We know how daunting it can be to start a new business, especially if you’re disrupting an industry or creating an entirely new one. When there is no path to follow, the biggest question is, where do I start? There is so much to do, but before you get ahead of yourself, let’s start at the beginning. To kick-start the process, and ease some of those first-time founder nerves, we’re asking successful entrepreneurs to share their story in our new series, From Scratch. But this isn’t your typical day in the life. We’re getting down to the nitty-gritty from writing a business plan (or not) to sourcing manufacturers and how much they pay themselves, we’re not holding back.
When I was preparing for my son’s birth 12 years ago, I had no idea what I was in for. Thankfully, a few helpful books, parenting groups, family, and friends helped me understand how to prepare and what to expect. I felt as confident as I could be going into birth but believe it or not, the biggest shock wasn’t labor (okay yes, that was shocking too), it was the questions and confusion that came after he was born. I realized I had very little knowledge about how to care for my son or myself during recovery post-birth.
Turns out, I’m not alone. A study found 40% of women feel depressed, anxious, and overwhelmed in the weeks following baby's delivery. Those first three months (often referred to as the fourth trimester) are some of the hardest even if you’re not a new mom. The concern here is the lack of enough information and support around our health post-birth which often means we overlook our postpartum care.
Ruth Gordon-Martin had a very similar experience so she set about flipping the statistics with her post-partum platform, community, and product line, CODDLE. We took five with the mom of two to share her lightbulb to launch story, and how she’s changing the status quo to provide much-needed care and guidance for all moms.
On her lightbulb moment…
I was home from the hospital after giving birth via C-section with my aunt, mom, and mother in law (MIL) all staggered out and helping. As I began to process my birth experience (I suffered from postpartum anemia and required a blood transfusion) I thought about how lucky I was to have so much help around. My aunt made me homemade sitz baths and my MIL insisted on having soups and broth—it's part of our Jamaican postpartum tradition. I was completely immobile after my C-section and remember not reading anything about what it entailed. Then I started to think about other moms who have no help and no family and on top of that clueless about postpartum and what to expect. It’s for these exact reasons CODDLE was born.
On writing a business plan…
I didn’t write out a business plan at first. I have a background in financial planning and an MBA in finance. Previous to CODDLE I worked for media companies so I had and did a rough draft of revenue and expenses and trended those numbers out over a few months and years. Of course, revenue didn’t happen as I planned so I just kept on re-adjusting and that‘s how I started. Now there’s revenue, I’ve put together a plan and goals to hit from the previous month so now it looks and feels like a plan.
On coming up with the name…
It was a little crazy how the name came about. In my head I was thinking “care for moms” and that seemed too long. I was talking to a friend about the name and she agreed it was too long. She mentioned it needed to be one word like “Honest” Jessica Alba’s company. So right there I took out my phone and went to Thesarus.com. I entered the words “to care’ and Coddle came up. I read the meaning—which is to excessively care for—and I shook my head in agreement that’s it! I want to excessively care for new moms. I changed it to uppercase and that’s how the name CODDLE came about.
On setting up the business…
The first thing was to form the business and I did so myself by going to the NY Corporations website. Then I searched on godaddy.com to register the website name and coddle.com was taken. I contacted the owner about buying and the price was way out of my price range of what I could afford. So I went back and bought coddle.co. Then I went onto Instagram and that was also taken, hence @coddledotco.
If you’re a new founder and have a name, first search the database to see if it’s taken. If it is, don't let that stop you. Make sure you have more than one name just in case or come up with alternate ways to keep it. In my case, the domain .com was taken and .co wasn’t. Come up with other ways to still keep the name and if that doesn't work, find a new name that work—it's just a name.
On the research prep before launch…
In the beginning, I talked with my mom, aunts, and MIL about postpartum traditions. While at home after my C-section I remember them telling me how it was for them. Then I reached out to a few mom friends and friends of friends I knew. I asked them about their postpartum experience and what they expected/surprised them and what would have made a difference. I remember getting happy seeing pregnant women and moms in the supermarket. I went up to them asking about their experience of postpartum.
Then I started searching more on Instagram and used keywords. I even went on Amazon to search books and nothing came up about the realness of postpartum. Everything is about baby, baby registry, etc and that’s when I realized I was onto something. I created the Instagram page and just started posting about self-care after birth and that’s how everything started. I also wanted the pictures to really show the realness of postpartum. I read a lot about user-generated content and started asking for permission to post pics and the rest is history. My advice to founders is to stick to your gut, your belief, do the research, and just put one foot in front of the other. Take tiny steps and go.
On finding the right manufacturer…
I searched everywhere and everyone wanted me to guarantee 250 minimum bottles per item. I was just starting out so it was too expensive and crazy to commit to that amount. I remember going to a self-care session and a friend of mine introduced me to her friend that had a store in DUMBO, Brooklyn (NYC). She sells organic, natural, and vegan skincare products. After searching and realizing I couldn’t afford any of those minimum requirements I remember the meeting I had and called her up. I asked her if she’d be interested and that my first order was a set of 25 because I needed to test the market. She agreed and she’s been supplying and hand-making small batches in New York City.
