Business in Profile

After only 2 years of trading, online maternity store Sweet Lilly Maternity is now positioned as Australia’s premier shop at home site for racy, fashion savvy maternity clothes, baby wear, breastfeeding clothes and designer baby shower gifts.

With a store offering of over 50 different labels, Sweet Lilly has one of the largest collections of sexy, stylish and affordable maternity collections in Australia today with a cult following of loyal customers who continue to purchase well after the birth of their children. 

Imported labels from the UK, USA and The Netherlands, as well as domestic favourites are what have given Sweet Lilly the ‘edge’ over other maternity stores, as well as the exclusive and highly sought after designer maternity evening dress label Lilly B of Sydney.

“Our strategy is to choose colourful, exclusive, top quality, exciting and edgy maternity styles for our store and offer them at realistic prices,” says store manager Sally Hainey.  “We keep our overheads low in order to pass on the savings to our customers, rather than inflate the price,” she adds.  

“We are always mindful that not all of our customers have a hefty wallet or can justify paying hundreds of dollars for maternity jeans or designer maternity dresses,” she says. 

You can check out the range for yourself at www.sweetlillymaternity.com.au

2. Why did you start your business?

“I started the business because I had so much time on my hands after the birth of my daughter, Lilly”, says Hainey. “I needed to set my mind something tangible to work on and wanted to use my experience in commence, marketing and bringing new products to market for my own interest and benefit, so I started thinking about the maternity sector”, she adds.

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

I can’t deny that there have been many good and bad times to running a business but on the whole, we have now gone past the difficult part and have built up our brand name and that is invaluable to enable us to move forward with all of the other exciting ventures that we have planned. Its really great to be able to give my daughter a good life and education, especially as we don’t have any help from family as they all live in England.

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

I really enjoy the creative aspect of the business. I employ people to look after parts of the business that I’m not so good at, but colours and creativity are my enjoyment in life and this is something that I’m passionate about.

I love going to selection meetings and spending hours on the internet looking over potential garments that I think will sell well in our store. I also love the photography and modeling aspect of the business. We have always worked with the same fantastic photographer and I would highly recommend his work.www.gzphoto.com.au

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

The biggest challenge for me is lack of time. Because I like to be so ‘hands on’ I find it hard to delegate and always want to be involved. We have over 10 different contractors working for us on all aspects
of the business but I guess there will come a day when I have to let some areas of the business go.

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

I manage to juggle the running of the business with family life by trying very hard to switch off at 5pm every day and on the weekends. We are very lucky that we have a local fantastic daycare centre for Lilly with exceptional carers, plus I insist on having 2 “Mummy and Lilly” days where I devote much time playing with my daughter and doing girly stuff together. She is already drawing and designing clothes at 3! Plus my husband is a fantastic help and is always picking up and dropping off fabrics for me.

7. Do you have a favourite networking opportunity or event?

Networking the business is something that I am keen to develop more. I have been attending many networking events locally but intend to really ramp up this area of the business more in 2009.

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

The advice that I would offer anyone wanting to start their own business is to really do your research well in advance and look at your own personal strengths, weaknesses and experience that you can bring to the table. The business is YOU for many months and maybe years, so it is crucial that you can multi task and have a natural flair for what is expected of you. 

It would also be wise to look around for any government funded schemes that help you get started with courses and mentorships that may be available.  I attended a Women in Business Course before I started my business and this was invaluable.  They cover all sorts of things from accounting to creating a business plan, marketing and networking.   

The best advice I can offer is to always have a positive mindset.  Surround yourself with like minded enthusiastic professional people that are or want to be successful as this energy will influence and have a positive effect on you too. 

For more information about Sweet Lilly Maternity  ...click here

Check out Sweet Lilly Maternity on the Essential Baby Directory