Blog - Mommy Entrepreneur

Shortly after launching the Collective-E website and membership platform, we launched the Agency Experience, a program where we can serve as a strategic guidance platform for a member's business.  We provide guidance in the four key areas on which we founded Collective-E: Business Strategy, PR Strategy, Online Strategy, and Community Building. We assign a team of experts, in this case all three Collective-E founders,  to a brand to help  strengthen that brand in crucial four areas.

Collective-E member Katie Danziger of nomiebaby has a fantastic product, has gotten loads of good reviews and early press, and needed a slight adjustment to the way people could buy product - faster. There were a few too many clicks to get to the goods. That's where we came in. First, we made sure that you could buy products right from the home page, on her old site buying a product was actually a difficult process.  We then worked with her existing design to tighten and "cutify" it with a revised newsletter box, decorated and interactive Testimonials page, revised home and product pages layouts, and an easier way to buy more than one color at once.

HIGHLIGHTS

• First, we worked with Katie to create an overall brand message that nomiebaby is about creaing products that solve problems for parents. For example, her nomie baby car seat cover saves parents time and money by avoiding difficult to clean mishaps such as leaking diapers, spills or car sickness.  We added problem solving copy to each page of her website.
• Katie has worked hard to get good press, and we wanted to highlight that. Note the rotating logo of a press outlet in the top right corner of each page.
• Fans of nomiebaby love telling Katie how thankful they are for her product! Before, this Testimonials page was just a string of text. Now, it has a little more visual decoration to it, for pleasant reading.
• The multi-add to cart. Nomiebaby has two sizes of car seat covers, each in different colors. It's quite often that you'll be needing more than one car seat cover, especially if you are buying them as gifts. We added the multi-add to cart option to the product pages, for quicker and easier shopping.

After creating a clear strategy and a solid website that can handle eager shoppers, now comes the PR, social media and partnership focus of Katie's Agency Experience. , she is ready to pursue the press with Sabina's guidance. Onward!

If you already have car seat experience, then I am singing to the choir, you will immediately understand the brilliance of this product.  For new moms, you might not understand the almost impossible task of cleaning a car seat.  With the risk of leaking diapers, carsickness, crumbs and spills, it doesn’t take long before a car seat can become a smelly bio-hazard in the back seat of your car.  As many brilliant child products are developed, Collective-E member and mom, Katie Danziger spent one too many hours trying to break apart her car seat and get it thoroughly clean.  She searched high and low for a bib like product that she could put on her car seat to keep in clean but there was nothing to be found; so like many moms before her, without any product development experience, she became a mom-inventor and created her own solution.

Besides the fact that the nomie babyTM car seat cover saves hours of clean up time, and makes it easy to keep your car seat as clean as new, it is affordable, only $34 (AND you’ll get 10% off that using this code  nomieCollectiveE when purchasing).  If you do the math on the hours you’ll save cleaning your car seat, not to mention that your car seat will last longer and remain almost like new, it is truly a no-brainer product purchase!

It comes in 6 great colors, including her new charcoal and navy, and has these other great features:

Easy to put on and take off:  On and off in a snap. The nomie babyTM has elastic edges allowing it to fit most standard car seats, such as the Britax Roundabout and Graco brands. The Velcro opens add to the ease of installing the cover. The nomie babyTM slips over the existing cover without having to remove it from the car, or struggling to disassemble the straps. Simply open the Velcro, pull the straps thru, and close the Velcro around them.

Comfortable, cozy AND waterproof:  People are most surprised to find out how the nomie baby can be both waterproof and soft and cozy.  This is possible because the nomie babyTM is made of 3 separate fabrics put together to give your child the most comfort while at the same time protecting your car seat. A cozy soft fabric sits against your child, a padded layer allows for absorption, and finally a third layer which is treated with a waterproof barrier keeps your car seat protected. The 3 fabrics have been quilted, so the padding won't clump in one area after machine washing.

Machine Washable:  Unlike a car seat, the nomie baby is machine washable.  In the case of a mishap, simply take it off your car seat, throw it in the washing machine then dryer, and slip it back over your car seat!
Don’t wait until it is too late, an investment in a nomie baby car seat cover is your insurance coverage against spilled milk, exploding diapers, and Cherrio crumbs.  As you are slipping off your car seat cover and throwing it in the wash after any sort of car seat disaster, you will be thanking Katie Danziger, for developing such a brilliant product.  As Katie says, “happy-mess.”

Do you have a car seat disaster story? Please let us know!  If it is bad enough you might just win a nomie!

Details
Website:  www.nomiebaby.com
Price: $34
10% Coupon Code: nomieCollectiveE
Collective-E Just Debuted Posting http://www.collective-e.com/newest-arrivals-nomie-baby

P.S.  The picture is my son Asher in his nomie baby covered car seat, it has already saved me hours of clean up time!

