Ever wondered what it really costs to turn a light-bulb moment into something real? This week’s Money Diarist is a mum of two who did exactly that. She created a world-first product that launched just two weeks ago, and now she’s here to do what most founders wouldn’t: spill on every dollar it took to make it happen. From losing out to a dodgy sourcing agency to somehow pulling together $200K through pure determination, she’s laying it all out... the risks and the real-world chaos of betting on yourself. Inside the ep, we talk what it actual costs to get a product made, and how she’s juggling start-up life, toddler meltdowns, and a mortgage. It’s messy, bold, and so unbelievably relatable.
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Acknowledgement of Country By Nartarsha Bamblett aka Queen Acknowledgements.
The advice shared on She's On The Money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's On The Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. If you do choose to buy a financial product, read the PDS, TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs. Victoria Devine and She's On The Money are authorised representatives of Money Sherpa PTY LTD ABN - 321649 27708, AFSL - 4
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
My name's Aatasha Bamblet. I'm a proud First Nations woman
and I'm here to acknowledge country t Glenn Young Ganya Niana,
kaka ya Ya bin Ahaka Nian our gay In Mbina,
yakarum Jar, Dominyama, Domaghawakaman, damon Imlan Bomber bang Gadabomba in
and now in wakah ghana on yak rum jar Watnadaa. Hello,
(00:22):
beautiful friends, we gather on the lands of the Aboriginal people.
We thank acknowledge and respect the Abigin people's land that
we're gathering on today. Take pleasure in all the land
and respect all that you see. She's on the Money
podcast acknowledges culture, country, community and connections, bringing you the tools,
knowledge and resources for you to thrive.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
She's on the Money. She's on the Money.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Hello, and welcome to She's on the Money, the podcast
that lets you be pervy about other people's money.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
Habits for educational purposes, of course.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Welcome back to another one of our Money Daries episodes
where I get the absolute pleasure of sitting down and
having a chat with one of our beautiful She's on
the Money community members all.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
About their money habits.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Let's jump straight into it, because this week I got
a message and it sounded exactly like this, dear, she's
on the money. I'm a mom of two who launched
a small business just two weeks ago. The journey to
launching this company has been wild. We lost seventeen thousand
dollars to a sourcing agency, had to take out a
loan on our home, turned to family, and somehow managed
(01:48):
to raise two hundred thousand dollars to build the business
without investors. There's a big gap in the market, and
I'm on a mission to blow.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
Up this space.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Oh my god, I cannot wait for this to blow
up and then me call you back in like a
year or two and can you come back on my podcast,
and then maybe to be too popular for me. So
I'm so excited, Money Diarist, Before I ask any more
gritty questions, what grade would you give you money habits
if I asked you to give them a grade from
A three to.
Speaker 5 (02:17):
F, Oh, I'd give it a C A C.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
You've seen pretty money savvy from that story. Let's learn
more about it. Tell me about your money story, Tell
me about your business.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
Tell me about your life.
Speaker 5 (02:29):
Yes, So I was a videographer for like ten years,
and I built that business from absolute scratch. I borrowed
money back then ten years ago from my mom to
buy all the equipment that I needed. I basically worked
for free for like a year and a half, built
up a little bit of a name in the videography world,
smashed it for ten years, bought a house, car, had kids.
Speaker 4 (02:51):
Look at you.
Speaker 5 (02:52):
We did it. We did incredible. I'm very proud of
what we achieved. Then my husband's also like a video editor,
so it just really flowed really well. Then I had
this idea from being a videographer to start this new
business and I found a real, like real good niche
in the market, and I invented a product that literally
(03:13):
did not exist.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
I love this, and you can be so like.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
I don't want to be too pervy, because like these
are meant to be anonymous, But if you're comfy saying it,
I'm comfy sharing it. I don't want you to think
that you can't do a little shameless self promoted the
ses on the money community a little.
Speaker 5 (03:27):
Bit of a self promot. Well, I basically invented the
world's first iPhone case for the built in fully tiltable
stand and it's designed content creators.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
Yeah that's crazy.
Speaker 5 (03:38):
How So it's literally like imagine a beautiful normal silicon
iPhone case, very trendy, lush, and then on the sides
is basically like a stand that swings forwards and that
so you can take any anger course three hundred and
sixty degrees around the phone. And it's built into the
case so you don't have to like use tripods or
(03:59):
like magnetic things that you're going to forget. Like it's
literally built and you prop it up anywhere, anytime. And
actually it was definitely designed with content creer. Oh my god,
look you're a little tripod thing. Yeah, I'll send you tripod.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
No, no, no, I will buy one from you.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
I'm not taking your free shit, thank you, though I
appreciate it. I'm holding up a very dodgy looking iPhone
stand that I sadly use.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
On the daily.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
I will. I've got you key a little.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Bit embarrassing, but it sounds like you have it sorted.
And yes, that's quite a niche, but like people want that.
Every man in his dog these days is becoming a
content creator, and you want the stuff in your pocket,
Like you don't want to be lugging around a tripod
and also I don't want to be seen carrying a tripod.
Speaker 5 (04:43):
Everyone say it's like, you know, imagine a moment's happening,
like out with your kids or you're in the street,
or like, I was not that person that was going
to set up a tripod in the middle of the
street to capture myself.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
And you're a videographer as well, so if anyone would have,
it would have been you.
Speaker 5 (04:56):
That's it. And also like I'm like, I feel it's
nowadays like all this organic content that really converts and
that it tells a story and so if you take
five ten minutes to set up the shot, the moments
over like and actually I'm finding that lords of moms
are using it for like recipes or listening to podcasts or.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
That's so smart.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
I'm always propping my phone up on a drink so
that I can see my tiktoks while I do my
makeup doom scrolling.
Speaker 5 (05:22):
It's perfect for that whatever you need to do. Like,
it's a really good invention and I'm so proud of it,
but it has well done.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
I'm so excited for you.
Speaker 5 (05:33):
It's definitely it's cost us. Oh my god, we're more
than what we ever imagined.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
And it's always the way with business, isn't it.
Speaker 5 (05:41):
It's a lot.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Oh my gosh. So tell me a bit more. So
you've still started your business. But what are you and
your partner doing right now for work? And what amount
of money are you earning?
Speaker 5 (05:51):
Yeah, so at the moment, obviously we launched officially launched
our company two weeks ago, so obviously we're getting sales
from that. We'll get into that.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
I'm sure you're already getting sales from this product.
Speaker 5 (06:02):
Yeah, we're getting like stop hair coverage, like six to
eight a day at the minute.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
Stop hair.
Speaker 5 (06:07):
Is that good?
Speaker 4 (06:08):
I'm so proud of you, and I've had nothing to
do with this. It's that good.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
What do you mean is that good? Most people launch
their small business and have no sales.
Speaker 5 (06:17):
Well, you know, you see all these success stories and
I'm on TikTok and we slow down on twenty four
hours and I'm like, oh my god, is this good?
Is it not?
Speaker 4 (06:25):
No, that's not normal. That's not normal.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
And you know what I've found over the years is
I see that content it's a little bit click baity
and you look at their stuff and you go, that
can't be right. And I'm such a skeptic, right, like
I will snoop on you, like not you pe particularly,
but like I'll snoop on stuff. If you're big noting
yourself on TikTok, you've opened yourself up for me to
absolutely look through your website. Sorry you did that to yourselves,
(06:48):
And I go, you didn't sell out in the first thing.
In fact, you've quote launched six times, Like what is
going on here? People just want that, And there is
this like it's like a I don't know, bandwag anything.
Like if you tell someone, oh my god, we sold out,
they automatically feel like they missed out. So it's also
a marketing strategy, like I have seen people put like
(07:10):
even on their website.
