Monday Mumpreneur with Gina Lawson

Every Monday we feature a mumpreneur who’s ready and willing to open up their lives to us.  They share with us their motivation, challenges and proudest moments in business and they also tell us how they take time to nurture themselves. It’s lovely to have them here at Mums Got A Business and we hope you enjoy connecting with them too.

I'm so happy to introduce you to the very gorgeous Gina.  She's one of the delightful mumpreneurs that I've met since living in rural Scotland.  We're all part of a lovely, supportive community of mums running businesses from home.

We've become firm friends and neighbours, always there for each other whether it's business support or a welcome cuppa.  I love doing business like that and I treasure our friendship.

Name: Gina Lawson

Your website: www.ginalillycropdesigns.com

Brief description:

My website consists of a shop for my rug products, a blog to keep my customers up to date with new products, future designs and workshops that will be available as soon as its completed. There’s a little bit about me and how I got to where I am now and also a page for customers to look at some of my soft furnishings creations and what services I can offer them in regards to their own home.

How many children do you have?

Alexander (11)

Where do you live?

On a farm in the heart of rural Wigtownshire, Scotland

PC or Mac?

PC

Tell us about your business:

I am a soft furnishing designer, specialising in unique, children’s rugs.

As a soft furnishing designer I design and make curtains, blinds, pelmets, cushions, chair covers etc to suit my clients personal needs and lifestyles, whilst reflecting their own personality.

My rugs are individually handmade by me from design to finished product. Made  from luxury faux furs and fleece and inspired by local native farm animals

What motivated you to become a mumpreneur?

Being a latch key kid myself, it was something I definitely didn’t want for my child.

I was a singer when Alexander was born and I was able to take him everywhere with me until It came time to start nursery. So I looked at other skills I had and chose to go back to college to enhance them. I qualified and started my own business in soft furnishings the year Alexander started school. I didn’t like the thought of not being home to see his cheery tired face coming through the door after school, or being able to drop everything at a moments notice if Alexander was ill.

What’s been your biggest challenge in business?

Relocating my successful soft furnishing business from a moderately populated area where people are always redecorating trying to keep up with fashion and are reliant on my  skills, to rural Wigtownshire where the sheep outnumber people 8 -1 and many people are self reliant and very capable of doing their own soft furnishings.

How have you overcome it?

I went back to the drawing board and started doing what I loved, Designing!

Inspired by the beautiful countryside that surrounds me and with my love of faux fur and children’s products I started designing children’s animal rugs,

I tried them out at craft fairs first, and with positive feed back I went into producing my first range of designs. Due to my rural location and the expense of a shop front, I decided to sell online. Being a new venture…watch this space. While most articles about Cialis Tadalafil mention its mechanism of action (PDE5, inhibition, enzymes, proteases - you have read it many times I'm sure) they usually forget to mention that it may provide a long-term positive influence on the cardiovascular system improving the cardiac rhythms and enhancing general endurance of the heart muscles.

What’s been your proudest business moment?

Best business moment was last November when I launched my children’s rugs and the first retailer I approached agreed to take 3 of my designs on a sale or return basis.  While I was shaking hands on the arrangement a woman entered the shop and bought one of the rugs. They then asked me to come back the next day with some more stock.

What’s your catchphrase or favourite quote?

What’s the worst that can happen?

What do you do to relax or nurture yourself?

Very hot bath and a good book

What was the last treat you bought for yourself?

Chocolate

Favourite colour:

Crisp flawless white (a sign of my perfectionism)

Favourite flowers:

Gladioli, rhodendrum, Lilies and lupines

What one piece of advice would you like to give to a new mumpreneurs?

Always aim to exceed customer expectations. Word of mouth really is your biggest advert, remember 1 happy customer will only tell the next few people they meet about the service they experienced. 1 unhappy customer will tell everyone about their experience.

Fancy featuring as one of our amazing mums? Drop me an email over on the contact page and I’ll be in touch.   And remember to drop by every Monday to welcome our latest profiled mum.