"I started Mocks mobile phone socks!"
19/05/2009
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Write a business plan before you start – it will help you to clarify things.
2. Market Research
Do some market research into your idea – do people like it? Would they buy it? How much would they pay? You don’t have to get it done professionally - you can use free online tools such as surveymonkey.com.
3. Be Tight with Money
Try and work out exactly how much money you will really need to start your business. Buy things for your office space secondhand when you first start (you can always upgrade later) and try to curb any excessive spending urges you may have (mine is stationary!)
4. Budget
Do a budget by month for the first year in three versions: low, realistic and high. Include what you think sales will be and what expenses are, as this will help you to work out what you can afford to spend money on to promote your business.
5. Ask for Help
Ask people for help. People love helping small businesses, just make sure you have specific questions.
6. Learn
There are lots of free small businesses workshops out there on all aspects of business.
7. Get Input
Get input from others on your ideas - often you get too close to it and miss things.
8. Have a Procedures Manual
As you do things in your business, try to develop a procedures manual (basically instructions on how to do things) as it makes it easier when you hire staff.
9. Network
Networking is a great way to meet people in similar situations and discover new clients.
10. Enjoy your Business
Get excited about it… if you don’t who will?
Lara has earned a spot on the BRW Top 100 Fast Start-up businesses of 2008 and she has just released her first book - Brand New Day - The Highs and Lows of Starting a Small Business ($24.95, http://brandnewday.com.au). Here's an extract ...
January 2005
2005, is going to be a fantastic year, I just know it, with the covermount and the advertising I’ve set up I am sure that Mocks sales will go through the roof. Last year was a lot of hard work, and I know that isn’t going to stop, but at least most of the cold calling is over. I envisage that this year I can spend more time building the brand awareness and making sure that people know about Mocks. Plus I will probably be able to hire some help this year – which means less stress and I can achieve more, and I will prove to Mr Johns that the business is viable. I am really excited about it all. The new website went live on Christmas Eve, I am really glad it is ready for all the advertising and promotions I have planned this year. It is a million times better than the one I built.
Monday 3rd January 2005
The February issue of Girlfriend magazine went on sale today, the one with the free Mock on 45,000 copies.
Tuesday 4th January 2005
The order of Mocks with the new designs leaves China by airfreight today – 3,600 Mocks ...
Friday 7th January 2005
I just got back from five days of camping at the beach to find 400 emails from girls about Mocks. Woohoo! It took me eight hours to answer them all. At least people are visiting the website and are interested. I can’t believe it. It is so exciting ... Mocks are really taking off.
Monday 10th January 2005
I spent three hours packing Mocks today. It is great to have all those orders, but also a bit crazy with everything I need to do!
Today I went into the mobile store in Manly (where I live) to top up their Mocks. They like me to do it and it’s good for me because I get feedback on what is happening in the retail world, as well as which Mocks are selling. The Aussie Flag design always does well in this store, probably because of all the tourists to Manly.
I got in touch with a call centre today, as a potential way to sell Mocks. People could call up and order them and pay for them over the phone. I still don’t have an online shopping website as yet, and the only other option for customers is to fill in the order form and mail it in, so this could be a good alternative. I have a meeting set up for Thursday.
I finally bought a laminator today, and I love it. It was a pain having to borrow one every time I needed to laminate. This will be so much easier!
Friday 14th January 2005
I met up with the guy from the call centre yesterday. It definitely looks like a viable option. I need to run the numbers a bit more, but initially it’s looking good.
I have spent one to two hours per day packing orders this week for stores. It is great that stores are ordering. It is still so exciting when orders arrive on the fax machine. Hopefully that feeling doesn’t wear off.
I prepared the shareholders’ report this month for the last quarter, even though I’m the only shareholder. I gave Mr Johns a copy and Mum and Dad, as they lent me the cash to start up and so have a vested interest in the business.
It’s not long now until I go to the Big Day Out event. There will be live bands playing all day, 11am to midnight. I am hoping that the target audience is right. They might be a little bit older than teens.
I have been great on the exercise this week. I’ve done a class every day ‐ I have been keeping those endorphins flowing.
Thursday 20th January 2005
Busy, busy. I had a meeting with Austrade today to discuss getting accepted onto the New Exporter Development Program. I thought it would be hard, but it actually wasn’t too bad. I just took along what I’ve got for stores already, like the order form and also the PR folder I have, and they were impressed. Apparently lots of people go along with nothing and aren’t even willing to go overseas to visit the places they want to export to! So it looks like I will be accepted onto the program, even though Mocks are not made in Australia – because they are designed in Australia and the company is Australian.
Great news, the guys at TV Hits magazine have agreed to wear Mocks T‐shirts to the Big Day Out, just because they love Mocks! I need to drop off the T‐shirts to them this week. Plus the Austrade guy is going to the Big Day Out with his wife, and says that she will wear a Mocks T‐shirt – spreading the word, it’s great.
I have been spending time the past few days chasing up people for money. It is so annoying when they don’t pay on time. I know that my payment terms are short at seven days, but people know that when they sign up.
I am finally onto calling the Western Australia section of the Yellow Pages. It is taking forever, but it is having results … store owners are interested, and want to get a sample.
Tuesday 25th January
Yesterday was exciting. I went and saw a potential office for the business. It is way too crowded in the spare room. I have to take everything out and rearrange it every week to have enough room for me in there! At the moment I have my desk with the computer and fax on it and enough room for my chair, but the rest of the room is just boxes of Mocks. It is a real squash. I am also going to need to take on someone to help with the packing soon, as I just don’t have the time to do everything. Plus Mr Johns is getting rather annoyed with the 20,000 Mocks lining the hallway!
Wednesday 26th January 2005
I spent today at the Big Day Out music festival. It was such a long day; we got there about 9am and finished up at 11pm. My friend Nora came along to help me. The Reach Out! Mocks didn’t get delivered in time, despite my constant calls to the shipping company. They kept saying that it was bumped off the plane in China due excess passenger luggage. The first time maybe I could believe this, but three times – it seems very unlikely. It is really frustrating dealing with people like that, when I think that they are lying to me. This is the first time I have used this company, and it will be the last.
The Reach Out! volunteers did a great job bouncing about in the giant Mocks in front of the stand. It would have been such hard work, but they bounced about handing out flyers in return for their entry ticket. Not really such a bad gig.
Sales today were disappointing. The event was so huge that lots of people didn’t realise that the market bit was there until very late in the evening. We sold 70 Mocks over the day, which just covered the cost of the stand, but really I wanted it to be bigger than that. We did get some photos of people with their Mocks to put up on the website; people loved it when we did this after the Homebake festival.
Mocks sold this month: 4,008
Total stores: 199
Original target: 250
Business bank account balance: $6,188