Speaker 4 (07:11):
Right. So let's let's say you have like fifty.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Phone cases in stock or whatever you know that, but
you don't put fifty there. You say that you only
have five left, and then when people are at checkout,
they go, oh shit, there's only five left. I need
to check out quickly. And it's just these marketing tactics
that put more pressure on the seller. But then as
a small business owning yourself. You're probably looking at you know,
I don't think there are many competitors for you, but
(07:34):
you could look at other like phone case companies. You're thinking,
oh my god, they're selling out so quickly. That might
not be true. So that's why we need to just
stick in our own lane and just like put the
blinkers on, especially when you launch bit sorry getting that
many sales when you're two weeks old, Go in my
business Bible community and ask them how long did it
take you to sell a product? And so many of
(07:56):
them are going to be like, babe, months months I
launched and I had one. It was my mom, Like
that happens so often. You are doing so I'm so
excited for you.
Speaker 5 (08:06):
That makes me feel so much better. Yeah, it's been
It has been quite like a rough two weeks obviously,
just I think expectation versus reality. I think the pressure
and hitting me of like how much we borrowed, how
much we poll and it's not going to get paid
back of the night, and the people that I have
borrowed from, like my family, they are sore understanding of that.
(08:26):
I think it's like these awn really unrealistic expectations I've
put on myself.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
That always always, so small business owners, you've got to
be a little bit de Lulu. But like anything that
you can think about negatively, you can think about positively
as well, Like it's an active choice. So like instead
of going, oh my god, we owe so much money.
Oh my god, Like why can't we just be delusional
about the sales? Oh my god, I've got six sales.
I reckon next week, I could do double. Like, let's
just step into delulu a little bit, because right now
(08:54):
you're just manifesting the worst.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
That's not what we do, not in this house.
Speaker 5 (08:58):
I hear, I hear you. That is very true. So
we literally launched two weeks ago. And then so I'm
a videographer, like I was saying, So basically, I'm trying
to do maybe between two and four jobs a month
or videography. I used to do a ridiculous amount, but
now I'm like trying to limit myself because my business
(09:19):
needs a lot of attention. So I get about throw
it between three and four thousand a day from videography.
So if I do that, say two to four times
a month, that's definitely enough for us to kind of
put food on the table.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
That's incredible. How good.
Speaker 5 (09:34):
Yeah, that's really great. Yeah, Like I shop for some
awesome brands this week and I love that. So it's
for me, it's like, it's not hard work going back
to something that I love and I know that it's
going to take a bit of time to build up
this new one. And my husband he does contracts with
different people, and he like edits podcasts, so he edits
exercise classes and so he brings in enough to kind
(09:57):
of cover the mortgage and a bit of food type
of thing.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
And you're still able to build your business on the side.
I love it. And you have two babies.
Speaker 5 (10:04):
Two babies, yeah, too young, So you're.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
Not busy at all. You've got not much going on.
Speaker 5 (10:08):
Yeah, I'm pretty churely, you know, there's I find a
lot of space and time. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
I love that.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
So tell me about your big money goals, Like what
does that look like moving into the future. Are they
mainly business focused? Are they lifestyle? Are they retirement? I
don't know what page are you on.
Speaker 5 (10:24):
Yeah, I think for me it's definitely lifestyle. I really
want to build this business up, hire the right people,
and the truth is just literally be able to travel
with my babies and my family like that is like
that for me is the ultimate you know, like going,
not not traveling like a Nike he or a night
they're like going somewhere for six months and immersing ourselves
(10:46):
working as well, you know, like online and doing it.
But for me, it would be to take my babies
around the world is like my ultimate dream.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
I love that.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
And tell me a little bit more about your babies.
How old are they.
Speaker 5 (10:58):
We've got a one year old and three year old.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
I'll stop it. So you've got actual baby and you're
starting a bit.
Speaker 5 (11:05):
One of them is still breastfeed, which is really intense
because obviously she's just a bit of a booby fingd
that's all she wants. And my eldest is I mean
like a tornad or in a three year old's body.
He is just, oh my god, the energy, the everything
is big and heightened with him. So yeah, it's quite intense.
(11:26):
We have quite an intense We've got ducks, chickens, dogs,
we've got rabbits, We've got Yeah.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
You're living my actual dream. And also sorry, props to you, mum.
Breastfeeding for more than a year like that is rough. Like,
don't get me wrong, special but rough.
Speaker 5 (11:41):
It's rough. But when we're going to New York actually
next week, so when I get back, I'm weaning. I'm done,
like I'm doing it for flights, doing it for all.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
I was about to say, if I had a holiday
coming up and I was still breastfeeding, I would not
be giving up breastfeeding yet. Sorry, that is also a
secret weapon. Yeah, your genius. What are you going to
New York for?
Speaker 5 (11:58):
My company is sponsoring the over there. And also I'm
going to Female Founder World.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
Stop it.
Speaker 4 (12:04):
Jasmine's my favorite.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
I was hanging out with her last week and recorded
a podcast episode with her.
Speaker 5 (12:09):
Oh my god, I saw fun girl Jasmine like I
saw fun Girl her. I'm so excited.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
She's so cool. Oh my god, she's so cool. She's
just the coolest.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
I love it, and I love Female Founder World, and
I can't believe you're going all the way over there.
I'm going to message her and let her know that
one of my She's on the Money community members is going,
because that's crazy.
Speaker 4 (12:29):
I would love to go.
Speaker 5 (12:30):
You should come with me. Let's just go.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Oh, I wish you should see my calendar, like I
wish so before I.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
Agree to flights to New York.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Let's take a really quick break because on the flip side,
what we're going to do is, I want to talk
more about this investment that you've made in your company
and how you crowdsourced that through your friends and family.
I want to talk about more debt and then best
and most money habits. So guys don't go anywhere, all right,
money drivest We are back, and I want to talk
(13:00):
about investment. You said in your message in you were like,
you know, we lost seventeen thousand dollars to a sourcing agency,
had to take it a loan on our home, and
then turned to family and somehow managed to raise two
hundred grand. Can you tell me more about that process
because that sounds really stressful.
Speaker 5 (13:16):
Yeah, slightly stressful. So we started this process. We got
kind of promised the world from a sourcing agency. So
the sourcing agency was supposed to basically help us with
the product, get it through to finding us a manufacturer,
getting it produced. Everything like that long, long, long story,
short that never happened. We lost seventeen thousand dollars. We
(13:38):
lost a year and a half in this game, which
is such a long time like we could have had
this done a long time ago. We cut ties with
them and literally hired my neighbor who helped us source
the entire thing. And so basically the money side of
things was, we had eight thousand dollars saved. We were
going to maybe buy second property or try and do
(14:00):
something like do up the house, do something with it.
Then I had this idea. We put eighty thousand dollars.
I think it's more about like one hundred maybe of
our own money. Now, yeah, eighty thousand dollars we put
down and then found out I was pregnant two weeks later,
then literally took out one hundred thousand dollars on our
(14:20):
house from like the equity hour broker helped us get that.
Then we are so ridiculously blessed that we both have
a set of parents that believe wholeheartedly in us and
what we do.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
Oh, I love this. Everybody deserves that.
Speaker 5 (14:36):
Everybody deserves that. And they're both I wouldn't say we're
from wealthy families, but they're both they okay, do you
know what I mean? They're stable. One of them's at
my partner's parents are retired, and they're like houses paid off,
they're good and my parents are separated, and my mum's
in a good space like financially and she they both
(14:56):
lent us a good amount of money to help us
reach this goal. We need it.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
That's so good And can I be real perfect? What
type of investment? So, like, you've said you own a
company and you've invented the world's first Like what is it?
It says on your website. I've got it up now.
I've been stalking you while you're talking. It says, the
world's first iPhone case with a built in, fully tiltable
stand for creators, TikTokers and UGC Wizards. It's a pocket
(15:23):
sized superhero in your phone. I'm sorry, they're really flipping cute,
Like they are so cute you will write, But tell
me how much does that like for me? That I'm
looking at this business and I'm like, hold on, that
feels like a big investment because you're not just doing
one product and then shipping it out.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
You've got multiple colors.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
You probably have multiple phone cases because like everybody's got
a different style, size phone.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
You can't just do one. What's that look like?
