Raising a Business

A woman's no-nonsense guide to successfully growing a small business,

by Sonia Williams and published by Wiley & Sons.

Raising a Business is the much-anticipated follow up publication to Show Mummy the Money. To get your copy "HOT off the press", simply click here.

About Raising a Business

Raising a Business is aimed at women who have recently started, or are planning to start, a business. It is designed to teach women how they can successfully prepare their business for, and manage, growth. It outlines the key areas that business owners need to look at to create a proﬁtable, sustainable and successful business.

Over 20 successful Australian business women have freely contributed their time, advice and insights into how they achieved their own business success and how you too can best prepare your own business for growth.

RedBalloon Days | Naomi Simson

The founder and CEO (Chief Experience Officer) of RedBalloon Days, Naomi is passionate about pleasure! Given that the average life has 27,610 days she wonders how many are truly memorable. Naomi has a big vision of changing gifting forever in Australia and New Zealand, backed by enthusiasm, energy and drive. Juggling her commitments as CEO, President of the Entrepreneur’s Organisation (Sydney Chapter) 2007 – 2008 and mother of two, Naomi also inspires others regularly as a professional speaker, writes her own blog naomisimson.com, is a columnist for SmartCompany.com.au and has recently completed her first book.

Naomi’s corporate marketing experience at IBM, KPMG, Apple Computer Australia and Ansett Australia, combined with her entrepreneurial spirit, provide a strong foundation for success. She was recognised as Westpac NSW Entrepreneur of the Year in 2005. RedBalloon Days is the recipient of many other awards which include, #29 in the 2006 BRW Fast 100; finalist in the 2006 NSW Telstra Business Awards; 2006 BRW Fastest Growing Start Ups list for the 2nd year (as the only female); 2004, 2005 and 2006 Hitwise award for the most visited website in Australia and New Zealand in the gifts and flowers category. And B&Ts Marketing Employer of the year 2006..
And she is still having a good time!
www.redballoondays.com.au , www.naomisimson.com

Intimo | Sue Whyte

Sue Whyte began her career in Flinders Lane, the hub of fashion in the 1970's and went on to be involved in all aspects of the industry, importing, design, manufacturing and licencing with a number of internationally recognised brands, before running her own fashion wholesale company.

With her background in fashion and a love of lingerie, it was a source of continual frustration that Sue was unable to find good quality bras, in fashionable fabrics and colours in larger cup sizes. So she decided to rectify the situation and created Intimo, a new brand of lingerie designed specifically to provide women of all ages, sizes and shapes with beautiful bras that were functional, fashionable and feminine.

In 1995, she started Intimo with three staff, a small collection of European designed lingerie and a handful of sales consultants. The premise was simple, to provide women with a pleasurable purchasing experience that allowed every body to enjoy beautiful lingerie. She adopted the party plan model, as it provided the individualised service, warm environment and personal fitting she believed was so critical to make the experience complete..

Today, Intimo is a multi million dollar company with over twelve hundred Consultants, fifty staff and one of the most comprehensive ranges of lingerie and loungewear under one brand in Australia and New Zealand.

Currently the sole female sitting on the Board of Directors of the DSAA (Direct Selling Association of Australia), Sue is a passionate advocate of the industry and believes that direct selling provides women with an unparalleled opportunity to achieve. Through Intimo Sue has been able to successfully combine her dual passions; a love of fashion and a deep desire to empower women with business skills and create an incredibly successful passion brand. Intimo is a company created by a woman, about women, for women. As such, it has a unique culture and structure that is in stark contrast to traditional corporations. Intimo has often been called a company with “a heart” because of the personalised attention, focus on people, attention to achievements and successes on all levels and a strong emphasis on personal development as well as professional skills training.
www.intimo.com.au

Lorna Jane Active Lifestyle Apparel | Lorna Jane

Lorna Jane is the founder and Creative Director of Lorna Jane Active Lifestyle Apparel. Established in 1990 on the top floor of a Brisbane fitness centre, Lorna Jane is now a multimillion-dollar fitness-inspired clothing brand with signature stores throughout Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. The Lorna Jane brand includes Active-wear, Swimwear, Active Accessories and Lifestyle Clothing. Born from her own love of exercise and the healthy and positive way that she chooses to live her life, Lorna has built her company on inspiring women to achieve their best life through active living.
www.lornajane.com.au

sNspice | Lucille Sutton

Lucille Sutton is the managing director of sNspice, an Australian owned family company. Founded in 2005 by four women, sNspice is a rapidly growing direct selling décor consultancy business. sNspice provides the convenience of a one stop decorating shop that comes to your door. sNspice now has over 100 consultants.
www.snspice.com.au