On self-funding her biz…
Everything was self-funded. I received no outside money. When I started I was working from home so a lot of the expenses I would have for commuting etc was no longer being used up. So that money went into getting started. The challenge, in the end, was not having enough money so things went much slower than expected. In the end, the flip side of going slow is I ended up starting small. I needed to test this idea so I was careful about how much to order. My advice is to start off slow and small—if there are not immediate sales you’re not completely out.
On the biggest money mistakes…
I really didn’t make many money mistakes. I was bootstrapping with my paycheck and any extras I needed came from my hubby. So I didn't spend frivolously, everything was carefully managed. In fact, I started out with a whole bunch of free service until I reached the level where I needed to pay.
On working full-time while building the biz…
I worked from home full-time while building CODDLE. It was really hard because I have two kids. While they were in school I was working and once they were home I tried as much as possible to dedicate time for them. One of the things that helped me was hiring part-time help and sticking the kids to an 8 pm bedtime. Once they were in bed I was able to get a lot of things done. Along with that, I delegated chores to my hubby. My only recommendation is if you have the means to, get help. Means doesn’t have to always be monetary—trade your skills with family and friends. You’ll definitely need time to yourself to think so get help. Don’t be shy to ask.
On paying herself a wage…
I haven’t paid myself as yet. Hoping to do so in the future.
On hiring…
When I worked in the corporate world, I managed a team of analysts and interns. So I have experience managing people and building a team. Right now I have someone part-time doing social media/digital marketing and PR. I also have a business coach that’s helping me stay sane and focused. My biggest advice? In the early days, you’re wearing so many hats but eventually, you have to give up a hat.
I read The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do by Micheal E. Gerber and he talks about how most entrepreneurs set out to grow their businesses and make money but instead, end up running the business doing every single task. This means they end up with no time to grow their business because they’re always in the weeds doing everything. So that's helped me to think about who to hire so that I can work on sales and growth.
On hiring an accountant…
I haven’t hired an accountant. I do most of the bookkeeping and setup myself. I am using Google docs right now and eventually, I hope to move to software.
On the biggest learning curve…
Learning/asking for the sale. I’m a number cruncher, so coming from finance and numbers to selling/asking for the sale is a huge learning experience for me.
On having a business coach…
Yes, I have a business coach to keep me on track. There’s always so much happening and so many things you can think of doing for your business especially in the beginning. Hiring a coach has helped me to stay sane, focused, and on task. Finding one was pretty easy. I was looking for marketing help and reached out to a friend who made the introduction. But I did also go on Girlboss.com and browse around before reaching out to my friend.
On getting PR buzz post-launch…
I started with a few giveaways then did influencer marketing. I’m clueless about marketing so the first hire for me was a marketing guru that manages all marketing and PR efforts. We’ve been getting some PR and that’s working really well in terms of brand awareness. We most recently started doing google Adwords. Eighty percent of my budget and efforts are spent on marketing.
Postpartum care, education, and realness about it are fairly new. It’s been in the shadows, hidden away, and never mentioned so brand awareness is key. The biggest challenge is not being too real; it's a turnoff to women who are thinking about being moms one day. It's a daily balancing act between what to say and how real the pictures should be. So far though, it's been positive and I’ve received great feedback. Most love the realness of the photos we share on Instagram and want to see and hear real stories and struggles that moms face during postpartum.
On one thing she didn’t do and would advise others to do ASAP…
I knew nothing about Google Analytics and how to track visitors to the website. Not only are moms visiting but there are referrals from other brands as well. It’s actually how I found out CODDLE was mentioned in a Create&Cultivate article about the list of beauty brands to follow.
On advice for small business owners…
Take your time, do the research. If you have an idea and no matter how much you ignore it, it keeps coming back to you, then spend some time to think about it even further. Buy the domain name, register the name with your state. Sit on it even further and chip away one day at a time until you’re ready. Baby steps are still steps. Go for it.
On the one piece of financial advice for new business owners…
Hire your weakness. Spend the money to hire one or two skills you are lacking. Don’t try to do everything, some skills are worth paying for.
On the advice she’d give herself…
Try to have more capital/money to start. More capital/money, in the beginning, would have sped up the process a lot faster. I started out with just using my paycheck, it's only later on I thought about asking family and friends. I did do a lot of bartering and if you can you should as well. Lack of funds didn’t stop me. My designer friend built the first iteration of the website in exchange for postpartum doula help. We both are forever grateful for each other and how the exchange worked out.
Don’t let the nice stories fool you. Entrepreneurship is hard work. And if you have a family, it’s three times harder. You will get frustrated, lonely, every emotion you can think of because most times it's you, your idea, and the thoughts in your head. So lots of self-care is necessary especially if you have a family. And self-care is anything that replenishes you.. don’t go buying fancy things. Taking a break from Instagram is self-care.. simple acts to make you feel whole again.
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