I love those Funky Feet!

Cool Cornish Mum Siobhan Brook saw a gap in the market - trendy shoes for hip kids!

Name – Siobhan Brook

Location – St.Austell, Cornwall

Family – Alfie (2 and a half)

What inspired you to set up Funky Little Feet?

It started as dissatification with the lack of choice available when Alfie started wearing shoes at the age of one. It seemed almost old-fashioned that I was taking him to Clarks & being faced with a limited & uninspiring range of (often expensive) shoes in the same way that my mum had done with me thirty years ago. We'd then see all his friends & playmates at toddler groups wearing exactly the same. Through my parents business I knew that some good quality but far more funky toddler shoe ranges were available in the states, but on doing some research I found that the UK distributors of these brands had so far not imported them in any quantity as they weren't sure there was a market for them. I figured that if I wanted something different, other mums & dads might too.

What is your background?

After completing a Media Diploma at Cornwall College I joined the BBC in Bristol & worked my way up to becoming a Production Manager. During that time I was incredibly lucky to work in the Natural History Unit making wildlife documentaries, & got to travel all over the world filming with Sir David Attenborough. I then transferred to drama & spent 4 years working behind the scenes on 'Casualty'. After maternity leave I returned to the BBC briefly, then in 2004 when Alfie turned one I became freelance, the main reason being to earn enough to start my own business.

How did you get all the information about setting up your own business?

My parents have had a watersports business in Falmouth, Cornwall since I was fifteen. So while I hadn't been involved in the day-to-day of retailing since the early days when I had a Saturday job in the shop, I was familiar with what went on & how it all worked. What I didn't know anything about was website set-ups & e-commerce! I first approached the suppliers to explain what I wanted to do & ask if they'd deal with me, and got quotes for the website set-up, design & graphics and initial advertising. I contacted my local business enterprise agency & attended a free one-day guide to starting your own business which was great - it really focuses you on the different areas you need to think about. Also, when you register as self-employed with the Inland Revenue you attend another one-day 'Becoming Self-Employed' course which covers record-keeping, allowable expenses, how to file tax returns etc. There's lots of free help out there - you've just got to ask for it. Finally I opened an business account - with the bank that offered the longest free business banking period!

How did you seek funding for the business?

The total set-up costs - graphics & website design, website & e-commerce set-up & initial print run of 5000 advertising flyers came to just over £5000, which I saved through working freelance. The initial stock came to £10,000 which was put onto interest-free credit cards. However had I wanted funding there's quite a few goverment sources available, mostly in the form of low or no interest loans, especially for women.

Who takes care of the accounts/tax/vat side of the business?

At the moment me. I had fairly good organisational & accounting skills already, but it's not rocket science. You only need to to keep a basic spreadsheet on the computer of income & expenditure & make sure your bank statements tally with that, plus keep receipts & a log of business miles driven. I'm not VAT registered as you don't have to be until your turnover exceeds £60K. I'm going to try & do my Tax Returns myself. An inland revenue person will come to your house & help you with your first one, so I'll be on the phone to them fairly soon!

How does it fit in around your family?

Alfie goes to nursery four mornings a week which gives me enough time to process & dispatch orders, concentrate on the website house-keeping & development, have meetings with suppliers etc. I then get to spend afternoons with Alfie, going to the park/beach/soft play/friends houses etc. If there's more I want to get done that day, I'll usually work again in the evening after Alfie has gone to bed. We'll hopefully have another baby in the next couple of years, in which case Mark will be more involved with the day-to-day of the business if he can, or I'll think about employing someone part-time.

What is the best thing about running your business?

Easy - that it's success or failure is completely down to me. At the same time it's the best & worst feeling!

Any downsides?

Plenty. I've gone from earning a very good salary & being completely financially independent to having no income at all. I'm a long way off making a profit - I don't expect that to happen for at least a year. I'm lucky that my partner Mark is so supportive & understanding, but he works freelance as well so sometimes it scares me that the pot will literally run dry. The other big downside for me is that I miss the social aspect of working. I've gone from working in a team environment, usually alongside good friends, to being at home, on a computer, surrounded by shoe boxes! But carrying on working freelance in television meant working full-time, long hours, often away from home & Alfie and high levels of stress. I tried it & I hated it, so I know that what I'm doing now means I'll hopefully never have to feel that awful wrench again.

Do you enjoy it?

Of course. Every time I get a phone call or an email from a customer to say how pleased they are with their son or daughter's new shoes it puts a smile on my face. Repeat orders are good for that too! I enjoy the buzz of not knowing exactly how it's going to develop, but I'm fairly confident that with more hard work, this time next year I'll have built a profitable business that suits me & my family.

Have you learnt any lessons you could pass on to any Mum's thinking of setting up their own business?

That if you've got an idea or the desire to do something for yourself, go for it. Don't worry about the bits you don't know enough about yet, you will always learn enough to get you to the next stage of development. Also that you have to have faith in yourself - no one else is going to change things for you, but you can do far more that you give yourself credit for.

What's the best bit of business advice you've been given?

Only what another mum (mine) said to me: Just because you've become a mum & you don't want to or can't return to your previous job, it doesn't mean your 'career' is over. It just might be that you need to shift your perspective a little & think about how you can use your (probably numerous) skills in a way that fits your new life & priorities.