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“You can be the most professional perso n inthe world, but if you are a first-timwe parent, you are a firsgt time parent,” said Meredith “There’s lots of stufft you just don’t know.” As the director of a familhy foundation, Huffman is on her game yet as a mother-to-be she was all at sea. She paddlee to shore with the help ofShannoj Choe, whose helps expectant moms navigate the confounding maze of modernj motherhood. “I’m a baby planner,” Choe “Like what a wedding planner would be forengaged that’s what I do for pregnant womebn and new parents.
” Choe came up with the idea for her business in 2007 and then let it gestate for a year whild she herself gestated. Following the birth of her thirc baby she opened the doorslast year. Business has come she said, but momentum is building as she becomes more adept at marketing. “I had no budget for PR Call it amajor oversight,” Choe Word of mouth didn’t simply materialize as she had So she started making the rounda of local businesses: caterers who deliver to new baby-gear boutiques, furniture stores that emphasizew cribs and nursery needs.
A symbiosis has begu to grow, as these stores send customerd Choe’s way and she in turn refers to her clients tothese vendors. “They have been very responsive. ‘Yoiu want to bring people through mydoor ? Fabulous.’ So if I want to throw an event or a class at their locations, they have been very supportivde of that,” she said. In between countertop brochures help tokeep Choe’s name fron and center. Choe’s overhead is light. Most of what she sellz is her own expertise, her sage Nonetheless, the bills do mount. Choe has borrowed about $10,000 and spent $5,000 of her own mone to get the business offthe ground. It hasn’gt all been smooth sailing.
Knowing she would need a Web site Choe brought in a designedr to get thejob done. Knowing she’d need a she brought in a graphic designer to come upwith one. Both did nice but neither end result resembled the There was nounifiedc image, no common theme. “I felt these are the people who should haveknowj better,” Choe said. Eventually the logo designer took over the Web site and createa single, coherent look for the brand. Now when Choe engagee vendors forany job, “I try to remind myself to be constantlg over-explaining what my ultimate goals are, to be more cleart about my needs, and not make assumptions that the experts know everythinb and they can read my mind.
” Choe triese to be more than just a walkinvg version of Consumer Reports, ratinv nipples and nappies for their durabilituy and absorptive capacity. Consulting is all about the personall touch, she said. Take for instance her baby registrt service, helping expectant mothers to compile their personalwish lists. “oI want to find out, what’s their lifestyle?? Do they live in the city?? Do they have a big space ? Do they want a boutique place, or a baby super-store ?
Depending on their lifestyle I can let them know what they really need and whatthey don’t She has been deep in diapers for many Besides having three of her own, she also has workesd as a nanny and previously owned a child-carew center. “I am a mom of but that is not why people shoule listento me. I am also on top of products, I am on top of she said. Her ties with manufacturers help keep her abreast of the lates t trendsand gadgets. Nor does Choe work entirely As a founder and secretary of the National BabyPlanne Association, she is in contact with more that two-doze n planners in 20 cities.
“I thoughr I had dreamed up this whole idea myselff and when I went online to search I foun d justthree others. A year later there was a national association. We were goingg to [baby product] trade shows,” she said. “Iy is really small, but it is growinb quickly.” To grow her business, Choe recently addef a sitter-finder service, but that doesn’t mean she is in a hurrh to tear upthe “My heart and my passion is in this but at the same time I am very cautious and I am just not willing to breako the bank over it, especiallyh in this economy,” she said. “I want to pace to watch the response and then invest alittle more.
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