WAHM Interview With Pretty Little Pumpkins
This weeks interview with a WAHM has been a really fun one! I recently join EntreCard to see how much of a traffic increase this blog could get and I have come across some really nice blogs! During my EntreCard drops, I came across Pretty Little Pumpkins, which is a WAHM work at home mom run business. Not only does she have an adorable website her products ROCK! Especially for moms with boys!
After getting to know Heather, I thought she would be a great wahm to do an interview with! Heather is not only a wahm but a wahm of four children ages 9 1/2, 4yr, 2 1/2 and 16 months old. So she is not only juggling being a mom of four children she is also running an online business and blog!
Before starting her online business she worked with her family business as an office manager and was going to school for funeral service. When her third child was born she decided she needed to stay home. She always had a dream of opening a children’s clothing boutique that offered HOT, QUALITY clothing for girls AND BOYS, and just needed a little incentive to make her dream come true!
When I asked her how her business came about she replied….“One day my son wanted me to put some of his old toys on ebay to make money to buy new ones and I saw how easy it was to open a store on there so we opened one and starting selling the baby things as they out grew them, my sons toys, and old clothes. It seemed like fate so I called our accountant to find out what I needed to do to start a business and he gave me the basics and told me to check out the internet…the rest was history”
My Interview With WAHM Heather, owners Of Pretty Little Pumpkins
How long have you been in business? A little over a year.
What type of products do you offer? We sell the most stylish, coolest children’s and babies clothing and accessories like misha lulu clothing, knuckleheads clothing, ah goo baby plush pads, trumpette, etc…
Why did you decide to start this business? It has been a dream of mine since i had my son almost 10 yrs ago, I was SO disappointed in the selection of cool clothing for babies and kids and especially for boys, I thought…”I can do better, I know what I want!”
What did it cost you to get your business started? The main cost is the inventory, that depends on what you get, how much, etc. right now I suggest people starting out start small, run with one or 2 GOOD, UNIQUE lines and stick with the minimums for orders. The economy is not very favorable right now for small start ups, but NEVER give up your dream!
What do you enjoy most about your business? The excitement of choosing inventory, meeting customers, and the apparel shows…FASHION WEEK!!!
How many hours a week do you invest in your business? I couldn’t not even begin to tell you.
What has been your best marketing method? blogs…they are inexpensive and the best way to meet my target audience.
What is your definition of success? Still being in business and doing what I love.
Do you market your business online, offline or both? If online, how do you market it? Mostly online but my husband is a big fan of leaving my coupons WHERE EVER he is. There are different advertising sites I use, but I really like blogs.
Where do you see your business in 5 years? I actually hope to open a brick and mortar shop in our little town.
Do you have any advice for other work at home moms? Work at home moms really do not need advice except to remember why they started working at home in the first place, we are generally go getters with fresh ideas who want the best of everything, kids, home, work, financial security and have a pretty good idea of how to attain those but we do need to be reminded of why we are driving ourselves CRAZY working 160 hrs a week at one time whereas our “working” friends put in 20-40 and come home to put in a SEPARATE 20-40…oh and if you can GET A NANNY!!!!! (I would LOVE to have one)
In Conclusion: As you can see by her answers, Heather is a proud wahm who realizes what it takes to have an online business! Many moms do not think they can raise children and work, but they can! Just WORK FROM HOME!
If you are like me and like to support women in business, take a look at her boutique! You can also check out Heathers’ blogs at http://www.fromthepumpkinpatch.com and http://www.thepumpkinvine.com
Popularity: 8% [?]
May 7th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Advise for a WAHM, find a WAHD and either you will live happily ever after or drive each other nuts!
May 8th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
What a wonderful interview! It sounds like Heather’s accomplished a lot in her business for only having started a year ago. I even checked out her website, the clothes are so cute! I hope she makes a mint; it’s a really great concept. She obviously knows the importance of perseverance as well. Any starting home business owner must realize the extent of the workload, and have passion and patience to be able to get through it all. She managed to build a business that supports her financially, and promote her business to more potential customers all through the power of the internet! It’s the best tool an entrepreneur can utilize to expand their market and build their business. I’ve been using the new Office Live Small Business by Microsoft and I must say it’s just fabulous! It has everything a WAHM could ever need to run her online company. I’ve been using it for the past few weeks, and I just love the organized e-mail system (great for newsletters, even checks the status of sent messages) and the easy-to-use website layout designer. Now, I don’t know the first thing about HTML, but I managed to design a fabulous layout for my webpage with OLSB.
There’s more information at http://smallbusiness.officelive.com
The best part, in my opinion, is the free personalized “.com” URL you get on top of everything else! It’s a real money saver, and a quick and efficient way of starting and running your business online. I just thought I’d let all the mompreneurs out there know about it. Now, I work with Microsoft, so if you or any readers have any questions, I’d be more than happy to answer them! My personal e-mail address is k-rosenberg@live.com. Feel free to e-mail me anytime! Thanks for the awesome read, I hope to be in touch!
Best,
Kimberly
May 8th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Thanks for this wonderful review. I just took a look at her shopping site and her stuff is cute. As a mom of 2 boys I know all to well how hard it is to find cute boys stuff. I bookmarked her website and will be back to order some stuff. I also would much rather support a woman in business than a big corporation.