Cathy Cousins, owner of Sweet Little Things, is a woman of action. When Cathy decided to start her own business, there was no dawdling or dilly-dallying. Cathy took decisive action. "I combined starting my business with buying a house and a dog, marrying my husband, and quitting my job - all while he opened an advertising agency at the same time!" Cathy laughs. "Sounds a bit mad, I know, but I actually find comfort in action." Success in business demands decisive action, even if it seems a bit mad at times. So many businesses fail before they truly begin due to insufficient action. Success in business also demands hard work - and Cathy is no stranger to hard work. She worked all night to fulfil her first large corporate order for 100 custom cupcake hampers. "Thinking about it now," Cathy recalls, "I can laugh at the image of my husband folding boxes, my friends tying ribbon, and myself elbow deep in kilos of frosting! I pulled an all-nighter that night. I was desperate to make the hampers look as good as I knew they could be." The hard work paid off. She received outstanding reviews of her products and a plethora of repeat business as a result of that all-nighter. "I still meet people who received that first lot of hampers and rave about how good everything looked and tasted," Cathy says. "Future customers saw that our attention to detail is such that their brand would be reflected in the most positive light possible." "I love ABN because I enjoy reading about people's journeys."

Cathy's hard work and action-oriented approach gave her business a great start. But once she settled into place as her own boss, Cathy suddenly felt all alone. To solve this problem, Cathy took swift action once again: First, she moved into a shared office space with a friend. Then she joined the Australian Businesswomen's Network (ABN), a community of 20,000 like-minded businesswomen that offers web-based training and education, mentoring, and networking opportunities.

"ABN helped me feel like I was not alone because I could connect with members who were going through similar experiences on a daily basis," Cathy recalls.

"I love ABN because I enjoy reading about people's journeys. It's easy to think that successful people have always been that way. But they haven't! It takes a lot of hard work and a lot of mistakes. For me, reading about other women's journeys and how these things take time has helped me take some pressure of myself and just grow at a manageable rate. Knowing how many truly courageous women are out there makes me feel really proud to be involved in such an organisation."

Once Cathy overcame her feelings of loneliness, she faced another obstacle: capital and cash flow. Cathy describes herself as a creative who is not fond of the bean-counting aspect of business... "Which is why I have appointed both a bookkeeper and a financial controller," explains Cathy. "They gather all my data together and let me know where I need to tighten things up a bit and where I can splurge. ABN helped me in the process of filling these positions through the member directory."

ABN also provides a sense of community, which is very important to Cathy. Her business is a community-based business where several designers collaborate to create the best possible product for the customer. The company's website, sweetlittlethings.com.au, reflects this sense of community with a highly personalised design as well as a blog that allows Cathy to communicate with her customers.

"Our blog is like a window into the everyday life of Sweet Little Things - pictures of hampers we send out, customer feedback, sewing projects I have been working on and more," says Cathy. "We encourage interaction with our customers and like to provide free information such as recipes and patterns. In return, they know they are dealing with real people and not just some automated website."

Cathy finds the same community values through ABN: "Engaging with other members helps you feel connected and inspired. I have been contacted by many members interested in me or my business and met some lovely ladies. Connecting with like-minded people who are all willing to help each other promotes a lovely sense of community - even if most of my interaction is not face-to-face. I suppose it is a successful example of my business ethos - online businesses don't have to be impersonal!"

"The ABN webinars are fantastic," continues Cathy. "I love their flexibility because, to be honest, as much as I would love to connect face-to-face sometimes, I am usually so bogged down in the office or running around to see my own suppliers that I just don't have time! Sometimes I will log in to a webinar and listen while I do some onerous task like designing our latest newsletter. If you prefer to connect online, ABN offers cutting edge technology for you to do so, and if you prefer some face-to-face time, they offer that, too. With the ABN, there is always a new networking event, webinar, or discussion to engage you."

Cathy's Advice for Building a Successful Business:

If you truly believe in yourself and your product or service, then go for it. The most important lesson is to be selective about what you take on board. EVERYONE has advice and EVERYONE feels free to give it to you (even when you haven't asked for it). I certainly believe in asking for advice and acting on what you believe to be good advice, but many people can be negative and this can get you down. Smile, thank them for their opinion, and then promptly forget it and move forward enjoying what you do and living every moment to its fullest. Remember - you got into your own business for a reason. To live YOUR life, the way YOU want it. Certainly ask the opinions of others about everything that you do (free market research - and you should do this OFTEN!), but only act on what you believe to be valid from someone whose opinion you respect.

Sweet Little Things is an online emporium whose virtual shelves are bursting with all things "little" and "sweet." The company launched with their signature sweet little thing - gourmet cupcake hampers. The product range has since expanded to include handmade designer baby clothes, jewellery, organic beauty products, men's skincare, soft toys and more. All products are natural, Australian made, and high quality.

If you're ready to feel connected and inspired, join now.

Cathy Cousins is owner and founder of Sweet Little Things, an online emporium whose shelves are filled with anything 'little' and 'sweet' - gourmet cupcake hampers, beauty products, baby clothing, jewellery, cards and more. With a background in all areas of fashion - marketing, sales, product development, buying and design - her new business is the perfect outlet for her creative passions. Sweet Little Things promotes the concept of sharing and giving by selling quality, handmade Australian products.

Email: admin@sweetlittlethings.com.au
Website: www.sweetlittlethings.com.au
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