If you’re thinking about starting your own business, we understand that it is a big decision with a lot of factors weighing in. At CoreCommerce, we power thousands of e-commerce stores with fantastic entrepreneurs selling innovative, unique products. We asked our entrepreneurs to share their advice on starting a business and here’s what they said:

• Start small, dream big. ”Persevere and don’t be afraid to fail sometimes. I think its important to start small and prove that your idea works before you start heavily investing in it. That is one of the reasons we chose Core Commerce. They allowed us to start our website at a very affordable price. There are many other companies selling cloth diapers, but I firmly believe that ours is one of the best! Many of today’s successful big businesses started with one person’s (or family’s) idea, and many of them even started at home like ours!”    -Amy of Buttons Diapers
• Make mistakes. “After many mistakes, I almost gave up, but those around me said, ‘Don’t do it!’. Anyone who was a success had to make mistakes to become better. You’ll learn from your mistakes. I’m sure I’ll still make plenty of mistakes down the road, but I will learn from them and Ludden’s Natural Products will benefit.” -Dan of Ludden’s Natural
• Do your research. ”Research everything as much as you possibly can. You can find answers to absolutely anything on Google. There are tons of organizations that are devoted specifically to start ups and entrepreneurs so make use of them.” -Meredith of Spark Living
• Be honest with yourself. “Don’t start a business just to get out of a rut or because its a trendy thing to do.  Think about your motivation behind it: is it a passion?  Does it stem from a desperate need in your community that needs to be filled?  Are you trying to fulfill a life long dream?” -Erika of The Chocolate Season
• Take the first step. “Honestly, I think the best piece of advice that I can give is to not just talk about doing it. DO IT. Make that first step. That’s the hardest one. I know too many people who have numerous ideas for businesses but never go forward. And these days, it’s so incredibly easy it to start a website or Facebook page or online store.” -Alex of Stay Vocal

Other blog articles you’ll love:

Ideas for Starting An Online Business

Why I Started My E-commerce Business

What Are People Buying Online?

Today we’re featuring the first place winner of our Mompreneurs Rock! contest, Amy Wohlgemoth of Buttons Diapers. We are honored to share Amy’s inspiring story of how she and her husband created their eco-friendly, well designed diapers.

1. What inspired you to create Buttons Diapers?

My husband and I started using cloth diapers for our daughter when she was born, and loved how much money were saving (compared to disposables) and how much better they are for the environment. Many of our friends were interested in trying cloth, but were hesitant because of the initial cost of a cloth diaper “stash”. We decided to start our own cloth diaper company, with the goal of keeping it simple and inexpensive, without giving up on quality. To buy everything needed to diaper your baby from birth til he/she is potty trained, it is a mere $240 with Buttons Diapers, AND they will last through a couple of kiddos! (Disposables cost around $1500 per child.)

2. How long did it take to develop your product? What were some obstacles along the way you had to work through?

It took about 7 months of comparing a number of different types and styles of diapers before deciding on the best features for Buttons. Some of these features are: double gussets around the legs, elastic at the waist, two layers of waterproof PUL, and the covers are a one-size-fits-all design. Once we had this figured out, another concern was quality, durability, and softness of fabrics. Choosing colors was the fun part! We are excited that we will be featuring a number of new colors within the next few months, too!

3. Many moms are turning to eco-friendly alternatives to traditional plastic diapers. How do you get the word out about your product?

It is exciting to see how many new parents are deciding to use cloth diapers! We believe that recommendations from trusted sources is one of the best ways to spread the word. Many of our customers have learned about us from friends or mommy bloggers who have reviewed our diapers. Social media has been another great source for advertising. We have a You Tube channel, and Facebook page.

 4. Not only do you have an online store but the product itself has been picked up by other stores. How did you go about that?

We have been blessed that some of the retail stores that carry Buttons Diapers have actually contacted us! They are selling very well in stores where parents can “touch & feel” and compare our diapers to others. Buttons are truly one of the softest and easiest diapering systems available. We have also connected with some retail stores through e-mailing and social media. We are working on expanding this part of our business, and would love to have our diapers in stores across the country!

5. How do you juggle being a mom and a business owner?

This is a tough one, and will be even more challenging once our second baby is born in July. My first priority is being a wife and mom, so I get a lot of my work done after our little one is asleep. I am amazed sometimes at how much I can get done during nap time! Also, we live just a block from our local post office, so when its nice out we often drop off packages on our way to the park.

