2013 In Review: Lessons Learned

When we launched Mommy HQ a few months ago, we didn't have a business plan. Nope. Mommy Issa and I didn't have projections and sexy numbers to attract potential "investors" (my horrified husband, for one). We could have (or should have) spent a little more time planning, but we felt time is of the essence. That we should act sooner, rather than later.

On May 1, 2013 we opened our online store (nothing fancy, just a Facebook page). I chose first of May because it's Labor Day. It's like giving birth all over again. (I know, it's kinda corny-but hey, I wasn't crowned Queen of Corn for nothing!)

Mommy Issa and I have no background in business - she is a doctor and I'm a software developer. Everything we learned, we learned from google. And experience, of course.

You may have wondered why we've been quiet since we got back from vacation. We have been busy with the dreaded audit-we didn't expect for the audit to last that long. And we didn't realize it can be such a pain in the bum. Birthing pains, we suppose. But as long as we take note of the things we learned, it should no longer be a problem in the long run.

We don't consider ourselves experts, but we would like to share some of the things we learned based on what we've experienced (so far!). I am listing those down so that others can learn from it as well. If you're planning to start an online reselling business, then have a look at this before you give it a go.

Sell what you love. Love what you sell.

What do I sell? It's a pretty common question. Often times, the answer will be in form of another question: What are you passionate about? In our case, Mommy Issa and I are cloth diapering our kids and we're head over heels in love with it. And more importantly, we believe in it. We're not sales person, but the idea of selling what we love makes things a lot easier for us.

If you build it, they will come. Well, not necessarily.

Some people think it's easy to put up a business - specifically buy and sell business. At the start, I thought that Mommy Issa and I could easily sell cloth diapers to our Facebook friends. (Such a naive woman!) We created a Facebook page and "invited" all our friends and relatives. In a week, we had more than a hundred likes, but no sales. Why? There are a couple of reasons. One, not all of our page fans have babies. Two, not all of them are familiar with cloth diapers. Which leads me to the next nugget of wisdom.

Know your market.

We know that our friends and relatives are there to support us. But if they don't need cloth diapers, then look for people who are in need of it. Business slowly picked up when we "advertised" our shop in a local Facebook group of cloth diapering parents. You can also expand your market by providing useful information for potential customers.

Note to self: Accounting is important.

Back in college, more than once I've questioned the relevance of Accounting 101 and 102 to Computer Science. Am I just sourgraping because that's one subject that almost cost me my scholarship? Perhaps. But really, I didn't care about balance sheets and debit and credits etc. Until now.

Should you hire an accountant or buy an accounting system? That depends on the size of your business, and your budget. For me, any system will do, as long as you keep track of every transactions. You can write it down on a notebook, spreadsheets or even use an online accounting system. If you're looking for an online solution that is free, I'd recommend you try out Waveapps.


These are just some of the important lessons we learned. I'm pretty sure there will be more to come. Until then, good luck to us mompreneurs!