Clever Mamma Profile: Bump Stuff

With a baby on the way, our next Clever Mamma is working very hard to get her business up and running! Dr Alison Gaut is based in Melbourne but with an online store shipping Australia-wide, this mum-to-be is preparing herself for full-time motherhood with Bump Stuff on the side!

1. Tell us a little about yourself and your business... I am an osteopath by trade and have known for several years that physically I would not be able to do this job forever. I also knew that the hours I work are not what I wanted for my family when we started having babies. After several months of really thinking about what I wanted out of life, and the kind of lifestyle I wanted for myself and my family, I realised that an internet business was the best option. It would provide me with the freedom and flexibility that I desired. All I needed was an idea! I thought hard about what topics I was knowledgeable on and also what I was passionate about! After lots of brainstorming, I came across the idea for Bump Stuff which enabled me to use my education, experience and also fulfil my deep desire to help people!

2. How did your business begin? The concept was born from years of frustration at hearing my patients say that they had been told by their carer that discomfort and pain is just part of being pregnant and to just put up with it. Through my experience in practice, I know that this is simply not the case; there are different treatment, product and lifestyle options that can have a great impact on symptoms. After a little look around, I realised that while there was a lot of information available on the net about the different muscular and skeletal complaints that women experience during pregnancy, no sites described or sold solutions!

3. The bits I love...
· I get to help many more women than I can in practice.
· All I need to work is my laptop so I can do it anywhere!
· Now that I am pregnant myself, I get to be surrounded in a topic every day that I am even more obsessed with than I was before!
· Everyday I know I’m growing a business that will enable me to spend lots of time with my family.
· I get to challenge and take myself out of my comfort zone with stuff like marketing, advertising and website development which I really know nothing about!
· That I can go to work in my pj’s and slippers and have a nap in my lunch break!

4. The bits I not-so-love...
· Money worries.
· When people I have employed to help me out let me down.
· When suppliers run out of stock.
· That everything takes longer than expected. I’m typical gen Y in that I want my business to be huge and successful right now!

5. Any tips for other Clever Mammas?
· Be kind to yourself, acknowledge your achievements and be proud of them!
· It’s better to realise sooner rather than later that paying someone to do certain tasks such as bookkeeping, copywriting or web development will save you time, money and lots of headaches.
· Get yourself a business coach. Having a great mindset will make working much more enjoyable and infinitely more productive.
· Plan, plan plan. If you don’t know where you are going, how are you ever going to get there?
· I recently sent myself out a timetable for my work days as well as a 90 day plan for my goals and what I needed to do to get there. This means when I sit down at my desk at 9am every work day, I know exactly what I need to do and why. This stops me from spending useless hours pottering on facebook or email.

6. Devonshire Tea versus Coffee & Cake??? Mmm, soy coffee and gluten free cake for me please!

Thanks for taking some time out to say hello to the Clever Mamma community Alison. And we can't wait to hear when bubs is welcomed into the world (ooooooh it might just be our very first Clever Mamma-baby!!). If you would like to contact Alison or check out her great online store Bump Stuff, it's as easy as popping over to the Clever Mamma Directory listing for more details.