Thinking like a boss from the start! These Little Treasures

Tell us about the first steps you took in starting your business?

The first steps to starting was to research, research, research! I wanted to make sure there was a market for what I wanted do, and also make sure that market wasn't over saturated already. After that, I made an overall plan of what I wanted to acheive and how I might do it. Then, it was (and still is..) all about baby steps – trying something, getting a response and then making adjustments, the whole time making sure the adjustments were taking me closer (and not further away) from my original long term plan for the business idea. That's how I went about it, but if I had a big wad of capital to put in, I probably wouldn't have proceeded slowly like this! The research, planning and listening to feedback still would be the most important steps however.

What is a personal habit that you believe contributes to your success?

I'm a really impatient person, like REALLY impatient! So this habit, that I have only just become mindful of in the last few years, is the habit doing of little steps – consistently, every day, without fail. I think success is quite often portrayed as ‘an overnight hit' or ‘I just made this and everything took off!' when in fact, most times, it's like anything – stick at it, keep improving, keep learning, keep adjusting – just keep doing it! Successful people are most likely to be the people that just kept persisting rather that a uniquely talented individual.

Give us 3 tips on how to use Instagram to boost business

I still feel like a Instagram ‘newbie' but I guess what I have learnt and the tips I would share are:

1. It is all about the image. It so worth putting in the effort into making beautiful images that have appealing composition, are clear and of high quality and reflect your uniqueness and personality in what you do. There are do's and don't s when it comes to IG photos, my top Do is use natural light and my top Don't is, don't be tempted with all the post pic apps! Keep the picture clear and ‘unfiltered'. Make it more about the composition rather than tricky tricks.

2.  Design your feed before you begin. By ‘design' I mean to plan out what your theme is, what your colour palette is and your style. You should always think of each picture in terms of how it will ‘belong' on your storyboard and how the pictures flow. Your aim is to be consistent in your style and create a beautiful and thought out feed.

3. Try and vary your posts to show your personality, support those in your community as well as touting your product. This means, don't be ‘sale-sy' all the time, you want to gather genuine followers that support what you do, and the best way to do this is to show them your personality, create stories through pictures and always give back to the community that supports you.

How do you balance #mumlife and business life?

For 13 years, I ran my own fashion label. 6 years of these were pre-babies. It was all about me and my business, and really, it was kind of easy, as my time was my own. I could work 24/7 if I wanted and I found that really suited my creative and impetuous personality! Then, babies came along. My world turned upside down, for the better for me but for the worse for my business. No-one taught me how to ‘do-it-all' but I felt like I was expected to. But, I just couldn't keep up the pace and my happiness, my health and my business suffered.

But since, I have learnt how to do it differently, 2nd business round. Firstly, I made my own expectations much more realistic. I think most of the pressure women feel to balance work and family comes from themselves. I've learnt to subordinate my values to feelings. I keep checks on my inner voice and remind myself what is truly important (I first had to become aware of that voice which was the first step!) Of course there's still pressure and time limitations and lack of sleep AND stress, but if you plan out your goals within each role of your life (ie: goals as a mum, a wife, a business owner etc) and plan by the week instead of by the day, you'll find your expectations will start to line up with reality. Also, when you plan out a week, instead of a day, you have the ability to shuffle things around if something unexpected or urgent pops up and because you've covered all your roles and goals, balance and calm remains!

What one piece of actionable advice would you give someone just starting out?

The best advice I'd pass on for someone starting out is to imagine you are on the show ‘Dragon's Den' or ‘Shark Tank' (the Australian version) and you are about to present your business idea. What will they say to you? I find that if I put myself outside my ideas and look at them as someone asking the questions instead of answering them, I quickly realise what parts of my business idea are the key to possible success and which parts need working on or changing. Always remember, those sharks on the panel believe that if you're good at something, then that's the part YOU should be doing. Strive to delegate the things you don't need to do or are not good at doing as soon as possible. That doesn't always mean that you need to make lots of income really quickly to afford a big staff payroll – think outside the square…how can you collaborate, trade or build relationships in your community that you could form win/win scenarios to get the help you need whilst offering the other person something great that you can give.

A Mum With Hustle you admire and why

A Mum-with-Hustle I admire is my new business partner, Kate Dwyer. I respect her clarity of her life outlook – she doesn't get rattled by people, she is happy in her own skin, she is an amazing mum and she approaches everything with a giggle. She works part time as well as being my part time partner. She is always willing to learn and open to giving things a go, and her concern for people and her community has really rubbed off on me in a good way. She hustles in a quiet and steady way, which is the opposite to the way I do it, so we balance each other out I guess!

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Website – http://www.theselittletreasures.com

Special MWH Deal

THESE little TREASURES is offering 15% off  store wide from now until the end of the month (OCTOBER 2015).
The code you will need is “TREASUREHUSTLE”

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