6. What advice would you give to someone who has a great business idea but is intimidated by starting a business?

Start small, but dream big. Persevere and don’t be afraid to fail sometimes. I think its important to start small and prove that your idea works before you start heavily investing in it. That is one of the reasons we chose Core Commerce. They allowed us to start our website at a very affordable price. There are many other companies selling cloth diapers, but I firmly believe that ours is one of the best! Many of today’s successful big businesses started with one person’s (or family’s) idea, and many of them even started at home like ours!

Today we are proud to announce the winners of our Mompreneurs Rock! contest. Our staff loved reading over the great entries and learning more about these awesome products and businesses. Here is a excerpt from our official press release:

The Mompreneurs Rock! contest first place prize was awarded to Amy Wohlgemoth, owner of eco-friendly Buttons Diapers of Mount Vernon, Washington. Buttons Diapers is an environmentally responsible, washable cloth diaper, which has become a very popular solution for eco-conscious moms. For the Wohlgemoths, Buttons Diapers is truly a family affair; both she and her husband designed the product. “I love being a mompreneur. I can make my own schedule, spend time with my two year old and make healthy, home cooked meals for my family,” noted Wohlgemoth.

ButtonsDiapers.com launched last year with CoreCommerce and has been very successful. “Our sales have doubled every month since we opened. CoreCommerce has done a wonderful job helping us create a professional, easy to use website,” says Wohlgemoth. As with many entrepreneurs, she finds her business to also be a creative outlet, from choosing new fabrics to designing marketing material.

Second place was given to GnomeWorks Puzzles, an e-commerce store started by Kimmy Armstrong and Pat Travis, two Hagerstown, Maryland moms who love jigsaw puzzles. “Running our online business has given us more flexibility, family time and we aren’t locked down into a set work schedule,” said Travis. Armstrong and Travis were inspired to start creating their own wooden jigsaw puzzles because they felt most puzzles had boring or dark artwork. “With CoreCommerce, our online store is very flexible, easy to use and fits into our budget,” said Armstrong. “The visibility we received from having an online store led us to manufacture puzzles for the 2012 Christmas season that ended up being sold in Bergdorf Goodman’s and other fine retailers.”

Kelly Crispen of Elizabeth Street Cosmetics was awarded third place in the Mompreneurs Rock! contest. Crispen started her own San Francisco based e-commerce business after being in the cosmetics industry for eighteen years. “I was tired of missing most of my children’s baseball games because of work. Creating my own company has allowed me to have more family time and opened doors to meeting many amazing clients,” offered Crispen. “I couldn’t be happier with my newfound freedom and creativity to make my dream of owning a cosmetics line come true.” Her paraben-free cosmetics are infused with antioxidants and have names inspired by San Francisco neighborhoods.

Check out our other blog articles:

Selling Kids Clothing Online

Ideas for Starting An Online Business

CoreCommerce Mompreneurs: Why I Love My Online Business

Today we have a fantastic interview with Hugh Sung, the co-founder of AirTurn. Hugh is a professional musician that had a problem–he needed a way to turn his sheet music hands free during performances. So he created a foot pedal that allows musicians to “turn the page” electronically while reading music via an iPad or tablet device. This revolutionary new use is changing the way musicians use sheet music all over the world, from the backing musicians on American Idol to classical musicians. Learn more about Hugh, the story behind AirTurn and how an e-commerce store helped boost his business:

Thanks Hugh!

As of 2013, there are more than 8.6 million women-owned businesses in the United States, accounting for over $1.3 trillion in revenues and employing nearly 7.8 million people. It’s no surprise that busy women(including moms!) are turning to e-commerce to start their businesses. Many of our most successful CoreCommerce stores are run by brilliant women with amazing products! A yearly study done by American Express called the State of Women-Owned Businesses presented some very interesting stats on women in business:

•  The number of women-owned firms has increased by 59% since 1997.
• The states with the fastest growth in number of women-owned firms over the past 16 years are Georgia, Texas, North Carolina, Louisiana and Nevada.
• Privately held woman-owned firms have added 175,000 jobs to the U.S. economy since 2007.
• One of the top sectors for woman-owned firms was retail trade, health care/social services related businesses and professional/scientific services such as attorneys, consultants and public relations.