Speaker 5 (15:53):
Yeah, so Lung's began. This is super mass that you
can work out really quickly. Basically every time up or
really an iPhone. Let's say they release a fifteen series,
there's four sizes, and each time we get a different size,
we have to pay thirteen thousand dollars per mold. Then
you have MQ's per collor per size, so you're looking
(16:14):
at about twenty thousand dollars per size like fifteen fifteen
pro fifteen probats. It's so costly. And then because we've
invented something that literally didn't exist, it's not like drop shipping.
I can't just like chuckle over one in common. And
also the mechanism in here is tiny, so to get
the it seems like nothing like people like, yeah, you've
(16:37):
put some like a little stand on a phone. I'm like,
get that mechanism working. Like we had to pay like
to keep it slimlin, Yeah, to keep it slim light,
to keep the resistance like it's got a good amount
of resistance. It's been the biggest eye opener. It was
so expensive, so much more than we ever planned. And
I literally just had to ask my family for more
money two days ago because we need to get the
(16:57):
iPhone seventeen series out. That they've just really.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Oh yeah, and they basically relates a new iPhone every year,
now don't they. So like that's got to be something
that you've got to predict and go, okay, cool and
creators are crazy.
Speaker 4 (17:09):
They always have the newest iPhone.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Absolutely, yeah, like how annoying. How annoying, but also how cool?
Like is that something that you foresaw when you started
the journey? Like has this been like you're like I
knew that would happen or were you like, oh far out,
sorry forgot to think about that.
Speaker 5 (17:25):
Yeah, look, we kind of did. I think that we
maybe underestimated how much each mold would cost, and we
kind of underestimated. We just underestimated everything. I think we
never done anything like this before and it has been yeah,
incredibly educational, put it that way. But yeah, yeah, now
we fully get it and now we all estimate everything.
(17:47):
You know, we knew that Apple were going to bring
out a new iPhone every year. It's a pro andercn
because people come back every year, but we also have
to spend x amount per year to get the molds
made and the minimum molder quantity done, so is bit
of a pra under con you know. But yeah, it
was blonde.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
Hey, and do you so I'm assuming that basically all
your investing money and any free cash flow is going
into this so you're not investing in any other way,
shape or form. Just I'm assuming because you said, oh,
we had to ask family for money, Like, do you
know what I mean? Is that the right thing? To
assume that basically all your cash is just going towards
this business.
Speaker 5 (18:23):
Everything it's either pair the mortgage, buy food, or put
it into our business. Yeah?
Speaker 3 (18:27):
Yeah, fair, fair, And tell me a little bit more
about the debt. So you know, you've managed to raise
two hundred grand to build the business up without investors.
But how are you managing that? Because I'm often really
apprehensive of raising money and capital with family because it
can be really scary. It sounds like you've got a
super supportive family and like it works for you. But
like how you tracking that debt? How like do you
(18:49):
have a repayment plan? What other debts have you got?
Because like, I'm just so pervy.
Speaker 5 (18:54):
No, please, I love it. I feel like I'm like
this in other areas of people's lives. I okay, So basically,
the one hundred thousand dollars on the house we pay
interest on per month, and so we pay I think
about five hundred dollars interest per month on that hundred
grand as well as the mortgage, and basically as soon
(19:16):
as we put money into that offset account, that will
go down. So we were not too phased about that
at the minute. Like, that's quite an all right deal
for us. Family, bless their little hearts. Haven't asked for
any repayments. They're like, get yourself sorted, get yourselves going. Yeah.
My dad's like, I kind of see this as you know,
a little bit of a longer term thing to me
(19:37):
and my mum are really close. She's actually our first hire,
unpaid of course at the moment, but she handles all
of our finances, so she'll be able to let me
know when we can pay her and she'll.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
Be like, by the way, you owe me a whole salary,
that's right.
Speaker 5 (19:51):
And again, yeah, my partner's parents same type of thing,
Like I don't. We're very close with our family. They
haven't given us any terms, which I guess for some
people might feel really scary, but I think that we're.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Very everybody's different, right, there's like quote the textbook right
way you should do this, and then there's the way
that works for you, and they're all different. Like I
can't come on here and say like, well, you should
have done it differently.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
It's just not going to work. Like your parents would
probably be like, oh well, I don't want to sign anything.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
I was just happy to support you while you're making
it so complicated money direst Like everybody is different, and
I think that that's the beautiful thing about sharing these
money stories because I get to learn about you and
learn about what works for you. But then on the
flip side, right, like, let's pretend my sister comes to
me and wants to start a business, because I've been
through business so much because that's like my bread and butter,
(20:39):
and I've set people up, I've had failed partnerships. I've
seen lots of other people fail their partnerships. Even if
it was my sister and I adore her and I
trust her, at the end of the world, i'd be like,
sign here, Mike, whereas.
Speaker 4 (20:50):
Other people aren't like that, and that's so fine.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
But again, there's no right, there's no wrong, and it
doesn't really matter.
Speaker 4 (20:58):
Tell me a bit about the house.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
So you've got one hundred K as a loan against
the house for the business.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
But what type of mortgage are you still sitting on?
Speaker 5 (21:06):
So got our house for seven hundred and forty thousand,
and we put one hundred thousand down. Oh good, Yeah,
so we're paying off six hundred and forty thousand. I
think that's at the minute. With the interest rates gone,
I think we're on about like nine hundred one thousand
dollars a week or something for our mortgage. And that
is obviously that feels expensive to us now. It didn't
(21:27):
when I was full time videographer. We kind of breezed
through it. We were very I felt very abundant, and
it's but it has been two years now where we're
just like, oh my god, I'm so sick of being
skinned Like it's yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
It's hard, and it's like a sacrifice you make in
order to invest into a business. Let me be a
little bit more pervy. When you were a videographer, what
were you making per year? Like, what were your tax returns?
Speaker 4 (21:51):
Looking like?
Speaker 5 (21:52):
Yeah, we were I think I was doing about two
hundred and fifty between two hundred and twenty two hundred
and fifty kre.
Speaker 4 (21:58):
Yeah, that's so good.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
You're an icon and I mean, I don't want to
say that it won't work out because I think your
business is sick, but like it's just so nice that
you've built up that reputation in the industry. And I
have no doubt if you're like, you know what, I
really need to turn this videographer stuff back on the
idea that you could turn back to having an income
of two hundred grand.
Speaker 4 (22:18):
Does that make you.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
Feel really secure in the decisions you're making at the moment?
Speaker 5 (22:21):
Yeah, I mean it does. But I'm a very black
or white person sometimes, so I'm likely to I've started this,
I will finish this, I will make.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Oh yeah, no, same same. But it must be nice
to know that you've got the skills.
Speaker 5 (22:34):
At night knowing if she hit the fine, we will.
Speaker 4 (22:38):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll be all right. We'll still
be able to pay a mortgage.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
I'll still be able to get my kid's food on
the table, all of that stuff. Even though you are
being a bit skinned at the moment, is that something
that's starting to impact you, like mentally or physically, or
is that just like a I'm just so excited for
this business to take off, like but also it kind
of sucks not having some more financial freedom.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
Yeah, I will say it's very up and down. Like
there are some days where it doesn't bother me at all,
and I'm like, this is part of the journey, this
is part of our story, and you know, we talk
about it very openly as a family and different things
like that. But there are some days where like it
literally feels like somebody is sat on my chest and
I look at these little eyes watching me, and I think,
(23:20):
oh my god. I will be honest, like, it does
quite get to me sometimes. And I also think about
our family and how much they trust us and how
much they've lent us, and it does make me sometimes
feel quite anxious. But then I get feedback about the product,
and I get feedback from people, and then my mum
will just text me, I believe in you, baby, You've
(23:41):
got this, And then I'm like, god, I do I do?
You know? And it goes up and down.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
Like that stop it And like I obviously the second
you told me your business, I was like, I'm going
to google this and it's beautiful, Like it's not just beautiful,
but it's like practical, Like I feel like if you
just come out with phone cases I would have been like,
oh cute, they're really nice. I hope it goes really well.
Like sorry, I'm always propping my phone up on something.
All of my friends are always propping their phone up
on something Like this just makes sense. So I'm like,
(24:07):
why isn't what do you mean you did this first?
