Fun Stationary From A WAHM
I recently posted about Kim, the owner of K-Notes, and I decided she’d be a great woman to also get an interview with as well.
Kim’s products are so great looking that I couldn’t resist taking a moment to point out a couple of her products that are my favorites:
The first image to the right is a very creative birthday invitation. Using an image provided by her customer, she created the alien theme and the cute little UFO in the corner of the baby photo was printed directly on the cardstock.
The second image shown is my other favorite. It’s a birth announcement where she uses the actual foot prints from the baby. If you’re wondering how she manages this, the foot prints are scanned from the actual baby birth announcement that the hospital generally gives you after your child is born. She was given the photo of the baby by the customers to use.
What gave you the inspiration to start K Notes?
My family and my beautiful baby girl inspired and continue to inspire me. I left my career in traffic engineering to stay at home with my daughter when she was born in 2005. An aunt who enjoys stamping and scrapbooking encouraged me to create homemade stamped birth announcements – I did, and, in so doing, realized that, while, stamping is not my thing, I enjoyed sending a unique custom birth announcement, printed on rich, colorful papers. From there, I created my own custom photo thank you cards, and then Halloween cards and Christmas cards, and so on, using snapshots I had taken of my daughter. I enjoyed combining my creativity and scrapbooking/computer skills to keep my friends and family updated with photos of my daughter. I started planning my cards in advance, using props for photo sessions of my daughter to contribute to the overall theme of the card. I sent New Year’s cards, Valentines, Easter cards, Independence Day postcards and Birthday invitations and thank yous. After my daughter’s first year, filled with greetings to friends and family, I decided to enter my cards (“Greetings from Baby’s First Year”) in the hobby show at a local fair. I took home a ribbon, and the thought that people would pay me to design and print their special cards, and I wanted them to!
How long did it take you to start your business?
k notes was born within eight months of my decision to pursue opening a business.
What types of products do you offer?
k notes offers creative stationery and photography services for all occasions. My business specializes in creating custom announcements, invitations and note cards, including birth announcements, wedding invitations, shower and party invitations, holiday greeting cards and personal stationery.
My work is tailored to each customer’s needs and tastes, making every project interesting and unique. I create both single-layer and multi-layer designs using photographs or decorative papers, and have several different photograph editing and publication layout computer software and scrapbooking tools available for use, depending on the design. Sometimes, customers come to me with a specific idea for their card; other times, customers have an event or maybe a specific photo from which to start, but need help in developing a card or party theme around which to design the card.
How many different steps did you have to take before your business was born?
1. Once I decided to turn my hobby into a business, I first contacted the local U.S. Small Business Administration office and requested a business start-up packet. The packet included information on a free workshop on the “Basics of Starting a Business” presented by the Ohio Small Business Development Center. I attended the workshop and gained some valuable resources, including contacts with small business advisors that may come in handy one day.
2. I wrote a business plan, but did not project financials, since I was starting a sole proprietorship and was not seeking outside funding or employees. Of course, ignoring the financials in your plan goes against standard (and probably “good” business practice); but I decided to leave this section until I have a firm handle on what my projected income may be, after working for a few years, before moving on to a “store-front” business. Ultimately (when my daughter is in school), I would like to operate out of a shop, selling papers and other brands of stock stationery to support the custom business.
3. I started designing cards for friends and family to test my product and begin “word of mouth” advertising for my upcoming business venture. These projects helped me to determine which equipment and materials I would need in order to offer my services to the public.
4. I found a CPA. I looked online at the Ohio Society of CPAs website, and found out that they have a program called the “Ohio CPA Client Referral Program,” which matches local CPAs to your business type and size, and provides you with a list of qualified area CPAs who will provide you with a free half-hour consultation to discuss the potential engagement. I promptly met with one of the referred CPAs, who helpfully answered many of my accounting questions, and I joined his list of clientele for tax services. On his recommendation, I purchased QuickBooks® to do my own accounting and sales tax filings.
5. I researched Ohio Secretary of State and Ohio Department of Taxation requirements for my business.
6. I called both my auto and homeowner insurance agents and researched the types and cost of coverage my at-home, delivery vendor business would require.
7. I enlisted a trademark and patent attorney to perform a name search for my business name, and provide advice on trademark issues.
8. I registered a domain name and established a business email address; and I purchased a cell phone to use for my business line.
How long did you make your stationery before you decided to turn it into a business?
I spent a little over a year of creating custom photo cards to send to family and friends from my daughter before deciding to start my business. But, previous to my daughter’s birth, I had enjoyed designing our address change cards on the computer. And, as a young girl, I had submitted drawings and ideas to Gibson Greeting Cards. So, this was something I’ve enjoyed doing my whole life, but I never had the time or inspiration to devote to it as a hobby until my beautiful daughter was born.
As a mom, how have you managed parenthood and working from home?
I never got used to a straight eight hours of sleep! As soon as my daughter goes down for a nap or to sleep at night, I start working.
I also made the decision before I started my business that I would start slow – relying on “word of mouth” advertising for the first year or two, before pursuing other promotional opportunities – so that I did not feel overwhelmed with the new business. My goal for k notes’ first year is to establish the business (equipment, procedures and pricing), expand my portfolio and my customer base, and worry about profit in subsequent years.
Being a good mother to my daughter comes first.
Most importantly, do you have any advice for other moms that would like to start their own home business?
Do something you are passionate about! You will not want to work until 2 AM, and get up with your kids at 7 AM, if you do not enjoy what you are doing. I look forward to working on each project and think about them throughout the day, jotting down ideas in a notebook I keep handy (so I even accomplish work while rocking my daughter to sleep!).
If you would like to contact Kim Dietrich Elam, owner of K Notes, you can do so by phone or email:
(513) 884-0849
kim@knotes-style.com
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