Tuesday, March 01, 2011

A year at Bright Moon

Well I wasn't shortlisted for a Business Mum Award, but as I was surprised and chuffed to even be nominated, there's been no real disappointment.  Our first year in business has had it's ups and downs, as with everything and now it's March, I'm starting to think where we're going with 2011! (Well we don't like to rush things here you know!)

Our first year - Warts and all

It took a little longer than we anticipated to get the website up and running, this was mainly because I am a perfectionist and once I've got an idea in my head, it has to be "just right" so something as simple as having a logo designed turns into a long drawn out process.  The website finally went live in June but we had been trading through other outlets before then.

The major biggey for us last year, was Moonchild the Elder being diagnosed with autism.  We had known for a long time that he was slightly different to his peers and had fought the doctors long and hard to get them to even investigate or give us a referral.  But on the day, after three sessions in an assessment nursery, when they sit you down and tell you that your child has autism, it still came as quite a shock.  You know there's something as it were, and you wanted to know what it was, but you didn't want it to be that per se.  I have a friend with a son who has autism and they were worlds apart on the spectrum so I didn't see how they could essentially be diagnosed with the same thing,

It took the wind out our sails and I confess I turned my eye away from the business to read up on Autism.  It was time well spent as now when I speak to some health professionals, I know more than they do. 

During the summer, MoonDaddy was made redundant for the second time in under a year.  I understand the whole "Last in, first out" approach but it's still hard for your family and especially for MoonDaddy's self confidence.

We spent a great many weekends doing baby, craft and gift fairs last year.  Some successful, some not to successful but we enjoyed all of them, not just from the making sales point of view, but also from getting out and talking to people.  The internet can be quite faceless, which in some ways (like when I'm writing blog posts on the sofa wearing a dressing gown) is most definitely a good thing (so not getting Skype anytime soon!) but you never actually get a chance to talk to people.

There's nothing better than actually helping people with their decision of what to purchase so they go home with something they're really happy with, rather than wondering why on earth they bought it.

We started doing parties for people in their homes, for toddler groups and antenatal groups.  They are very hard work but equally as great for meeting people and hearing what they really think.  Our latest idea is the "Stock Room Rummage", if people live locally or are willing to travel, we let them come over to see our entire collection from the comfort of our stock room sofa!  We also provide coffee, tea and cake which always goes down well with the MoonKids as we don't usually have cake in the house.

In October we lost a very dear friend to us, the sense of loss to MoonDaddy has been immense but it has made us realise how important it is to make an effort to see those people we hold dear more often.

Throughout the whole year, both boys grew and developed personalities of their own.  Youngest Moonchild is intent on walking and has recently discovered that there be toys in the some of the boxes in the stock room and he's intent on finding a way of getting to them!

We've seen some new things that we would like to stock, if only finances and storage room allow so will hopefully be introducing some new lines to you very shortly - some accessories and also a range of toys ideal for autistic children.  We aim to do a lot more marketing and PR, although with MoonDaddy still being out of work, our financial safety net is a little stretched at the moment.  Although I wonder if in the long run, not doing any will end up costing us more.

I have also started a new blog, mostly about autism and life with an autistic preschooler but also some of the more random musings that wander round in my head.  I'm not quite ready to share that with you just yet but watch this space!

We've lost some friends this year, some we haven't heard hide nor hair from since MoonChild the Elder's diagnosis but we've certainly made a lot of new ones and learn who are true friends are.  Business is building, the MoonKids seem relatively happy and there are daffodils out in our front garden - things are definitely on the up!

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