One Year On!

Read how Mum, Sam Willoughby, founder of www.whatson4littleones.co.uk has grown her business from start-up to success over the past year...

Name - Sam Willoughby

Location - Basingstoke, Hampshire

Family - Alice, almost 3

Its now over a year since you set up whatson4littleones - how has the year been?

Amazing! I look back and can't believe how much the site has grown. To reach 15,000 visitors a month after only a year and have nearly 6,000 activities listed is fantastic! Our early visitors and advertisers had such faith in us - I hope they are now pleased they took a chance!

What has fuelled the growth of the site as its gone from strength to strength?

Investing the time and money into becoming UK-wide as fast as possible plus the Awards! Persistence and determination also helps!

What achievement are you most proud of?

Running our Awards to recognise the best activities for under 5s across the UK - the 2008 awards are going to be even better!

How did your fantastic awards come about?

It was the realisation that although there were many different award schemes for baby products and services but there wasn’t one for activities - we just had to be the ones to do it!

The awards were sponsored by Organix - have you found it easy to find business partners to work with you?

Organix are a wonderful company to work with! And we are delighted that Organix is to continue to work with WO4LO not only as our 2008 Awards sponsor but also as our site sponsor! I also work closely now with a lot of the companies that advertise with us to share ideas and plans. It helps me understand the industry more and so take WO4LO in the right direction.

Have you had any disasters on the way, or has it been all smooth sailing?

Nothing too major!

What have you learnt?

Brush yourself off and keep going!

Does running the site still fit in well with being a Mum?

Yes, Alice has just started pre-school so I actually have dedicated working time during the week now! But because the majority of what I do is via email I can fit it in around my time with Alice. Of course, I couldn't do it without the support of my husband, family and friends!

You have (and still are) recruiting Mums to work with you - what do you think is the benefit of having other Mums working for whatson4littleones? What can Mums expect when they work with you?

There's so many reasons! Mums with young children can instantly see how useful WO4LO is. They can also easily relate to the majority of people they will contact as most are also Mums fitting a flexible job around their children - so it's an easier sale than, say, selling double glazing!! Plus there are so many skilled and experienced Mums out there that haven't been able to find companies that can offer them flexible roles - I found myself in the same boat so I know what it's like!

I'm always honest and fair to anyone that works for us. We share our good fortune as much as we can - all sales staff have received a bonus the past 3 months on top of their commission! We can also work around most things that crop up such as not being able to work because of an unwell child.

What is the best bit of free PR/Marketing you've had over the year?

That's coming up! I'm being featured in The Times in a few weeks time!