides  beautiful and unique gifts for pregnant mums and and newborn babies.

When starting Bella Creations in 2004 as her first online business venture, Monique initially went into it with a business partner who ended up opting out, leaving her with a heavier work load, but more determination to keep the business running.

After successfully setting up Bella Creations online, Monique saw the opportunity for her other business to also be a success online, and as a result she is currently in the process of intergrating  That’s Art online and on top of that is also in the process of starting a third online business called Groovy As, offering unique and funky products for children from clothing to bedroom items.

With so much going on, for Monique the biggest struggle is just getting everything done every day. Despite this though, she prides herself on being a work at home mum and wouldn’t change it for the world. She loves having her little boys around her and is determined to keep them at home and not have to put them into childcare.

Here are Monique’s tips for other WAHMs:

• Just go with the flow!
• Don’t worry if you don’t reach your targets every day.
• Set priorities
• Accept help from family and friends - don’t be too proud to accept the offer.
• Remember to spend time with your children - that is the reason you wanted to work from home in the first place.

As well as running her online businesses, Monique is also a member of several support groups including the Business Mums Network, Real Mums and She-essence.