Being a business mum

Being a business mum is full of exciting adventures but also full of challenges emotionally and physically. There are so many highs like when you reach a goal that you never thought was possible and a few hard learning curves that can be difficult to wrap your head around. One thing I have come to realise though, is that it is the customers that make a business great and that is why Rhonda and I aim to offer the best customer service that we possibly can. 

If you asked me three years ago where I would be in 2019 I wouldn't have been able to answer you as I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with my life. I have studied a semester at university in a bachelor of commerce and decided it wasn't for me. I also tried a year of nursing with the same result and even a semester in midwifery before I left to have my third child (my son who is now 2.5 year old). 

It was after the birth of my son that our business came to life. I wasn't particularly in love with any of the cloth nappies I owned and was complaining to Rhonda when she said "Why don't we design our own? " and so we started researching and Boho Babes Cloth Nappies was born. 

At the beginning there were a few small challenges, from finding an ethical factory to produce our products to deciding on our website host. Our main concern was could we even sell the initial 300 nappies we had ordered?

My job was to learn how to create a functional website and we started with some very basic (terrible) photos and boring online website design. Boy have I learned a lot since then but am happy to say that we have now sold thousands of nappies nationally. We also recently sent away our first wholesale order to a new retail store in Perth - Boutique Bums.    

The hardest thing overall has been learning how to juggle family life with four children and the business in the background. I vowed that my family would always come first and some days if my toddler or baby decide not to have their naps then I don't get a chance to update the website when we run out of stock - sorry to anyone who recieves our "sorry we are out of stock" emails or texts. 😁 It also means I do a lot of work on the go especially in the car while waiting for my eldest children at school pick up.

Often it is 10pm before I get to sit down in front of my computer and work on the website and working on the website is a constant thing, always trying to keep it updated and working on little things in the background. It sometimes means pushing myself to new limits of exhaustion that I didn't know was even possible. I am sure other busy mums can relate! 

Another difficult thing I have had to learn is how to effectively assist customers with any issues that may arise. Thankfully we have had very minimal issues since opening! But one thing I ask is for everyone to remember that Rhonda and I are both real people behind the computer or on the other end of the phone and we will go above and beyond to rectify any issue so please be kind when contacting us. There is nothing more upsetting then being greeted with the rage of an unhappy customer, especially when you are dealing with toddler rage at home! Toddlers can be cruel and relentless 😂

The majority of our customers though have become more like friends. Some send through messages just for a chat and it's great. We have friends all over Australia that we have never met but all share a mutual passion - cloth reusable products and Boho Babes! If you ever have any questions you are always welcome to contact us we love chatting about cloth nappies, nursing pads and even menstrual pads. And yes! There will be a heavy flow pad option for those that have asked and no they are not hard to wash and keep stain-free, I promise. 

This business is fully family owned and operated. We are a small Australian business. My eldest two children are given pocket money to help stock the shelves when we recieve a new shipment of products and my toddler Kyros likes to help by weighing the products on the scales and watching the numbers go up and down as he puts more cloth nappies on or takes them off, for all of his hard work he is paid with a babyccino with a marshmallow on top - his favourite. Baby Faora is our fluffbum model and tester of all the new prints and products and Rhonda keeps the stock room looking lovely, is the force behind the packing of all the orders and final print decider. 

Rhonda is incredible! Not only because she is my mother-in-law and business partner but because she also works full time teaching at Griffith University and then comes home to pack and post orders and still makes time to create memories with my children (her grandchildren). I couldn't have asked for a better friend to run this business with. 

Overall this business has been a blessing and so much fun! I love seeing our nappies on social media and out in public and knowing that one and a half years ago this business was just a crazy idea and it is now a reality. I am so very thankful that our customers love the products as much as we do and I finally feel like I have found my goal in life - if I can help just a few families make the change to cloth it will make a huge difference environmentally and to me that is what matters. So to everyone who is reading this thank you for using or considering modern cloth nappies and reusable products and for supporting our small family business. 

Blessings,
Danni

Boho Babes Owner.