Today we meet Tara von Ribbeck, from Birnbaum Designs. She shares her tips on working from home around her kids.
- Tell us about yourself, a bit of background.
I am a work from home mom, mother to a beautiful boy, Kai and baby boy Wren. The daughter of a diplomat, I grew up in my teen years in Paris. It was an amazing experience and helped to shape my world outlook. Back in South Africa I enjoy the outdoor lifestyle Cape Town has to offer. Before becoming pregnant with my first, I would spend my time surfing, on the mountains, dancing and reading. Family time is especially important to me and I love nothing more than spending time with my boys and husband, Carl.
- What were you doing before you started this business?
My 20’s were spent working on a Wine Estate in the Constantia Valley firstly in Human Resources before moving into a General Manager Operations position. The estate had various businesses including a hotel, 3 award winning restaurants, stables and wine farm. It was a busy time and after 11 years I left to work for an HIV non-profit organisation developing business partnerships and community relations throughout South Africa. I briefly worked in a National Sales position for a natural skin care range before meeting my husband and becoming pregnant with my first child. When pregnant with Kai, Birnbaum Designs was imagined and eventually born out Carl’s creativity, my entrepreneurship and a joint of a love for quality products that last generations.
- Is your business full time or part time and why?
It is a little of both. Currently I also work as a consultant assisting other businesses with various back office services. This helps us to bring in steady income and allows for cashflow while building a new business. Although we have been working and doing orders silently in the background for over a year, we have only just recently launched Birnbaum Designs in October 2018. Some weeks require much more focus than others depending on the schedule, orders, marketing requirements and so on. As the business grows, I will reduce the consulting work until I am working exclusively for Birnbaum Designs. We make our way to our dreams one step at a time.
- How do you juggle the responsibilities of being a mom with your work?
This is tricky for any working mom. My priority will always be my children, so scheduling is very important. I have a nanny who helps 3 days a week when I work from 08h00 – 15h00. Working from home allows me to be available to Kai (and baby) when needed. He is welcome to walk into the office to tell me what he is excited about or to get a little cuddle before continuing on with his day. On the days that I don’t have a nanny, Kai luckily still sleeps for 3 hours during the day. This gives plenty of time to catch up on emails, attend to orders, and other tasks. When Kai is awake, I put down my phone, pack away my computer and he has my full focus. There are always evenings available when needs be to catch up with anything that still needs completion. When working with suppliers and other partners, I ensure that deadlines are realistic and that any work is given in advance where possible. so that I can manage my own time rather than having external people having influence over my schedule. This is critical for creating a balance between family life and work life. In today’s “rush” it is important for me to not get swept up, but rather focus on what needs to be done in a manageable way.
- Do you have a business plan? If so, can you share a bit about your strategy to make it successful?
We do have a business plan that we work towards and keep us focused. It also required that we have a business plan in place which we used in order to secure funding. Our product range includes a combination of baby/toddler furniture, developmental apparatus and modular storage units. Due to the nature of our products, it allows us to target multiple markets which give the business a greater chance of success. Our target markets include, but are not limited to: parents to be, parents, play schools, Montessori schools, occupational therapist, interior decorators and baby/toddler retail stores. Our storage units have been very successful not only for children’s rooms, but as storage for people without children as well. We also offer custom design which allows us to benefit from income outside of our targeted markets. Custom design is a big part of our business and ranges from corporate to individual requests.
We also do not carry stock which reduces our business risk substantially. We make each item personally for the person or company who has placed their order. In the future we will also offer a rental service of our products which is in line with our vision of reducing waste in the world. We do not yet have a date when this will be implemented. Our clients will be able to enjoy the use of our products for the period that they require them. From a business perspective this will also bring in regular income from the rental agreements which will assist with the business’ sustainability and success.
Our range is all made with the highest quality materials and construction methods as well as eco/baby safe materials. Where ever possible materials from sustainable forests are also used. All our products are made to last for generations so are great value. Although we are a local company, we easily compete against international brands and a common question we get asked is “where do you import your products from”.
- How do you get clients/ market yourself?
We reach our clients in various ways. We recently did Mama Magic in Cape Town and will attend other selected trade shows in the future. We also to selected markets (Kirstenbosch Market being our favourite). We also advertise through the various social media platforms and are members of selected groups which we feel are relevant to our brand. In addition, we do direct marketing where we call on clients directly such as schools etc.
- What’s your biggest challenge right now?
For any small business funding is always a challenge. We are very select in where we focus our energies and continuously monitor our return on investment. If we don’t see a return, we make the necessary changes. Our products are high value and high quality. Many mommy bloggers and media outlets like to work with freebees. This is easy when you have a low-cost product, but with a high cost product like ours we need to be very selective. When we are approached, we have to really investigate where our money and energies will be best spent and to look at creative ways of people still being able to experience our products and brand without pushing costs up too high.
- Did you need a lot of money to start off? And how long was it before you made a profit?
We are still a new company. We did secure funding to help us get started. Our funding has mainly been focused on PR & Marketing efforts. We are not yet making a profit (only in month 2), but orders are happily coming in so if we continue along this path, we project we will be making a comfortable profit in the next year and half.
- What makes your business unique from other brands?
We are a local business that provides products and services at a quality level of imported brands. We source our materials from sustainable forests where ever possible and ensure that materials we use during manufacture are eco and baby safe. We build to last during a time where most things are built to break. Where every possible some of our products use puzzle joinery to reduce the need for screws and other consumables. This also gives our products greater strength and a beautiful look and feel.
- Share with us your social media links and website.
https://www.facebook.com/birnbaumdesigns/
https://www.instagram.com/birnbaumdesigns/
https://twitter.com/birnbaumdesigns
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-J4fBvqvOFM-SmayzzgFhw
Do pop over and read her blog, particularly this powerful story about her VBAC.
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What a wonderful business to support. May Tara look back after a year and see the growth in the business, but also treasure the time spent with her children.