Alison M Means Business

Two years ago, Alison Morgan was staring down the barrel of returning to her pre-children corporate gig, and realised that instead, she wanted to create something that better suited her lifestyle.

Alison spent some time thinking about how best to merge her life long passion for healthy living and her need to be flexible thanks to 2 gorgeous kids, all while making the most of her mad marketing skillz.  Online business, Relauncher, is her resulting lovechild.

Over the past year, Alison’s successfully charted her business through testing initial ideas, building a customer base, figuring out what her customers really wanted, pivoting the concept and delivering, and all the back room stuff as well.  Yikes! It’s no wonder this mama wakes up so damn early! (You’ll see what I mean when you check out her typical workday.)

I loved meeting Alison.  She’s pumped full of vitality and exudes enthusiasm, business savvy and humor.  And I reckon you’ll love getting to know her just as much as I did!

Tell us about your journey into entrepreneurship.

My journey started around 1½ years ago.  I had 2 children close together in age and decided I didn’t want to go back into the corporate world and have someone else pick my kids up from school while I was working the long inflexible hours I was used to.

I wanted to create a flexible job that I could work around my life, and also create a business that I would love doing.  This would mean that I never worked another day in my life – right?!  If you love doing something, it’s not work.  It’s an extension of who you are.  Your passion.

Just over a year ago, I launched my business, an online destination for beauty, health, wellbeing & lifestyle.  The site has an online store, industry directory and blog.  I wanted to create a hub that people would come to re-launch their body, mind & soul.

What’s been one of your biggest challenges?  How did you overcome it?

My most recent challenge is coping with the growing workload as the business expands.  It’s really tricky juggling school holidays, increasing workloads and business development.

I’ve recently found someone to help with the workload so I can focus more on business growth and maintain the high standard of customer service I pride myself on. It’s a very exciting new phase to be in! 

Do you have a business plan?

Yes!  This was where it all began.  I spent months writing up a business plan, changing, molding and rewriting.

Having it all written down on paper allowed me to see weaknesses and opportunities that I wouldn’t have otherwise thought of had I rushed ahead and started the business without thinking everything through.

What’s the best part of your job?

The flexibility for sure!  That’s one of the reasons I chose to start up my own business.  I get to drop the kids off to school and pick them up.  I get up super early so that I can fit yoga into my day.  I love working my own hours.

Take us through your typical workday.

I get up between 4:30 and 5:00am and check my emails and orders. Then do 20 minutes of meditation.

Between 6:30 – 9:00am, it’s all about getting the family sorted and off to school.

Most days I then do yoga, and the rest of the day is work, packing and dispatching orders and meeting with people in the industry.  I also do another 20 minutes of meditation in the afternoon – taking this time out means I can achieve more in the day in a calmer state of mind.  It’s my version of coffee!

In 5 words, how would you best friend would describe you?

Energetic, driven, happy and quick walker.

Who inspires you?

My husband. He works in advertising, which is an industry renowned for being stressful with long hours.  He’s an inspiration in the way he handles the pressure in a calm manner and doesn’t let the long hours overshadow his time with the family.  He’s smart, calm and completely level headed, a person you’d like to meet!

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You can learn more about Alison here.

Here’s your key take away hottie:

I love the way Alison took some time to think through her plans up front.  Identifying the biggest strengths and weaknesses of your venture early on gives you a chance to figure out how best to exploit and mitigate them – and that’s a DAMN smart move.

Documenting your vision, how you’ll make money, and how you’ll attract customers is SO worth it.  How can you stay on track if you don’t have a road map?

It doesn’t have to take forever – and it doesn’t have to be in a massive formal, boring document – but figuring out the strongest and weakest parts of your business concept early on is invaluable.  Sure things will change, they always do, but having a plan covering what you stand for, what you do, and how you’ll make bank, makes a massive difference.

You know I’d love to hear from you:

01. How much, if any, planning do you think someone should do before setting up shop?

BLYB xo

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