What is balance?  The definition in the dictionary is “a state of equilibrium or parity characterized by cancellation of all forces by equal opposing forces.”  In my mind it is this illusive moment in time where everything is exactly as it should be; that you imagined in your ideal mind.  The problem is, if you ask any skier, gymnast or ballerina, one minute you can have balance and in the next minute it’s gone.  It is great when you have it, and you can practice it to get better, but in the blink of an eye you could fall off the balance beam on a very easy move, run into an icy patch in the snow or tip over during a pirouette, it happens even with the best of the best.  In our lives, as mommies, entrepreneurs or mompreneurs your child gets sick, you have the good fortune of being featured in Oprah Magazine, your internet goes down or any of another million things can happen to throw us off balance. 

I received some really great advice before giving birth; there is one school of thought that you should have a very detailed “birth plan,” but someone said to me, have a birth plan and then throw it out the window because what will happen will happen and all you care about is having a healthy child.  For me, I had to be induced into labor because Asher’s heart rate was dropping, another great friend went through 26 hours of labor before finally giving into a C-Section, and while this didn’t follow our birth plans, we both have happy, healthy babies and that is truly all that matters.

My point is, yes, have a plan for the perfectly balanced life, where you are working the exact right amount, you are giving enough attention to your family and friends, spending enough time with your children (if you have them), working out enough, eating three meals…and then throw it out the window.  One great advantage of entrepreneurship is that there is a certain amount of flexibility, you might have a crazy hectic week at work, then the next week you take off on a family vacation or you might have a sick child (and then get sick yourself like I did) and work from bed, push off all your appointments but you do what you have to do to get better, you might work out  every day one week because you have time and the next you find your exercise is running for a taxi.  Just remember that balance is fleeting; enjoy it while you have it, but when you fall, don’t dwell or make yourself wrong, just get back up and enjoy the ride.

Sleepless nights, love and passion, focus, commitment, sacrifice, hard work, fulfillment; yes, motherhood and entrepreneurship have a lot in common, but it is important to remember that your business is NOT your baby.  A lot of entrepreneurs, especially women, tend to treat and think of their business as a child that they love and nurture.  This makes sense because women tend to start businesses from their passion, so they literally fall in love with their business.  In a way, this is a beautiful thing, because a business can bring a lot of joy and fulfillment, but I have also seen some cases where it holds people back from making the best decisions. 

Several years ago I invited Jeanine Lobell to speak at one of my events; she was the founder of Stila Cosmetics.  Married to the actor Anthony Edwards (from ER), she has four children.  She said something that really stuck with me, she made the decision to sell her business to Estee Lauder because she realized that she was responsible for many employees, and although she loved her business, if anything happened to any of her children she would close shop and call it a day; she placed a priority on her children over her business.

Recently I was having a conversation with a wonderful woman who I truly admire, Kristin Boekhoff.  She is in Bangladesh on a Fulbright Scholarship and had the long standing dream of starting an eco resort and then expanding the concept to other developing countries.  As she was working on her business plan and beginning to raise money for her project the credit crisis hit and there was no money to be found, she felt she might be able to raise the money in Bangladesh but was worried that given the laws in that country they might be able to take away “my baby.”  My advice to her was to go for it; worst case scenario is that they did take it away, but what a great experience for her and a tangible product to show potential investors on future projects.  I also told her, that after having a baby that I realize that a business is not your baby.  I told her Jeanine’s story and also shared with her that as much as I love Collective-E, and it gives me an incredible amount of happiness, there is nothing that really compares with the overwhelming love and devotion that comes with being an actual mommy.  I am thrilled to say that she decided to move forward with her dream project and you can find more information on Facebook.

The point is, when you have a child you aren’t thinking of your exit strategy, you are thinking of having a long, healthy relationship; you would never consider selling, closing or giving up your baby.   I would never tell Kristin to have a baby if she had the chance of someone taking it away.  With a business, I think it is important you go in with at least the thought of building something you can sell or even something that you can pass on to your children.  You should treat your business as an asset and an investment, not a baby that requires all the love and nurturing you give without the expectation of getting anything back.

I feel so strongly about this I am working with a Business Broker, Sally Ann Hughes, to create a workshop called Building Your Business with the End in Mind, on March 23rd, to guide people in thinking about the important things they need to do from the beginning to maximize the value and selling price of their business.  

So please continue to love, enjoy and nurture your businesses and to follow and pursue your passions, but at the same time, remember that with your business, unlike with your children, one day you might just be "done."   Taking the time and effort to create a sustainable business, with potential exit strategies, will reward you the most in the end!