For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
The pros of running our own business are:
1. Autonomy and Control: We LOVE being our own bosses and really being invested both financially and emotionally, with the freedom to make decisions and shape the direction of the business. There’s nothing better than knowing we have full control over making the business achieve its goals to suit our vision for premium pregnancy and baby care.
Building a business from the ground up can be incredibly rewarding. Seeing our ideas come to life and making an impact in our industry or community brings us a deep sense of satisfaction.
2. Flexibility: Running our own business provides the flexibility to set our own hours and means we can work from any suitable location. The business has become a lifestyle – rather than a job.
3. Building Relationships: Running our own business allows us to be closer to our customers and build meaningful relationships with them, along with suppliers, and partnering businesses. These connections can be deeply rewarding and contribute to a supportive network.
As for cons:
1. Financial Risk: Starting and running a business involves taking the financial plunge with initial personal investments and ongoing expenses. The uncertainty of income has been challenging, especially in the early stages.
2. Time Commitment: The demands of running operations and all that involves, managing staff, and addressing customer needs has led to long hours and reduced personal time until the robust systems we created kicked in!
3. Stress and Responsibility: Without wanting to sound negative, the responsibility of making critical decisions and handling various aspects of the business can be a little stressful!
4. Unpredictable Income: Unlike a traditional job with steady pay, business income can be so unpredictable. We have had to cope with ever-changing sales volumes due to fluctuating market conditions. That means we have had to keep a keener eye on the economy and market trends.
In summary, running our own business offers incredible opportunities for personal fulfilment, creative expression, and financial growth, but it also comes with its fair share of challenges.
Hopes and dreams: What next?
Our hopes and dreams for Lullaby Lou revolve around several key areas.
We aim to continue innovating by developing new products that answer emerging customer needs and address different aspects of natural parenting bodycare. We have quite a few ideas ready to put into practice already.
We would love to build stronger connections with our varied communities through workshops on natural Mum and Baby care and take part in local and national events, supporting causes aligned with our values.
We intend to expand our reach beyond local and national markets to a global audience.
We definitely want to spend more time improving our website and making our digital presence felt more by optimising our e-commerce platform to improve customer experience, studying data analytics to better understand what customers want and need, and explore new digital marketing strategies.
Browse the Lullaby Lou products and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.