Like what do you mean someone else hasn't thought about this?
Speaker 4 (24:12):
Like how good?
Speaker 5 (24:13):
And our goal as well is to be like a
full ecosystem for content creers. So we're working on our
second product, we're working on audio or like, we don't
want to just be a phone case company. We basically
want to be for anybody that creates content you need anything,
like we are specifically designed for you type of thing.
Speaker 4 (24:31):
Yeah, I adore. What are next steps?
Speaker 3 (24:33):
So let's say this goes really well and then all
of a sudden you've got some additional cash flow, Like
we're paying back our business loans.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
That's all fun. Are the other products in the works?
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Like don't tell me because we can't have other people
stealing those ideas? Or are you like no, no, no,
Like we're just in this one silo and we're going
to just get really good at this, Like what's the
plan there.
Speaker 5 (24:51):
Is the most epic second product in the work. I
can't say it better than the first one, but I will.
I think it's on. Like people are gonna be like,
what like the way we've connected, Like, oh, it's creme
de la creme, Like you're gonna.
Speaker 4 (25:07):
Look, oh, I love these I can't wait.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
I'm gonna ask offline guys. You don't get to know,
but I'm sure as hell finding out. I love this
so much. Now let's move away from like getting all
of this. I want to know, like, you don't get
to this point without having some good money habits.
Speaker 4 (25:22):
What do you think is your best.
Speaker 5 (25:23):
I don't personally think that I'm good with money, but
what I will say is the only thing that I
can think of that comes to mind is I always
check my balance, Like I check it like a good
two or three times a day, like I just don't
know a while. Sometimes I'll just check just look, okay,
yeah good. Then if things have gone down quickly, then
I'm like, oh, hold on a minute, I need to
check on that. And that's when I remember to like
(25:45):
cancel a subscription that I'm not using, or you know,
I kind of see these little things so I'll say,
we can't get this anymore because it's just adding up
so much. Like I do check it a lot. I
think that would be my only good habit.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
I think that's a good thing. But I also won
is that impacting you? Are you stressed about money so
you check all the time? Like is this something that
maybe isn't as productive as.
Speaker 5 (26:07):
It could be? Well, you know what I think, Looking
even back to when we were quite financially free before kids,
and when I was just a videographer and building all
that up, I think I still checked quite a lot
then as well. And I think it's almost like more
of a soothing thing when you do have the money
in the car. I'm like, oh, I'm good, I'm saying,
And maybe it is a little bit more of an
(26:28):
anxiety think. And also I do I have to watch
it now because there is such little of it. I
do have to make sure are we on top of this?
Are we on top of that? So I do think yeah,
probably a pro and a negative. I would say yeah totally.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
I was like, oh, that's a good thing, Like I'm
glad you're across it, But like, is that impacting your
mental health in any way? Because we just don't want Yeah,
we don't want you to be stressed about money, but
I mean at the moment, I would.
Speaker 4 (26:53):
Be too, Like you're in the startup phases.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
We've just got stuff to do, like we're always looking
and I feel like once you get further into business
then it does pull back a little bit. But I
was exactly the same. That's why I was like, how's
your mental health because mom wasn't great.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (27:05):
Yeah, there's been a few sleepless nights. Let's just put
it that way.
Speaker 4 (27:09):
But you know what, it's part and puzzle of the journey.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
I'm so sorry if you were sleeping through every single night,
I would assume that you just don't care enough, Like
this stuff is hard at the beginning.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
Now, tell me, what do you think your worst money
habit is?
Speaker 5 (27:23):
My worst money habit is definitely spending money on the kids.
Like I'm such a sucker for toys and like little things,
and I think that's like tied into a guilt thing
as well. You know, we spend so much time and
energy on the business.
Speaker 4 (27:37):
Yeah, you're like, you can have another book. It is fine.
Speaker 5 (27:39):
It's fine, exactly, and you know, my little but I
love this card. I'm like you can get it, buddy.
Like I feel like sometimes that's probably my worst money habit.
And I also really want to teach him that he
can't have everything that he wants as well.
Speaker 4 (27:51):
You know, he's also three, so he doesn't get that yet.
I don't know. Oh, it's really rough. It's funny.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
I was actually talking to a money diarist last week
and she and I were saying the same thing, and
I was like, when I was not a mum, I
would like, you know, obviously give financial advice and be like, well,
this is your budget for this and that, and like
clients would say the same things like oh, I'm just
I'm so good with like my own budget, like I
don't blow it on treats for me, but I'm always
spending on the kids, like whether that's an ice cream
(28:18):
or a baby Chino or like another TOYR book or
a KMA.
Speaker 4 (28:21):
Trip or whatever.
Speaker 3 (28:22):
And I'd be like, oh, I'm thinking in the back
of my head, like when I'm doing my financial planning,
I'm like, no, I'm probably not like that, Like I'm
pretty good at saying no to additional things.
Speaker 4 (28:31):
I'm a pushover.
Speaker 3 (28:32):
I like the second I became a mom, like I
only have like what a nineteen twenty month old, I
can't remember.
Speaker 4 (28:39):
And if he's like, mom, one more, I'm like, you
can have ten, you can have ten. Take my money,
you want ten?
Speaker 5 (28:45):
Take heart?
Speaker 4 (28:46):
Take my money? Do you want my whole wallet back?
Like I suck and just like his little face.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
Like the other day we went to a cafe and
I ordered him a baby Chino because we've just gotten
into this and it had sprinkles on the top, and
like I was like, oh, I hid the marshmallow.
Speaker 4 (29:01):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
I feel like that's a relatable mum thing to do,
Like no marshmallow for you, Glen Coco, that's mum text.
Speaker 4 (29:05):
And I put it down in front of him and
he goes, oh.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
Wow, And I was like, this is why I do it,
Like you're just he's been grateful.
Speaker 4 (29:12):
He was just so yep, that was worth the four
dollars I probably paid for that.
Speaker 5 (29:17):
Like crazy, we're until they start saying things like oh,
you're the best mummy ever, Please mummy, because you're the
best mummy ever. Then you're like, okay, you can have it.
Speaker 3 (29:25):
I feel like they have clocked manipulation, Like people say
that toddlers can't be manipulative because they don't understand. I reckon,
they've got it clocked NA totally money dirist. This has
been really beautiful. But at the start you said, look,
I'm a sea, but you're managing money pretty well. I
can say that you're still a little bit stressed about it.
(29:47):
We're in the startup phases of business. I get it.
What would it take to get you from this sea
that you said you were closer to an a Like?
What would you have to be doing? Is it just
about business success? Is it money management?
Speaker 5 (29:59):
Like?
Speaker 4 (29:59):
What what would it look like?
Speaker 5 (30:00):
I think it would be a mixture of both. I
think if my business became a little bit more successful,
and I also think if I managed to plug any
holes in my boocket when it comes to the business, like,
I'm still very much figuring out, like how much does
it actually cost per product? Like what is the what
is my role as? What is my cost by acquisition?
(30:21):
Like I'm still don't know any of that. So I
think it will be a mixture of both. As the
business craws, as I learn more, I think I'll feel
a bit more in that ab bracket.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
That's fair, but it feels like you're on track, So
that would you feel like you're like on the journey
or is there something that you significantly need to change
to get there?
Speaker 5 (30:41):
No, I think I'm on the journey. I do. I
think I'm a smart chick, and I think.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
I know you're a smart chick. I've just spent like
in the last half hour chatting with you. That was
obvious from the start.
Speaker 5 (30:50):
My lost thank you. Well, yeah, I think I'm on
the I think I'm on the track.
Speaker 4 (30:54):
I love it. Oh my god.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
I wish we had more time together, but unfortunately we
have very quickly run out of time. Thank you so
much for sharing your story, for sharing your small business.
Speaker 4 (31:03):
I'm going to get your.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Permission, hopefully offline. We'll have a chat about it, and
I'll see how I can promote your business with inside.
She's on the money, so that hopefully people.
Speaker 4 (31:12):
Go hold on, hold on. This must have been the money.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
Diarist and they can put two and two together themselves
if they're as pervy as I am. But thank you
so much for sharing your journey. This has been really special.
