Business Opportunities Weblog

May 2, 2008 by Angela Shupe | 7 Comments

When Cathy Bennett, who calls herself a “Scrapbooking Dropout,” couldn’t quite get her own pages right she figured their had to be something better. When she looked to see if maybe their was an easier, digital version that could make the same end product she was kind of surprised to see that it was not the case. With no expertise in the world of internet and graphic design she took her chances and found a “web development” partner to help her create exactly what she was looking for.

It was on July 12th of 2007 that Cathy finally launched her business, How Fast They Grow, Inc. Her software patent pending and her templates continually growing, How Fast They Grow is giving people that don’t have the time or patience to sit down and make their scrapbooks by hand the chance to do so online in very little time.

Cathy has been kind enough to donate a $25 gift certificate to one of our readers. Anyone who would like to see for themselves how easy it is to make a scrapbook page online should keep reading.

If you would like to be entered for a chance to receive the $25 gift certificate then leave a comment on this post. The giveaway will last for a week starting now and ending on May 8th at 11:59pm. I will then choose the winning comment on the 9th. The winner will be announced in the comments and will be contacted by email.

What is ‘How Fast They Grow’?

How Fast They Grow is an online digital scrapbooking website. It’s powered by digi-scrapbook(R), our patent-pending tool, which allows customers to easily drag and drop their photos into magazine-quality 12×12″ layouts. We call ourselves “Home of the 7 minute scrapbook page.”

When did you start your online service?

I’d been working on the idea for 3 years prior, but launched www.HowFastTheyGrow.com on July 12, 2007.

What was your inspiration?

My inspiration came from my experience in trying to put together a baby book for my son, a newborn at the time. I call myself a “scrapbooking dropout,” from my frustrating experience. Scrapbooking is a great hobby for some people, but I found it extremely time-consuming, messy and I never quite liked the way my pages turned out. In addition to wasting a lot of time at the dining room table trying to scrapbook, I wasted a lot of paper, photos, embellishments, etc. due to all the trial and error. In my background in marketing, I’d created countless presentations in powerpoint, and loved being able to create something digitally and being able to edit so easily. I was shocked that there was not a beautiful, easy solution for scrapbooking at your computer. There were websites out there that said they were digital scrapbooking websites, but I didn’t like any of them. They seemed to either require an advance degree in digital design or were just plain unattractive. I had zero expertise in internet, graphics or photography (three areas people assume I am from), but knew what I liked and knew what I wanted. I also knew there was a niche for “high end” scrapbooking for the moms out there who had more discerning taste.

What are the most popular pages made?

If you think about the times parents are most likely to take photos, those are the most popular pages: Birth, Christmas, Halloween, first birthdays, vacations.

How many templates do you have for customers to choose from?

We now have 270 different page designs, and are doubling that number by the end of this year.

What sorts of steps did you need to take to get your business launched?

The toughest part in launching the business was finding the right web development partner. There were a lot of web design firms who said they could develop what I was looking for (the rich-internet application digi-scrapbook), but ended up not having nearly the amount of web expertise required. I ended up finding Ecom Enterprises of Sunnyvale California, whose expertise is rich internet applications and web 2.0 made the development of digi-scrapbook possible. From there, I aligned myself with designers who had done beautiful work in the past. Early on, I filed for domain name registration and a trademark on How Fast They Grow as soon as I thought of the term. I hired an attorney who I trusted who help me work through all of the contracts and then created developed work plans (with deadlines) with all of my suppliers to ensure that the project did not go off track.

Have you learned anything since you started your business that you wish you’d known before?

Yes, do your own PR. I’ve hired two public relations firms, thinking they held the magic key to obtaining publicity from editors of magazines and websites. Nothing against any PR firms, but it’s just as easy for the owner her/himself to contact these individuals, and I’ve found most editors would rather work with the owner of the company than their PR manager, anyway. Handling your own PR makes you feel much more in control of the message and the outcome, and for me has been far more effective. It also saves a lot of money.

What advice have you received that has been invaluable to you?

When I decided to launch my own business, I picked up a few business basics books, one of which was “The Rules” by Martha Stewart. Her 10th rule in the book is one that I’d never seen given as business advice before: “Make it Beautiful.” It’s now my mantra. When you think about it, it’s fantastic business advice. We live in such a visual world, you can’t compete if your product, website, or packaging is sub-par from an aesthetic point of view. Great design goes a long way.

What kinds of experience have you been able to draw from as a parent and use in business?

Don’t take yourself to seriously. Don’t sweat the small stuff and DEFINITELY don’t lose your cool. Running a business, like being a parent, can be very trying. Somedays you feel like pulling out your hair, but you still have to take everything in stride. Expect things to go wrong on a daily basis and do your best to correct them.

How do you manage your time as a parent and as a business owner?

On a daily basis, ask yourself, “What’s important, now?” It’s advice I received 15 years ago from a Lou Holtz (former football coach) speech I attended while I was an MBA student at Notre Dame. The acronym is “WIN,” and it helps me with parenthood and business. In both, you need to constantly re-priortize your day based on the fact that there are not enough hours in the day. Some days, it’s order fulfillment, sometimes it’s a visit to the pediatician’s office, somedays its PR. Don’t plan your day around the projects you enjoy working on, plan you day to get the most important items of the day completed, and work down your list from there.

Do you have any advice for other moms out there that are interested in starting their own business?

Yes, don’t be afraid to take your time. Hasty decisions seem to always be bad decisions with anything in life. People told me four years ago that if I didn’t launch my business in the next month or two, somebody else come before me. Guess what, no one did. If I’d rushed into launching my business, it would have looked very different. If you take your time, you’ll make better decisions and have a better business overall.

In Giveaway, Internet, Interviews, Women, Work at Home | 7 Comments