Business in Profile
BABEAZE - Tracey & Ann-Marie Laverick
1. Briefly describe your business.
Babeaze specializes in baby and children's products that are unique, practical and often parent invented. We believe that only other parents fully understand the challenges parenting can bring. Through our research we have discovered some fantastic products. Most of our suppliers are also mums or dads trying to start a business so we have developed a great working relationship with them. So far most of our products can only be sourced through our website.
As parents of small children ourselves, we wanted to start a business where we could be available for our children and at the same time use the skills we developed in our working life. So we combined the two and Babeaze was created.
Our products include: a quick cooling plate that cools hot food down in 60 seconds, a travel tray that makes road trips a lot more peaceful, angel alert - child distance monitor, potty mitts to make trips to public toilets more hygienic just to mention a few.
2. Why did you start your business?
We wanted to do something that we could do from home as well as juggle our young families. As we researched we came across so many products that just aren't available in Australia & New Zealand. After purchasing and using these products for a while we thought why not bring them in for other parents to use. So that is how Babeaze come about.
3. Has starting your own business lived up to expectations?
Yes & No. We realized that it would be hard work & that juggling families & second jobs was going to be a challenge but there have been times when it has felt too hard. We are fortunate to have built up a network of good friends and other business people that are able to give us a pep talk when we need it. Our husbands have also been a terrific support. It is great to see the response of the products we have chosen and see that others think that they are as unique and useful as we did.
4. What have you enjoyed the most about running your own business?
The satisfaction of being able to look at the business & say "we did that, this is ours". The great feeling you get when you have a challenge and you work at it to make it a success. The PBC Expo in Sydney was great as without a shop front it is hard to get a lot of feedback & it was good to be able to meet the people that are buying our products and received their feedback so that we knew what others parents are looking for too. It also gave us a chance to meet with the team from EB and build relationships with other people in similar situations to us.
5. What is the biggest challenge for you in running your own business?
Working out which direction to go next. That is when we contact other people in similar businesses and situations that can provide useful information and get us back on track.
Another issue has been getting people to trust us and understand that we plan to be here for the long time and not just a "fly by night business".
6. How do you manage the juggle of running your own business with family?
Good question! It is hard but fortunately we are both mums so we understand the challenges. Our children also get along very well - we think they will get married one day - and we know that we have to make plans to work around the daily challenges of being a parent as well as working.
We have a great understanding that when one of us needs to do the parent thing for a while, such as looking after sick kids, attending school functions etc etc then the other takes over. It seems to work well for us.
7. Do you have a favourite networking opportunity or event?
The pbcexpo - we found this to be such a rewarding opportunity for many reasons. The people we met from the expo as well as other exhibitors have just been fantastic to talk to.
We really enjoyed meeting our customers face to face and getting great feedback about the site and our products. It was fun, tiring & rewarding all at the same time.
8. Do you have any advice for anyone out there who may be thinking about starting their own business?
Make sure you do your research before you start. Get advice & talk to as many people as you can in the same position. Join networking groups in a similar industry that can offer advice or the opportunity to pool resources.
Don't look at everyone as competition as you will find people are only too happy to share experiences and let you know what they have or haven't done right.
At the same time remembering that everyone is in business to make money in the end but you need to enjoy what you are doing and be passionate about it - believe in it & really want to put the hard work in. It is hard work but it is equally rewarding.
For more information about Babeaze ...click here