It's not often that a small business who's just launch
puts their hand up and says, ask me about my money.
Speaker 4 (31:28):
So this has been a privilege. I really really appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (31:30):
Thank you so much for having me. It was so
much fun.
Speaker 3 (31:39):
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on the Money exists purely for educational purposes and should
not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision.
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the PDS TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards
(31:59):
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(00:22):
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Speaker 2 (00:44):
She's on the Money. She's on the Money.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
Hello, and welcome to She's on the Money, the podcast
that lets you be pervy about other people's money.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
Habits for educational purposes, of course.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Welcome back to another one of our Money Daries episodes
where I get the absolute pleasure of sitting down and
having a chat with one of our beautiful She's on
the Money community members all.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
About their money habits.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Let's jump straight into it, because this week I got
a message and it sounded exactly like this, dear, she's
on the money. I'm a mom of two who launched
a small business just two weeks ago. The journey to
launching this company has been wild. We lost seventeen thousand
dollars to a sourcing agency, had to take out a
loan on our home, turned to family, and somehow managed
(01:48):
to raise two hundred thousand dollars to build the business
without investors. There's a big gap in the market, and
I'm on a mission to blow.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
Up this space.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Oh my god, I cannot wait for this to blow
up and then me call you back in like a
year or two and can you come back on my podcast,
and then maybe to be too popular for me. So
I'm so excited, Money Diarist, Before I ask any more
gritty questions, what grade would you give you money habits
if I asked you to give them a grade from
A three to.
Speaker 5 (02:17):
F, Oh, I'd give it a C A C.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
You've seen pretty money savvy from that story. Let's learn
more about it. Tell me about your money story, Tell
me about your business.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
Tell me about your life.
Speaker 5 (02:29):
Yes, So I was a videographer for like ten years,
and I built that business from absolute scratch. I borrowed
money back then ten years ago from my mom to
buy all the equipment that I needed. I basically worked
for free for like a year and a half, built
up a little bit of a name in the videography world,
smashed it for ten years, bought a house, car, had kids.
Speaker 4 (02:51):
Look at you.
Speaker 5 (02:52):
We did it. We did incredible. I'm very proud of
what we achieved. Then my husband's also like a video editor,
so it just really flowed really well. Then I had
this idea from being a videographer to start this new
business and I found a real, like real good niche
in the market, and I invented a product that literally
(03:13):
did not exist.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
I love this, and you can be so like.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
I don't want to be too pervy, because like these
are meant to be anonymous, But if you're comfy saying it,
I'm comfy sharing it. I don't want you to think
that you can't do a little shameless self promoted the
ses on the money community a little.
Speaker 5 (03:27):
Bit of a self promot. Well, I basically invented the
world's first iPhone case for the built in fully tiltable
stand and it's designed content creators.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
Yeah that's crazy.
Speaker 5 (03:38):
How So it's literally like imagine a beautiful normal silicon
iPhone case, very trendy, lush, and then on the sides
is basically like a stand that swings forwards and that
so you can take any anger course three hundred and
sixty degrees around the phone. And it's built into the
case so you don't have to like use tripods or
(03:59):
like magnetic things that you're going to forget. Like it's
literally built and you prop it up anywhere, anytime. And
actually it was definitely designed with content creer. Oh my god,
look you're a little tripod thing. Yeah, I'll send you tripod.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
No, no, no, I will buy one from you.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
I'm not taking your free shit, thank you, though I
appreciate it. I'm holding up a very dodgy looking iPhone
stand that I sadly use.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
On the daily.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
I will. I've got you key a little.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Bit embarrassing, but it sounds like you have it sorted.
And yes, that's quite a niche, but like people want that.
Every man in his dog these days is becoming a
content creator, and you want the stuff in your pocket,
Like you don't want to be lugging around a tripod
and also I don't want to be seen carrying a tripod.
Speaker 5 (04:43):
Everyone say it's like, you know, imagine a moment's happening,
like out with your kids or you're in the street,
or like, I was not that person that was going
to set up a tripod in the middle of the
street to capture myself.
Speaker 4 (04:53):
And you're a videographer as well, so if anyone would have,
it would have been you.
Speaker 5 (04:56):
That's it. And also like I'm like, I feel it's
nowadays like all this organic content that really converts and
that it tells a story and so if you take
five ten minutes to set up the shot, the moments
over like and actually I'm finding that lords of moms
are using it for like recipes or listening to podcasts or.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
That's so smart.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
I'm always propping my phone up on a drink so
that I can see my tiktoks while I do my
makeup doom scrolling.
Speaker 5 (05:22):
It's perfect for that whatever you need to do. Like,
it's a really good invention and I'm so proud of it,
but it has well done.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
I'm so excited for you.
Speaker 5 (05:33):
It's definitely it's cost us. Oh my god, we're more
than what we ever imagined.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
And it's always the way with business, isn't it.
Speaker 5 (05:41):
It's a lot.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
Oh my gosh. So tell me a bit more. So
you've still started your business. But what are you and
your partner doing right now for work? And what amount
of money are you earning?
Speaker 5 (05:51):
Yeah, so at the moment, obviously we launched officially launched
our company two weeks ago, so obviously we're getting sales
from that. We'll get into that.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
I'm sure you're already getting sales from this product.
Speaker 5 (06:02):
Yeah, we're getting like stop hair coverage, like six to
eight a day at the minute.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
Stop hair.
Speaker 5 (06:07):
Is that good?
Speaker 4 (06:08):
I'm so proud of you, and I've had nothing to
do with this. It's that good.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
What do you mean is that good? Most people launch
their small business and have no sales.
Speaker 5 (06:17):
Well, you know, you see all these success stories and
I'm on TikTok and we slow down on twenty four
hours and I'm like, oh my god, is this good?
Is it not?
Speaker 4 (06:25):
No, that's not normal. That's not normal.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
And you know what I've found over the years is
I see that content it's a little bit click baity
and you look at their stuff and you go, that
can't be right. And I'm such a skeptic, right, like
I will snoop on you, like not you pe particularly,
but like I'll snoop on stuff. If you're big noting
yourself on TikTok, you've opened yourself up for me to
absolutely look through your website. Sorry you did that to yourselves,
(06:48):
And I go, you didn't sell out in the first thing.
In fact, you've quote launched six times, Like what is
going on here? People just want that, And there is
this like it's like a I don't know, bandwag anything.
Like if you tell someone, oh my god, we sold out,
they automatically feel like they missed out. So it's also
a marketing strategy, like I have seen people put like
(07:10):
even on their website.
Speaker 4 (07:11):
Right. So let's let's say you have like fifty.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Phone cases in stock or whatever you know that, but
you don't put fifty there. You say that you only
have five left, and then when people are at checkout,
they go, oh shit, there's only five left. I need
to check out quickly. And it's just these marketing tactics
that put more pressure on the seller. But then as
a small business owning yourself. You're probably looking at you know,
I don't think there are many competitors for you, but
(07:34):
you could look at other like phone case companies. You're thinking,
oh my god, they're selling out so quickly. That might
not be true. So that's why we need to just
stick in our own lane and just like put the
blinkers on, especially when you launch bit sorry getting that
many sales when you're two weeks old, Go in my
business Bible community and ask them how long did it
take you to sell a product? And so many of
(07:56):
them are going to be like, babe, months months I
launched and I had one. It was my mom, Like
that happens so often. You are doing so I'm so
excited for you.
Speaker 5 (08:06):
That makes me feel so much better. Yeah, it's been
It has been quite like a rough two weeks obviously,
just I think expectation versus reality. I think the pressure
and hitting me of like how much we borrowed, how
much we poll and it's not going to get paid
back of the night, and the people that I have
borrowed from, like my family, they are sore understanding of that.
(08:26):
I think it's like these awn really unrealistic expectations I've
put on myself.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
That always always, so small business owners, you've got to
be a little bit de Lulu. But like anything that
you can think about negatively, you can think about positively
as well, Like it's an active choice. So like instead
of going, oh my god, we owe so much money.