If you are inspired to start working on your great business idea, check out our blogs to get started:

Ideas For Starting Your Online Business

Entrepreneur Stories: The Chocolate Season

Why I Started My E-commerce Business

*All stats from The State of Women Owned Businesses 2013 

Last week, we asked CoreCommerce mompreneurs to share their experiences with running an online business and how it has impacted their lives. The feedback we got was truly inspiring and we want to share it with everyone, especially any moms who have been thinking about starting their own online business.

“Operating babyobaby.com from home via CoreCommerce has given me the freedom to work around my family’s various needs and schedules. PRICELESS!” -Alison

“Having the flexibility is key. I own/run my online store, BobbleRoos. When my kids were younger, I would work while my kids napped and at night after bedtime. Now that my kids are in elementary school, I have the flexibility to volunteer in their classrooms, chaperone field trips, and take them to various after school activities/practices. A few key benefits – I am able to make my kids a homemade, hot breakfast each morning to start their day off right, be there after school to help with homework, and take care of a few household chores (like starting laundry) and errands during my lunch break so we have more of our weekends free for family time.” -Renee

“I am a mom and I operate my business, Pacific Coast Dance Supply, from home when my family’s schedule allows me to do so. My father-in-law previously owned the business but he never had an online store. He took all orders over the phone. I knew I could not be home all the time to take orders because I work around my mom duties (grocery shopping, cooking, playing with my boys, swim lessons, etc.). The first thing I did when I took over the business was look for a service that would allow my customers to order online. I did a lot of research on different services and finally decided to go with Core Commerce…and I am so happy I did! I love the service and it really makes things so much easier for me…which allows me to spend more time with my husband and little ones! Thank you, Core Commerce!” -Tanya

“I’m a Civil Engineer turned-stay-at-home-mom. My two young boys keep me on my toes. I started my online business, eCloth USA, a year ago with CoreCommerce and it’s been a great success. The fiddling with the website/blog/facebook keep my mind occupied but I still have lots of time to play with the boys, get the meals ready and clean the house. Well, maybe not clean the house!” -Kate

“I started Beauty Cafe back in 1997 as a part-time hobby. When I got divorced in 2000, it became a full-time gig. I was able to work the business around my schedule as a single mom. I did my orders early in the morning, dropped daughter off at school, ran errands, went back home to work, and then picked her up after school and then it was all about my daughter. I was truly blessed to be able to have the best of both worlds and not have to feel like I had to be super woman.” -Lisa

We are excited to announce the first ever Mompreneurs Rock! Contest to empower mompreneurs. At CoreCommerce, we want to inspire moms and give them the tools they need to have a successful online business. If you are a mompreneur, don’t miss this great contest with fantastic prizes. Beginning today, the contest will run through the end of the month and offer a variety of prizes:

First Prize:

• Free Design Package(a $1999 value) from the CoreCommerce Design Services Team
• $100 Target giftcard
• Blog feature on the CoreCommerce blog
• A CoreCommerce t-shirt

Second Prize:

• Free Professional(a $69.99 value) for six months or it’s value towards an Expert or Premier Plan
• $50 Target giftcard
• Blog feature on CoreCommerce’s blog

Third Prize:

• Free Professional(a $69.99 value) for six months or it’s value towards an Expert or Premier Plan
• $50 Target giftcard
• Blog feature on CoreCommerce’s blog

TO ENTER:

1. Submit an essay of 200 words or less, telling us about yourself and your business, including:

• Your name, business name and location
• The story behind your business and how you got started
• How being a mompreneur has changed your life

2. Submit your essay to contest@corecommerce.com by May 31, 2013 by 5:00pm CST. Please see rules to ensure eligibility. Winners will be notified on June 6, 2013 via e-mail.

*No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Open to mothers over the age of 18 who are legal U.S. residents.

This week, we caught up with Dan of Ludden’s Natural, one of our great CoreCommerce entrepreneurs. As with so many of  our stores, there is a great story and mission behind the brand.

1) What inspired you to start Ludden’s Natural Products?

A few years back, my father-in-law was diagnosed with prostate cancer. During that time our family changed our diet to one which consisted primarily of whole foods and raw vegetables. Are we 100% converted? The answer would be “No”. However, we had essentially altered our diet to become vegetarians (mostly). Over the course of a year we found numerous products which we used regularly as part of our daily diet. We then learned after a period of time, that my father-in-law was completely healed from his cancer due to his new healthy lifestyle. That inspired me to get the products we were using, plus many more, into the hands of as many folks as possible, at a very reduced rate. We don’t make a HUGE profit in this business. Our payoff is knowing that our customers are able to be healthier because of what we do.