Gourmet Dinner Service | Janel Horton

Janel established Gourmet Dinner Service in 1995 with $10,000 and now turns over in excess of $1.5 million. Gourmet Dinner Service provides home delivered prepared meals to Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne. Starting with a small menu of meals, Gourmet Dinner Service now boasts over 46 dishes. Gourmet Dinner Service delivers an average 130,000 meals a year, with a staff of 12. Janel estimates she has rolled 300,000 meatballs out the door in the past 12 years.
www.gourmetdinnerservice.com.au

Katrina Christ Photographer | Katrina Christ

Katrina established Katrina Christ Photographer in 1996 and has since taken it from a home-based business to her own studio, equipped with a full in-house movie theatre. A Telstra Small Business Finalist in 2003, Katrina Christ Photographer specialises in designer black and white family portrait photography. Katrina employs a staff of eight and has recently set up her first franchise in Melbourne.
www.katrinachrist.com.au

Cristina Re Design | Cristina Re

Cristina Re is the director and owner of Australia’s leading paper couture company, Cristina Re Designs. Having created the business 10 years ago, today Cristina Re Designs has an annual turnover of over $4 million and over 1,000 stockists in Australia and New Zealand. Cristina’s ultimate passion for beautiful design and trendsetting ideas ensures her company remains at the forefront of the industry, with inspiration from her frequent travels to New York, Paris, London and Milan. Cristina Re Designs is on the brink of global expansion and in discussions with licensing partners in Australia and worldwide. This development will see the introduction of new lines including bedding and bath collections, dinnerware, glassware, wallpaper, soft furnishings and home accessories to name a few. Cristina Re’s core business of stationery will also be expanded. Products from Cristina Re Designs have featured in leading Australian publications and have gathered a celebrity following. From humble beginnings, Cristina Re Designs has grown into an award-winning company. Cristina has won numerous industry awards, being a finalist in the 2005 “My Business Magazine – Orix Award for the Most Innovative Business”, winner of the 2003 “Reed Australian Gift of the Year” Award – Stationery Category, and finalist in the 2001 “Telstra Victorian Government Small Business of the Year” Award among others.
www.cristinare.com

The Frank Team | Karen Miles

Karen Miles is a director of The FRANK Team (formerly Youth 2 Youth) and the author of ‘Career Advice You Wish Your Mum Had Told You’ (September 04, Pennon Publishing). The FRANK Team provides advice to people on starting a business or organising a community project. It has undergone amazing growth with turnover increasing by 50% in 2006. By the end of 2007, over 40,000 people will have participated in The FRANK Team programs. The FRANK Team now has a staff of six and 30 facilitators across Australia.
www.frankteam.com.au

Edible Blooms | Kelly Baker

Kelly Baker founded Edible Blooms in Queensland in 2005 and it has quickly established itself as a national gift delivery business with a unique and innovative product range. Providing a fresh alternative to traditional flower bouquets, Edible Blooms is based on a philosophy of fun and seeks to create an enjoyable shopping experience. Kelly has complemented her core business values with a clever combination of innovative e-marketing and traditional branding strategies to achieve rapid growth. Using smart spending and the power of word of mouth, the growth of Edible Blooms proves that a small business with big ideas can become an exciting reality. Since its creation Kelly has opened another three stores in Melbourne, Sydney and South Australia and expects to achieve 500% growth by the end of 2007.
www.edibleblooms.com.au

Did You Remember the Milk? | Brigitte Hinneberg

Brigitte Hinneberg’s interest in home organisation was ignited when she left the security of the corporate world to pursue her own business and family life. While juggling homes, a new business, parenting responsibilities, renovations, investments, study and relocation to a new city, all within a short space of time, Brigitte identified the need for a home organiser that would make life easier. Did You Remember the Milk?’ was established in 2006 and is sold nationally. Brigitte is currently working on exporting her book to the UK and USA.
www.didyourememberthemilk.com.au

DIVA Cosmetics | Larissa Bright

Larissa Bright is the creator of DIVA Cosmetics, a multimillion dollar cosmetics empire. Having started her home business making soap on her kitchen stove, Larissa is now at the helm of a multimillion dollar company that moves hundreds of thousands of units of natural, fruit and herb based skin and body care products throughout Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, Ireland, Norway and Japan. More than 700 consultants now sell DIVA Cosmetics products. The product range has grown from seven to seventy-four and now includes a baby range and men’s line.
www.divacosmetics.com.au

Marketing Angels | Jane Toohey

Jane Toohey and her business partner created the concept of Marketing Angels in 2001. Marketing Angels is a consultancy firm for small to medium enterprises. It develops simple and easy to implement brand marketing strategies and tactical plans to integrate with the business. Marketing Angels currently operates across four states in Australia and New Zealand.
www.marketingangels.com.au