Oh my god, Like why can't we just be delusional
about the sales? Oh my god, I've got six sales.
I reckon next week, I could do double. Like, let's
just step into delulu a little bit, because right now
(08:54):
you're just manifesting the worst.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
That's not what we do, not in this house.
Speaker 5 (08:58):
I hear, I hear you. That is very true. So
we literally launched two weeks ago. And then so I'm
a videographer, like I was saying, So basically, I'm trying
to do maybe between two and four jobs a month
or videography. I used to do a ridiculous amount, but
now I'm like trying to limit myself because my business
(09:19):
needs a lot of attention. So I get about throw
it between three and four thousand a day from videography.
So if I do that, say two to four times
a month, that's definitely enough for us to kind of
put food on the table.
Speaker 4 (09:32):
That's incredible. How good.
Speaker 5 (09:34):
Yeah, that's really great. Yeah, Like I shop for some
awesome brands this week and I love that. So it's
for me, it's like, it's not hard work going back
to something that I love and I know that it's
going to take a bit of time to build up
this new one. And my husband he does contracts with
different people, and he like edits podcasts, so he edits
exercise classes and so he brings in enough to kind
(09:57):
of cover the mortgage and a bit of food type
of thing.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
And you're still able to build your business on the side.
I love it. And you have two babies.
Speaker 5 (10:04):
Two babies, yeah, too young, So you're.
Speaker 4 (10:06):
Not busy at all. You've got not much going on.
Speaker 5 (10:08):
Yeah, I'm pretty churely, you know, there's I find a
lot of space and time. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:12):
I love that.
Speaker 3 (10:13):
So tell me about your big money goals, Like what
does that look like moving into the future. Are they
mainly business focused? Are they lifestyle? Are they retirement? I
don't know what page are you on.
Speaker 5 (10:24):
Yeah, I think for me it's definitely lifestyle. I really
want to build this business up, hire the right people,
and the truth is just literally be able to travel
with my babies and my family like that is like
that for me is the ultimate you know, like going,
not not traveling like a Nike he or a night
they're like going somewhere for six months and immersing ourselves
(10:46):
working as well, you know, like online and doing it.
But for me, it would be to take my babies
around the world is like my ultimate dream.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
I love that.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
And tell me a little bit more about your babies.
How old are they.
Speaker 5 (10:58):
We've got a one year old and three year old.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
I'll stop it. So you've got actual baby and you're
starting a bit.
Speaker 5 (11:05):
One of them is still breastfeed, which is really intense
because obviously she's just a bit of a booby fingd
that's all she wants. And my eldest is I mean
like a tornad or in a three year old's body.
He is just, oh my god, the energy, the everything
is big and heightened with him. So yeah, it's quite intense.
(11:26):
We have quite an intense We've got ducks, chickens, dogs,
we've got rabbits, We've got Yeah.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
You're living my actual dream. And also sorry, props to you, mum.
Breastfeeding for more than a year like that is rough. Like,
don't get me wrong, special but rough.
Speaker 5 (11:41):
It's rough. But when we're going to New York actually
next week, so when I get back, I'm weaning. I'm done,
like I'm doing it for flights, doing it for all.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
I was about to say, if I had a holiday
coming up and I was still breastfeeding, I would not
be giving up breastfeeding yet. Sorry, that is also a
secret weapon. Yeah, your genius. What are you going to
New York for?
Speaker 5 (11:58):
My company is sponsoring the over there. And also I'm
going to Female Founder World.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
Stop it.
Speaker 4 (12:04):
Jasmine's my favorite.
Speaker 3 (12:05):
I was hanging out with her last week and recorded
a podcast episode with her.
Speaker 5 (12:09):
Oh my god, I saw fun girl Jasmine like I
saw fun Girl her. I'm so excited.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
She's so cool. Oh my god, she's so cool. She's
just the coolest.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
I love it, and I love Female Founder World, and
I can't believe you're going all the way over there.
I'm going to message her and let her know that
one of my She's on the Money community members is going,
because that's crazy.
Speaker 4 (12:29):
I would love to go.
Speaker 5 (12:30):
You should come with me. Let's just go.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Oh, I wish you should see my calendar, like I
wish so before I.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
Agree to flights to New York.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Let's take a really quick break because on the flip side,
what we're going to do is, I want to talk
more about this investment that you've made in your company
and how you crowdsourced that through your friends and family.
I want to talk about more debt and then best
and most money habits. So guys don't go anywhere, all right,
money drivest We are back, and I want to talk
(13:00):
about investment. You said in your message in you were like,
you know, we lost seventeen thousand dollars to a sourcing agency,
had to take it a loan on our home, and
then turned to family and somehow managed to raise two
hundred grand. Can you tell me more about that process
because that sounds really stressful.
Speaker 5 (13:16):
Yeah, slightly stressful. So we started this process. We got
kind of promised the world from a sourcing agency. So
the sourcing agency was supposed to basically help us with
the product, get it through to finding us a manufacturer,
getting it produced. Everything like that long, long, long story,
short that never happened. We lost seventeen thousand dollars. We
(13:38):
lost a year and a half in this game, which
is such a long time like we could have had
this done a long time ago. We cut ties with
them and literally hired my neighbor who helped us source
the entire thing. And so basically the money side of
things was, we had eight thousand dollars saved. We were
going to maybe buy second property or try and do
(14:00):
something like do up the house, do something with it.
Then I had this idea. We put eighty thousand dollars.
I think it's more about like one hundred maybe of
our own money. Now, yeah, eighty thousand dollars we put
down and then found out I was pregnant two weeks later,
then literally took out one hundred thousand dollars on our
(14:20):
house from like the equity hour broker helped us get that.
Then we are so ridiculously blessed that we both have
a set of parents that believe wholeheartedly in us and
what we do.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
Oh, I love this. Everybody deserves that.
Speaker 5 (14:36):
Everybody deserves that. And they're both I wouldn't say we're
from wealthy families, but they're both they okay, do you
know what I mean? They're stable. One of them's at
my partner's parents are retired, and they're like houses paid off,
they're good and my parents are separated, and my mum's
in a good space like financially and she they both
(14:56):
lent us a good amount of money to help us
reach this goal. We need it.
Speaker 3 (15:01):
That's so good And can I be real perfect? What
type of investment? So, like, you've said you own a
company and you've invented the world's first Like what is it?
It says on your website. I've got it up now.
I've been stalking you while you're talking. It says, the
world's first iPhone case with a built in, fully tiltable
stand for creators, TikTokers and UGC Wizards. It's a pocket
(15:23):
sized superhero in your phone. I'm sorry, they're really flipping cute,
Like they are so cute you will write, But tell
me how much does that like for me? That I'm
looking at this business and I'm like, hold on, that
feels like a big investment because you're not just doing
one product and then shipping it out.
Speaker 4 (15:41):
You've got multiple colors.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
You probably have multiple phone cases because like everybody's got
a different style, size phone.
Speaker 4 (15:50):
You can't just do one. What's that look like?
Speaker 5 (15:53):
Yeah, so Lung's began. This is super mass that you
can work out really quickly. Basically every time up or
really an iPhone. Let's say they release a fifteen series,
there's four sizes, and each time we get a different size,
we have to pay thirteen thousand dollars per mold. Then
you have MQ's per collor per size, so you're looking
(16:14):
at about twenty thousand dollars per size like fifteen fifteen
pro fifteen probats. It's so costly. And then because we've
invented something that literally didn't exist, it's not like drop shipping.
I can't just like chuckle over one in common. And
also the mechanism in here is tiny, so to get
the it seems like nothing like people like, yeah, you've
(16:37):
put some like a little stand on a phone. I'm like,
get that mechanism working. Like we had to pay like
to keep it slimlin, Yeah, to keep it slim light,
to keep the resistance like it's got a good amount
of resistance. It's been the biggest eye opener. It was
so expensive, so much more than we ever planned. And
I literally just had to ask my family for more
money two days ago because we need to get the
(16:57):
iPhone seventeen series out. That they've just really.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
Oh yeah, and they basically relates a new iPhone every year,
now don't they. So like that's got to be something
that you've got to predict and go, okay, cool and
creators are crazy.
