Once upon a time Corryn Barakat was an employee working within the finance world of a big business. However, she couldn’t shake the niggly feeling that she wasn’t fulfilling her life’s purpose, and set about to find a way to make a positive difference in the world.
‘I worked through some questionnaires and did some soul searching before deciding what kind of business to start.’
After realising there was a glaring gap in the market for comfortable and stylish nursing wear, she founded Milk and Love, an online boutique of sustainably made, stylish clothes for women to wear through pregnancy, breastfeeding and beyond. More recently she has branched out and launched the Milk and Love Village podcasts, which contain up-to-date, evidence-based information to empower parents to make confident decisions and enjoy their parenting journey.
‘Stop reading other peoples journeys on Google and just get out there and DO IT!’
Corryn’s favourite entrepreneur:
“Boyan Slat – a Dutch teenager cleaning up our oceans! Boyan is taking on of the biggest environmental problems in the world and dedicating himself to solving it in a unique and groundbreaking way! He is one of my favourite because he is doing something to make the world a better place.”
Advice from Corryn
What three pieces of advice do you wish you’d been given when you started?
- It will take a long time to learn how to run a profitable business. Make sure you have enough cash and you’ve done your financials thoroughly. Understanding your break-even point, and how many sales you need to make before you crack any kind of profit is huge!
- Running a business is a great lesson in personal development, and everyone’s journey is different. Make sure you’re supported by authentic, like-minded people you can connect with and have “real” conversations with (HerBusiness been a great place to meet these people!). You will hear things like “90% of success is perseverance” and that might be true for some people, but for others the big deciding factor might be developing confidence, or learning how to reach out for support.
- Marketing is all about metrics. It’s tempting to spend hours on Instagram or Facebook (and easy to) and honestly, I still do this – but the return isn’t there. Spending 3 hours a day on social media won’t pay the bills. You need to clearly outline your marketing plan and goals, put metrics in place, and then measure the results constantly. If marketing isn’t your strong point, get a mentor to help you!
What advice would YOU give someone thinking about starting a business?
Make sure you have the support network in place for your family, your business and your financials. I have been incredibly lucky to have both my husband and my parents’ full support with our business.
‘If my support network wasn’t 110% on board with the business then, quite simply, it wouldn’t be here.’
What skills and knowledge areas would you recommend those starting out in business get acquainted with quickly?
- Marketing – If you can’t get your product or service in front of your target market in a cost effective way then you won’t make a profit.
- Analytics – being able to measure and analyse your marketing and broader financials is crucial to staying in business. You can waste a lot of time and money upfront on things that don’t have any return on investment (and as a start up – cash is king!).
Corryn on HerBusiness:
“The two reasons I’m a Premium Member of HerBusiness are firstly, access to the roundtable networking events. These are helpful for touching base with similar minded women who can often give me an insightful viewpoint and help me through tricky problems that most other non-business owners wouldn’t understand.
Secondly, access to thought provoking webinars. Being able to stay inspired and have new ideas is easier with new material all the time! It helps me feel as though I’m staying up to date with my personal and business growth.”
Read more about Milk and Love here.
This post was co-authored by Vashti Broos. Vashti is currently completing a journalism internship at HerBusiness. She studies Marketing & Public Relations / Communications and Media (Journalism) at the University of Notre Dame, Sydney.