Find A Babysitter | Delia Timms

Delia Timms was a working mum who had problems finding a suitable babysitter to care for her two small children. After months of difficulties, Delia became inspired by a new American concept - an online introduction site helping parents meet babysitters and nannies. With the help of her husband, an IT consultant, Delia decided to create a site like this for Australian families. Find A Babysitter was launched in July 2005 in Melbourne. Since then it has expanded to Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Canberra and Hobart. It has over 3,000 carers online nationally and continues to grow, with more parents joining daily. It provides a modern solution to the age old problem of finding reliable carers in your local area.
www.findababysitter.com.au

Fresh Mums | Tracey Lucock

Tracey Lucock founded Fresh Mums in 2004 after creating the Fresh Mums™ patented 4-in-1 Maternity Bra Top. Tracey was overwhelmed by the positive response to her revolutionary new product and this further fuelled her desire to refine the design for wider distribution in both national and international markets. Tracey exceeded all expectations by increasing turnover by approximately 500% within the first 12 months of operation with sales of over 4,000 garments. In its second year of operation Fresh Mums achieved sales of over 10,000 garments and received its first order from the New Zealand department store chain Farmers. Fresh Mums is now finalising distribution agreements in the USA and UK with 2006/07 financial year sales projected at 55,000 garments.
www.freshmums.com.au

Kozminsky | Kirsten Albrecht

Kozminsky is the oldest registered business in Melbourne having been owned and managed by the Albrecht family for the past 40 years. The late Kurt Albrecht brought the business in the early 1960s and quickly established a reputation for possessing a remarkable collector’s eye and an in depth knowledge of objets de virtu, objet de luxe and fine art. When Kurt Albrecht passed away in 1996, the family decided to put the business on the market. Kirsten and her brother Ben pooled their resources to purchase Kozminsky and took the helm as joint directors. Since this time Kirsten has managed the sale of jewellery and objet dart while Ben looks after Kozminsky’s avant-garde art gallery.
www.kozminsky.com.au

eeni meeni miini moh | Elizabeth O'Connor-Cowley

eeni meeni miini moh was launched in February 2002 by Elizabeth O'Connor-Cowley and her husband. This young, innovative company is committed to designing and developing an unparalleled range of contemporary products for babies and children. It is represented by leading boutiques nationally and is gathering international attention as an emerging export.
www.eenimeeni.com

Ms Mega | Yvonne Adele

Yvonne Adele, aka Ms Megabyte, is a true multimedia personality with a career that spans print, television, radio and the internet. Yvonne was a finalist in the 2006 Telstra Business Women’s Awards (Westpac Business Owner Award) and is a regular on ’9am with David and Kim’ on Channel 10. She has also appeared on ‘GMA’, ‘The Today Show’, ‘Sunrise’ and ‘The Panel’. From the late 1990s onwards, Yvonne spent many years working with Microsoft in Australia and the UK. She worked as a consultant, advising business and personal users how to get the most from technology. Her mission now is to take the hard out of hardware, the science out of software and remove the fears and frustrations often associated with everyday technology.
www.getmega.com

Elandra | Karen Passingham

Elandra is a cutting edge beauty company delivering exciting and innovative products to the cosmetics industry. Elandra was established in 2005 and was the first company in Australia to launch a pre-moistened collagen mask treatment for home use. Its cutting edge products are set to revolutionise home beauty treatments. Karen Passingham, the creator of the Elandra skin care range, has been in the beauty industry for over 17 years. As a salon owner, trainer and sales and marketing consultant, her dream was to create a range of salon quality products that were easily accessible, suitable for home use and available to women and men. She combined her years of experience with a team of cosmetic chemists to create this groundbreaking skin care range.
www.elandra.com.au

Birth.com.au | Sandra Robinson and Catherine Price

Birth.com.au launched in 2001 and is the brainchild of childbirth educator Sandra Robinson and midwife Catherine Price. It is a vast online resource library of information on everything from how to conceive your baby through to the journey of pregnancy, birth and early parenting. The site contains over 600 topics and has over 20,000 members.
www.birth.com.au

Women’s Network Australia (WNA) | Lynette Palmen AM

Women's Network Australia was established in 1990 by business entrepreneur Lynette Palmen AM. Inspired by her own personal and business experiences in the corporate sector during the 80s and 90s, Lynette set out to design an organisation based on what she wished had been available to her. WNA boasts in excess of 4,000 members and annually benefits over 40,000 businesswomen with its existence. Originating in Brisbane, the organisation is now also operating in Sydney and Melbourne.
www.womensnetwork.com.au