Speaker 4 (17:09):
They always have the newest iPhone.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Absolutely, yeah, like how annoying. How annoying, but also how cool?
Like is that something that you foresaw when you started
the journey? Like has this been like you're like I
knew that would happen or were you like, oh far out,
sorry forgot to think about that.
Speaker 5 (17:25):
Yeah, look, we kind of did. I think that we
maybe underestimated how much each mold would cost, and we
kind of underestimated. We just underestimated everything. I think we
never done anything like this before and it has been yeah,
incredibly educational, put it that way. But yeah, yeah, now
we fully get it and now we all estimate everything.
(17:47):
You know, we knew that Apple were going to bring
out a new iPhone every year. It's a pro andercn
because people come back every year, but we also have
to spend x amount per year to get the molds
made and the minimum molder quantity done, so is bit
of a pra under con you know. But yeah, it
was blonde.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
Hey, and do you so I'm assuming that basically all
your investing money and any free cash flow is going
into this so you're not investing in any other way,
shape or form. Just I'm assuming because you said, oh,
we had to ask family for money, Like, do you
know what I mean? Is that the right thing? To
assume that basically all your cash is just going towards
this business.
Speaker 5 (18:23):
Everything it's either pair the mortgage, buy food, or put
it into our business. Yeah?
Speaker 3 (18:27):
Yeah, fair, fair, And tell me a little bit more
about the debt. So you know, you've managed to raise
two hundred grand to build the business up without investors.
But how are you managing that? Because I'm often really
apprehensive of raising money and capital with family because it
can be really scary. It sounds like you've got a
super supportive family and like it works for you. But
like how you tracking that debt? How like do you
(18:49):
have a repayment plan? What other debts have you got?
Because like, I'm just so pervy.
Speaker 5 (18:54):
No, please, I love it. I feel like I'm like
this in other areas of people's lives. I okay, So basically,
the one hundred thousand dollars on the house we pay
interest on per month, and so we pay I think
about five hundred dollars interest per month on that hundred
grand as well as the mortgage, and basically as soon
(19:16):
as we put money into that offset account, that will
go down. So we were not too phased about that
at the minute. Like, that's quite an all right deal
for us. Family, bless their little hearts. Haven't asked for
any repayments. They're like, get yourself sorted, get yourselves going. Yeah.
My dad's like, I kind of see this as you know,
a little bit of a longer term thing to me
(19:37):
and my mum are really close. She's actually our first hire,
unpaid of course at the moment, but she handles all
of our finances, so she'll be able to let me
know when we can pay her and she'll.
Speaker 4 (19:46):
Be like, by the way, you owe me a whole salary,
that's right.
Speaker 5 (19:51):
And again, yeah, my partner's parents same type of thing,
Like I don't. We're very close with our family. They
haven't given us any terms, which I guess for some
people might feel really scary, but I think that we're.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
Very everybody's different, right, there's like quote the textbook right
way you should do this, and then there's the way
that works for you, and they're all different. Like I
can't come on here and say like, well, you should
have done it differently.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
It's just not going to work. Like your parents would
probably be like, oh well, I don't want to sign anything.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
I was just happy to support you while you're making
it so complicated money direst Like everybody is different, and
I think that that's the beautiful thing about sharing these
money stories because I get to learn about you and
learn about what works for you. But then on the
flip side, right, like, let's pretend my sister comes to
me and wants to start a business, because I've been
through business so much because that's like my bread and butter,
(20:39):
and I've set people up, I've had failed partnerships. I've
seen lots of other people fail their partnerships. Even if
it was my sister and I adore her and I
trust her, at the end of the world, i'd be like,
sign here, Mike, whereas.
Speaker 4 (20:50):
Other people aren't like that, and that's so fine.
Speaker 3 (20:53):
But again, there's no right, there's no wrong, and it
doesn't really matter.
Speaker 4 (20:58):
Tell me a bit about the house.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
So you've got one hundred K as a loan against
the house for the business.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
But what type of mortgage are you still sitting on?
Speaker 5 (21:06):
So got our house for seven hundred and forty thousand,
and we put one hundred thousand down. Oh good, Yeah,
so we're paying off six hundred and forty thousand. I
think that's at the minute. With the interest rates gone,
I think we're on about like nine hundred one thousand
dollars a week or something for our mortgage. And that
is obviously that feels expensive to us now. It didn't
(21:27):
when I was full time videographer. We kind of breezed
through it. We were very I felt very abundant, and
it's but it has been two years now where we're
just like, oh my god, I'm so sick of being
skinned Like it's yeah.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
It's hard, and it's like a sacrifice you make in
order to invest into a business. Let me be a
little bit more pervy. When you were a videographer, what
were you making per year? Like, what were your tax returns?
Speaker 4 (21:51):
Looking like?
Speaker 5 (21:52):
Yeah, we were I think I was doing about two
hundred and fifty between two hundred and twenty two hundred
and fifty kre.
Speaker 4 (21:58):
Yeah, that's so good.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
You're an icon and I mean, I don't want to
say that it won't work out because I think your
business is sick, but like it's just so nice that
you've built up that reputation in the industry. And I
have no doubt if you're like, you know what, I
really need to turn this videographer stuff back on the
idea that you could turn back to having an income
of two hundred grand.
Speaker 4 (22:18):
Does that make you.
Speaker 3 (22:18):
Feel really secure in the decisions you're making at the moment?
Speaker 5 (22:21):
Yeah, I mean it does. But I'm a very black
or white person sometimes, so I'm likely to I've started this,
I will finish this, I will make.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Oh yeah, no, same same. But it must be nice
to know that you've got the skills.
Speaker 5 (22:34):
At night knowing if she hit the fine, we will.
Speaker 4 (22:38):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll be all right. We'll still
be able to pay a mortgage.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
I'll still be able to get my kid's food on
the table, all of that stuff. Even though you are
being a bit skinned at the moment, is that something
that's starting to impact you, like mentally or physically, or
is that just like a I'm just so excited for
this business to take off, like but also it kind
of sucks not having some more financial freedom.
Speaker 5 (22:58):
Yeah, I will say it's very up and down. Like
there are some days where it doesn't bother me at all,
and I'm like, this is part of the journey, this
is part of our story, and you know, we talk
about it very openly as a family and different things
like that. But there are some days where like it
literally feels like somebody is sat on my chest and
I look at these little eyes watching me, and I think,
(23:20):
oh my god. I will be honest, like, it does
quite get to me sometimes. And I also think about
our family and how much they trust us and how
much they've lent us, and it does make me sometimes
feel quite anxious. But then I get feedback about the product,
and I get feedback from people, and then my mum
will just text me, I believe in you, baby, You've
(23:41):
got this, And then I'm like, god, I do I do?
You know? And it goes up and down.
Speaker 3 (23:45):
Like that stop it And like I obviously the second
you told me your business, I was like, I'm going
to google this and it's beautiful, Like it's not just beautiful,
but it's like practical, Like I feel like if you
just come out with phone cases I would have been like,
oh cute, they're really nice. I hope it goes really well.
Like sorry, I'm always propping my phone up on something.
All of my friends are always propping their phone up
on something Like this just makes sense. So I'm like,
(24:07):
why isn't what do you mean you did this first?
Like what do you mean someone else hasn't thought about this?
Speaker 4 (24:12):
Like how good?
Speaker 5 (24:13):
And our goal as well is to be like a
full ecosystem for content creers. So we're working on our
second product, we're working on audio or like, we don't
want to just be a phone case company. We basically
want to be for anybody that creates content you need anything,
like we are specifically designed for you type of thing.
Speaker 4 (24:31):
Yeah, I adore. What are next steps?
Speaker 3 (24:33):
So let's say this goes really well and then all
of a sudden you've got some additional cash flow, Like
we're paying back our business loans.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
That's all fun. Are the other products in the works?
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Like don't tell me because we can't have other people
stealing those ideas? Or are you like no, no, no,
Like we're just in this one silo and we're going
to just get really good at this, Like what's the
plan there.
