Business in Profile

COTTON BOTTOM

1. Briefly describe your business.

At Cotton Bottom we provide comprehensive information on modern cloth nappies, the benefits and the choices available. We hope to educate people about the many environmental, health and cost benefits and debunk the myths about cloth being hard.
We also have an online store which boasts a huge selection of modern cloth nappies and related accessories. We provide information on the choices available, the pros and cons of different types and the extensive glossary of nappy jargon. We also provide a personal advice service to make sure our customers get the nappies that are going to be best for them and their baby.

We have been running for over 2 years now, based from our home in inner Melbourne. Nick (my husband) is instrumental in key business decisions, as well as being my graphic designer and web developer. Our daughters (Olivia 2.5 years and Bianca 10 months) are our official testers. Our helpers Emily, Loris and Samantha make sure the accounts are done, the orders are picked and photos are taken. www.cottonbottom.com.au

2. Why did you start your business?

When I was pregnant with Olivia, I knew I wanted to use cloth nappies. My friends all thought I was mad, but I launched into a massive quest of online research. I quickly discovered that Australia was way behind the eight ball, in terms of having quality modern cloth nappies readily available. So once I had my daughter, and had tried a whole lot of brands, I opened my store.

3. Has starting your own business lived up to expectations?

While I had hoped to become a billionaire before the age of 30, I quickly realised that that was just not going to happen. It has been a lot of hard work but the reward has definitely been the beautiful emails and photos I get from our customers.

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

I'm really lucky to be involved with something I believe in so strongly. It's really easy for me to go on and on about how wonderful cloth nappies are, and having my own business has given me an avenue to do that without annoying dinner party guests.

5. What is the biggest challenge for you in running your own business?

My biggest challenge has always been juggling the business and home life. Being at home, it's very easy to just wander over to the computer and answer a few emails, when I really should be cooking dinner.

6. How do you manage the juggle of running your own business with family?

It's hard. I'm lucky in that I have the most wonderfully supportive husband that I could ever hope for. He is fantastic with running the household while I'm off in Cotton Bottom land. Family dinner conversations do tend to migrate onto making key business decisions, but it's something that my husband and I really enjoy. Olivia loves helping to put together orders and reciting all the colours of the beautiful nappies.

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

Get some really solid accounting and legal advice before you start. It's really important to understand all of your financial and legal obligations before starting out a business. And you must know your market

For more information about Cotton Bottom  ...click here