2) Healthy living and clean eating seem to be topics that consumers are becoming more concerned with. What are your best sellers?

We sell over 9,000 products, but some of our best sellers are:

• Burt’s Bees products
• Bulk herbs
• Bulk loose leaf tea
• Cleaning solutions
• Coffee & tea accessories
• Essential oils
• Seed sprouters
• Apparel products made from natural organic cotton

3) How does Ludden’s connect with customers on a personal level?

 We’re still growing, but we have tried and continue to experiment with many different ways of connecting with our customers on a personal level. Our primary means of doing this is through our Facebook page. Through this page we offer interesting coupons (including a mystery coupon), links to recipes, links to interesting articles and discounts. Quite often we spotlight a company that is a customer of ours. We love to help others grow.

Our whole look and feel is very “Americana”. We partnered with a wonderful artist who has provided us free reign to use his artwork on our website. As part of this we have a regular feature on our Facebook page that presents our fans with an image of an antique kitchen gadget, and they need to try and guess what it is. We plan to expand this “Americana” experience and hope to get customers involved by offering their memories and pictures of yester-year! We’ve also advertised in the 2013 “Farmers’ Almanac” and “The Old Farmer’sAlmanac”, which we felt was a great fit with our brand.

 We’re currently working on building relationships with various bloggers in the natural products industry so that we can offer a top notch blog and offer the stories that our customers will find interesting. We’ll also be developing contests over the next year or so that will drive more customers to our business, and allow us to provide them with the natural products they need.

 In addition to our efforts, we’ve taken up the challenge to raise money for various causes. This past March we helped raise money for Leah’s Front Line to help fight Cystic Fibrosis. We also hope to help Ultimate Goal, which is a non-profit that assists refugee families in the Nashville, Tennessee area. We’re not perfect in connecting with our customers, but we’re learning along the way, and we’re hoping to improve with each day that passes.

4) Were there any obstacles to getting Ludden’s launched as a business? If so, how did you overcome those?

As with anything that’s worth doing, there were definitely obstacles to getting Ludden’s launched. The first major obstacle was that I hadn’t the slightest idea what I was doing. There was a website to be built, an LLC to incorporate, local licenses to procure, resale tax issues to deal with regarding other states and more.

During this process I wrote a document listing all the things I’ve learned and all the mistakes I’ve made, which are plenty.  I give this document to my friends and acquaintances when they show interest in starting a business similar to mine. They can then use the document as a guide to helping them start a business. I love to see Ludden’s grow and be successful, and I love to see others be successful in their business ventures as well.

 5) What has been the most rewarding part of owning your own business?

 The most rewarding part of owning our own business is knowing that we’re making customers happy, and providing them with a product they need! We have customers from all walks of life and from every part of the United States and Canada. We’re excited when we get new customers, and even more excited when we get return customers, because we know we’re doing something right!

Another rewarding part of owning your own business is building a recognized brand. It’s one thing to work for another company, but when you start your own, it ups the ante quite a bit. What an exciting venture it is to start and build your own business!

6) Do you have any advice would you give to someone who wanted to start a business but was intimidated by the process?

Keep plugging away! Anything can be accomplished through time and perseverance. The process can be intimidating at first, but as you start checking off various accomplishments, and get closer to achieving your goals, you’ll realize you’ve made it! Plus, after jumping over all the startup hurdles, you’ll be better prepared to handle those unseen obstacles that will come when you run your own business.

Whatever you do, don’t let your dreams die. After many mistakes, I almost gave up, but those around me said, “Don’t do it!”. Anyone who was a success had to make mistakes to become better. You’ll learn from your mistakes. I’m sure I’ll still make plenty of mistakes down the road, but I will learn from them and Ludden’s Natural Products will benefit.

Learn more about Ludden’s Natural here!

This week, we’re featuring another awesome CoreCommerce store: Old Wilmington Tea. Not only do they sell great tea products but taught us quite a bit about it!

1) What inspired you to start your tea company?