Speaker 5 (24:51):
Is the most epic second product in the work. I
can't say it better than the first one, but I will.
I think it's on. Like people are gonna be like,
what like the way we've connected, Like, oh, it's creme
de la creme, Like you're gonna.
Speaker 4 (25:07):
Look, oh, I love these I can't wait.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
I'm gonna ask offline guys. You don't get to know,
but I'm sure as hell finding out. I love this
so much. Now let's move away from like getting all
of this. I want to know, like, you don't get
to this point without having some good money habits.
Speaker 4 (25:22):
What do you think is your best.
Speaker 5 (25:23):
I don't personally think that I'm good with money, but
what I will say is the only thing that I
can think of that comes to mind is I always
check my balance, Like I check it like a good
two or three times a day, like I just don't
know a while. Sometimes I'll just check just look, okay,
yeah good. Then if things have gone down quickly, then
I'm like, oh, hold on a minute, I need to
check on that. And that's when I remember to like
(25:45):
cancel a subscription that I'm not using, or you know,
I kind of see these little things so I'll say,
we can't get this anymore because it's just adding up
so much. Like I do check it a lot. I
think that would be my only good habit.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
I think that's a good thing. But I also won
is that impacting you? Are you stressed about money so
you check all the time? Like is this something that
maybe isn't as productive as.
Speaker 5 (26:07):
It could be? Well, you know what I think, Looking
even back to when we were quite financially free before kids,
and when I was just a videographer and building all
that up, I think I still checked quite a lot
then as well. And I think it's almost like more
of a soothing thing when you do have the money
in the car. I'm like, oh, I'm good, I'm saying,
And maybe it is a little bit more of an
(26:28):
anxiety think. And also I do I have to watch
it now because there is such little of it. I
do have to make sure are we on top of this?
Are we on top of that? So I do think yeah,
probably a pro and a negative. I would say yeah totally.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
I was like, oh, that's a good thing, Like I'm
glad you're across it, But like, is that impacting your
mental health in any way? Because we just don't want Yeah,
we don't want you to be stressed about money, but
I mean at the moment, I would.
Speaker 4 (26:53):
Be too, Like you're in the startup phases.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
We've just got stuff to do, like we're always looking
and I feel like once you get further into business
then it does pull back a little bit. But I
was exactly the same. That's why I was like, how's
your mental health because mom wasn't great.
Speaker 4 (27:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (27:05):
Yeah, there's been a few sleepless nights. Let's just put
it that way.
Speaker 4 (27:09):
But you know what, it's part and puzzle of the journey.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
I'm so sorry if you were sleeping through every single night,
I would assume that you just don't care enough, Like
this stuff is hard at the beginning.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
Now, tell me, what do you think your worst money
habit is?
Speaker 5 (27:23):
My worst money habit is definitely spending money on the kids.
Like I'm such a sucker for toys and like little things,
and I think that's like tied into a guilt thing
as well. You know, we spend so much time and
energy on the business.
Speaker 4 (27:37):
Yeah, you're like, you can have another book. It is fine.
Speaker 5 (27:39):
It's fine, exactly, and you know, my little but I
love this card. I'm like you can get it, buddy.
Like I feel like sometimes that's probably my worst money habit.
And I also really want to teach him that he
can't have everything that he wants as well.
Speaker 4 (27:51):
You know, he's also three, so he doesn't get that yet.
I don't know. Oh, it's really rough. It's funny.
Speaker 3 (27:58):
I was actually talking to a money diarist last week
and she and I were saying the same thing, and
I was like, when I was not a mum, I
would like, you know, obviously give financial advice and be like, well,
this is your budget for this and that, and like
clients would say the same things like oh, I'm just
I'm so good with like my own budget, like I
don't blow it on treats for me, but I'm always
spending on the kids, like whether that's an ice cream
(28:18):
or a baby Chino or like another TOYR book or
a KMA.
Speaker 4 (28:21):
Trip or whatever.
Speaker 3 (28:22):
And I'd be like, oh, I'm thinking in the back
of my head, like when I'm doing my financial planning,
I'm like, no, I'm probably not like that, Like I'm
pretty good at saying no to additional things.
Speaker 4 (28:31):
I'm a pushover.
Speaker 3 (28:32):
I like the second I became a mom, like I
only have like what a nineteen twenty month old, I
can't remember.
Speaker 4 (28:39):
And if he's like, mom, one more, I'm like, you
can have ten, you can have ten. Take my money,
you want ten?
Speaker 5 (28:45):
Take heart?
Speaker 4 (28:46):
Take my money? Do you want my whole wallet back?
Like I suck and just like his little face.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
Like the other day we went to a cafe and
I ordered him a baby Chino because we've just gotten
into this and it had sprinkles on the top, and
like I was like, oh, I hid the marshmallow.
Speaker 4 (29:01):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
I feel like that's a relatable mum thing to do,
Like no marshmallow for you, Glen Coco, that's mum text.
Speaker 4 (29:05):
And I put it down in front of him and
he goes, oh.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
Wow, And I was like, this is why I do it,
Like you're just he's been grateful.
Speaker 4 (29:12):
He was just so yep, that was worth the four
dollars I probably paid for that.
Speaker 5 (29:17):
Like crazy, we're until they start saying things like oh,
you're the best mummy ever, Please mummy, because you're the
best mummy ever. Then you're like, okay, you can have it.
Speaker 3 (29:25):
I feel like they have clocked manipulation, Like people say
that toddlers can't be manipulative because they don't understand. I reckon,
they've got it clocked NA totally money dirist. This has
been really beautiful. But at the start you said, look,
I'm a sea, but you're managing money pretty well. I
can say that you're still a little bit stressed about it.
(29:47):
We're in the startup phases of business. I get it.
What would it take to get you from this sea
that you said you were closer to an a Like?
What would you have to be doing? Is it just
about business success? Is it money management?
Speaker 5 (29:59):
Like?
Speaker 4 (29:59):
What what would it look like?
Speaker 5 (30:00):
I think it would be a mixture of both. I
think if my business became a little bit more successful,
and I also think if I managed to plug any
holes in my boocket when it comes to the business, like,
I'm still very much figuring out, like how much does
it actually cost per product? Like what is the what
is my role as? What is my cost by acquisition?
(30:21):
Like I'm still don't know any of that. So I
think it will be a mixture of both. As the
business craws, as I learn more, I think I'll feel
a bit more in that ab bracket.
Speaker 3 (30:32):
That's fair, but it feels like you're on track, So
that would you feel like you're like on the journey
or is there something that you significantly need to change
to get there?
Speaker 5 (30:41):
No, I think I'm on the journey. I do. I
think I'm a smart chick, and I think.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
I know you're a smart chick. I've just spent like
in the last half hour chatting with you. That was
obvious from the start.
Speaker 5 (30:50):
My lost thank you. Well, yeah, I think I'm on
the I think I'm on the track.
Speaker 4 (30:54):
I love it. Oh my god.
Speaker 3 (30:55):
I wish we had more time together, but unfortunately we
have very quickly run out of time. Thank you so
much for sharing your story, for sharing your small business.
Speaker 4 (31:03):
I'm going to get your.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Permission, hopefully offline. We'll have a chat about it, and
I'll see how I can promote your business with inside.
She's on the money, so that hopefully people.
Speaker 4 (31:12):
Go hold on, hold on. This must have been the money.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
Diarist and they can put two and two together themselves
if they're as pervy as I am. But thank you
so much for sharing your journey. This has been really special.
It's not often that a small business who's just launch
puts their hand up and says, ask me about my money.
Speaker 4 (31:28):
So this has been a privilege. I really really appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (31:30):
Thank you so much for having me. It was so
much fun.
Speaker 3 (31:39):
Did buy shared on She's on the Money is general
in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's
on the Money exists purely for educational purposes and should
not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision.
If you do choose to buy a financial product, read
the PDS TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards
(31:59):
your knee. Victoria Divine and Sheese on the Money are
authorized representatives of money sherper P T Y L t
D A b N three two one six four nine
two seven seven zero eight a F s L four
five one two eight nine
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