“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 Fiona’s little girl Airlie was born at 27+5 weeks gestation weighing just 861 grams, Fiona found herself searching for support, information, nappies, clothing - anything to help herself learn more about her little girl and what she was going through. When she was faced with a lack of online information, Moment by Moment was born.

Moment by Moment is an online service designed to provide information and family support services for parents and families of premature babies. In addition to this, Fiona also offers clothing and accessories for these tiny bubs, who more often than not can not even fit into dolls clothing. In developing moment by moment, Fiona has put together an extensive list of resources and information covering everything from the equipments premmie mums will need to organisations they can turn to for help and support. And by using an online platform to run this service, Fiona has the potential to support any premmie mum, anywhere in the world.

Moment by moment came out of something that was close to Fiona’s heart, but it didn’t come without its setbacks. As well as having problems trying to find premmie products in Australia, she also ran into problems when asking the banks for money, which is a common problem when starting a new business venture. However, she has managed to get Moment by Moment up and running, and available for any premmie mum who needs some information, accessories, or just some reassurance. At the same time, she has also built up two international relationships with UK company www.cuski.co.uk and also www.mytinyhands.com. She has also now become the exclusive Australian distributor for both these products - check out the Moment by Moment site to send her an email if you would like a wholesalers pack.

Fiona’s tips for success

• Protect your ideas - it’s better to be safe than sorry.
• Get a confidentiality agreement in place and never give too much away.

You can check out Moment by Moment at www.momentbymoment.com.au, which also contains her business blog. She is also a member of the Business Mums Network and has a mumspace at www.momentbymoment.mumspace.net.