My background is computer science and I got burned out. I started at Red Hat Software in 1995, then started my own hardware business in 1996 and merged that with a Silicon Valley competitor in 1999. I spent almost three years with them and departed amidst the “dot bomb” implosion. While I worked with other start-ups, my wife, Lourie, purchased a children’s clothing boutique. In 2005, she was diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease (PKD) and we started looking for something that would fit our new lifestyle. Visiting specialists at Emory and Duke Universities on a regular basis meant that a traditional storefront was no longer an option. At that time there were few tea retailers and almost none that we felt were doing it “right” so we decided to jump in feet first!

2) Has tea always been a passion of yours?

We were both born and raised in the south, so “sweet tea” has always been a staple, but we both became enamored with tea during visits to London while we were in high school. As we have traveled and experienced different teas over the years, our interest has grown to the current level that borders on tea-mania.

 3) How do you decide which new teas or products to carry?

Other than a brief period in late fall and early winter, we receive a steady stream of tea samples from gardens around the world. We taste every tea multiple times before deciding to offer it for sale. The teas must be of the highest quality but generally available at an affordable price for the type. One of the most critical issues is the ability to distinguish between “bad” tea and tea that you simply don’t care for. We are both certified Tea Professionals through the Specialty Tea Institute and the UK Tea Council, which provides a lot of the knowledge required to make this distinction.

In the case of products, we look for innovative, well-made products that perform their intended task well. The reputation of the manufacturer and supply chain consistency play a significant role as we certainly don’t want to spend an inordinate amount of time having to chase them down to solve issues. We try to stick with a fairly limited number of non-tea items because that’s simply not our focus.

4) Your site not only sells great products but also does a fantastic job of educating consumers on tea. Do you feel that is an important part of the interaction with your customers?

Education is critical, especially with everyone on the search for the “magic potion” to help them lose weight, improve their golf game, win the lottery and reverse the aging process.  ;-)  While tea is the second most popular beverage in the world (behind water) general knowledge tends to be limited. Making sure people understand that there are fundamentally only two types of tea plant (both the same species) and white, green, oolong, black and pu’erh teas can all be produced from the same plant (depending upon processing) is a huge accomplishment. The other major issue is explaining that technically there is no such thing as “herbal tea” since they don’t have any tea in them at all. We can go on for hours and hours, usually to the point that most people are making polite excuses about having to get home to walk their cat or change the water in the goldfish bowl.

5) What do you love most about owning your own business?

Flexibility would have to be at the top of the list.

6) What advice would you give to an aspiring business owner?

Find something you love and make sure you know as much about it as possible. Then spend as much time as possible planning your business model and researching the market. Never be afraid to reverse course and change your mind, that’s one of the great benefits of owning your own business.

 Find out more about Old Wilmington Tea by clicking here!

At CoreCommerce, we have some great tools to help you grow your online sales. One of our favorite tools is the “Deal of the Day” feature, which allows you to promote a product for a special price for a specific amount of time. Using the “Deal of the Day” feature can boost sales and encourage potential customers to make an initial purchase. Below we’ve compiled a few sales and marketing tips to keep in mind when you’re planning a “Deal of the Day”.

• Figure out when your “Deal of the Day” works best. Try a variety of promotions to see what works best for your business. For example, you may find more success with “Deal of the Day” promotions in slower times of the year versus busy holidays(or even both!).
• Check out your Google Analytics data. Google Analytics is a great tool to gain insight into what your customers are doing while visiting your site. Do more people visit your site on Thursdays or view a particular product category more than others? Those may be good clues on which product to offer for your “Deal of the Day” promotion and help you choose which day/s to run the promotion successfully.
• Use holidays or events as inspiration for your promotion. If Mother’s Day is around the corner, choose products for your “Deal of the Day” that caters to that demographic. Around Christmas, try a “12 Days of Christmas” promotion in which you promote a new “Deal of the Day” every day for 12 days. Get creative!
• Let your customers know. If you are collecting your customer’s e-mail addresses(which we hope you are!), send a personable, well written e-mail using our e-mail marketing integrations or add it in your newsletter to let them know. Be sure to add a great photo, be clear about the deal’s expiration date and link back to purchase in the e-mail blast.
• Use social media to get the word out. Let your fans and followers know about the “Deal of the Day” by posting a quality photo with a link to purchase, like the one used in the e-mail blast(mentioned above) to your customers.

When you’re ready to set up the “Deal of the Day”, check out our easy to follow instructions!

Do you use our “Deal of the Day” feature? Let us know what your tips are!