Mum in Business

Babyology - Mandi Gunsberger, Founder and Managing Editor of Babyology.com.au


1. Briefly describe Babyology

Babyology is a parent and baby lifestyle website updated daily with cool finds and ideas for babies, toddlers, children and their parents from well-known and independent designers and sources here in Australia and around the globe.

We launched the website in April 2007 so it’s been 2 years. I work out of my home from a laptop and have 7 writers and a sub editor, all based at home in various states across the country.

2. What did you do before running Babyology?

A variety of things: Event Management, Film Talent Agent, Marketing and Public Relations Manager in Australia and San Francisco.

3. Why did you start your own business?

I have always tried various entrepreneurial ventures over the years and decided with a new baby it would be a good time to try something new and possibly not go back to the corporate world with small children.

While I was pregnant I started reading a lot of international blogs about baby design, but was frustrated because they didn’t cater to the Australian market and the products were hard to find here. I’ve always been interested in interior design and fashion and it seemed like a great way to turn one of my hobbies into a career and also provide a useful resource for parents and parents-to-be.

One of the reasons for starting an online business was that it didn’t require a large initial investment. With one young child at the time and another on the way, I didn’t want to have to take a big financial risk.

I had already started my own private blog as a way of reminding myself of interesting products I’d come across from around the world. I also had spreadsheets of comparative data on cots, prams and highchairs (I tend to over-research). It was just a matter of taking what I’d already started, adding to it, making it appealing to a wider audience and getting the word out.

4. Has running Babyology lived up to your initial expectations?

Definitely! I didn’t know what to expect when starting the business and it’s been very fulfilling. It’s really lovely to know that people Babyology useful and we get lots of supportive feedback from our readers. Over half of our traffic is from return visits, so it's nice to know people are coming back.

5. What have you enjoyed the most about running your own business?

I enjoy the flexibility to spend more time with my children than if I was working in a regular job (although it does mean working almost every night after they go to sleep).

I love deciding what direction we are going to take, or coming up with a concept while in bed at night and being able to wake up the next morning and start implementing it.

6. What is the biggest challenge in running your own business?

Separating work from personal time and being able to switch off from business mode when I have time with my family or should be doing other personal things.

As all I need is my laptop or mobile phone to check on the business I find it really hard to not be connected 24 hours a day. I often find myself checking email and responding to requests from my iphone when I should be focused on my family or friends and not engrossed in work issues.

7. Where do you see Babyology in 5 years?

I really want to keep building our readership. We also have a lot of new features we want to add to Babyology. We want to keep focused on the Australian market as we feel there are so many opportunities here to explore.

8. Have there been times when you’ve thought ‘this is just too hard!’ Tell us how you got over that.

I sometimes get overwhelmed by the business if I take on a new project or try and implement something new.

Also, the fact that I sit down and start working most days at 8pm (after a 12 hour day with small children) doesn’t help with rational thought when making business decisions!

Having my husband so involved in the business makes it a lot easier when I am stuck, or need emotional support as he understands the business and understand me (and my sometimes irrational behavior) so he is a huge help when I am stuck and need direction.

I have occasionally thought that I'm working harder than I wanted to be at this point in my life and I’d much rather have a 2-3 day a week job and spend my nights and weekends relaxing with family and friends.

However - all it takes is a few nice comments on the site from readers and it makes it all worthwhile.

9. Does the business dominate your life? Can you effectively break away?

I have to say yes it does dominate my life. Every time we have a holiday or I do take a break for a few days I realise the business can live without me so I really should break away from it more.

I am trying really hard to work on breaking away from the business and have set working hours so I can look forward to one or two nights off a week. I have started to actually turn the laptop off or put it away if I am home with the kids rather than leaving it out and on standby which makes it too easy to have a quick look at email or the website etc.

11. How involved is your partner in the day to day running of the business?

Babyology wouldn’t be here without my husband Ben. On top of his full-time day job as a computer graphics supervisor in the film industry, he always has time for my daily Babyology to-do list. Every night we go over all my programming tasks, graphic design work, proof reading, and computer bits and pieces.

Not only is he a huge support with running the business but he also takes the girls on plenty of early morning or weekend outings to allow me to get extra work done. I appreciate this tremendously and couldn’t do it without him.

12. Mandi, how many children do you have and what are their ages?

Two little girls - a 3 year old and an 18 month old.

13. How do you manage the juggle of running your own business with family life? Do you have help?

This is still a daily struggle. It was very tough having a newborn and an 18-month old and trying to stay on top of everything when the business was only 6 months old.

My family always comes first so it can be frustrating when I don’t achieve the goals I’ve set for the business each day. I’m really lucky to have family close by. My parents and my husband’s parents share babysitting.

14. Do you have any advice for anyone out there who may be thinking about starting their own business?

Research your idea thoroughly and work out your point of difference. Look at your prospective competition and make sure you know where you are heading with your business concept. Running your own business is not an easy job, you need to be passionate, organised and dedicated.

The hours are very, very long as it’s generally not a 9-5pm job, so be prepared to work. The rewards are worth the effort and eventually you find a balance between work and personal life.

If you love what you are doing and are passionate about your concept, it is much easier to succeed.