This week we interview Jill Holtz from mykidstime.ie
1. Why did you decide to start your business?
For personal need. I ended up following young girls in ballet dresses down the road to find out where ballet classes took place. I thought to myself, there must be a better way to find out about these things! I thought we could do a printed after school classes brochure but Michelle, my business partner, has a print background and she pointed out it would be out of date as soon as it was printed, so we decided to create a website.
2. What have been the biggest challenges and achievements for your business?
The biggest challenges have been trying to market on a shoe-string and learning how to run a business, as neither of us had any business background so it was all learning from scratch. One of our biggest achievements has been growing to over 50,000 visits a month with a significant mailing list and social media presence, on that very shoestring budget! We are also very proud that the Minister for Children & Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald, supported our Positive Childhood campaign this year, that meant a lot to us.
3. What are your plans for the future?
We plan to enter the UK market and perhaps other markets abroad while continuing to grow our Irish business.
4. Who do you look up to in business?
Fiona O’Carroll from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is an inspiring businesswoman. But I just really admire anyone who has stuck their neck out and gone for running their own business, big or small, because it does really take guts.
5. What is your advice for other entrepreneurs?
Life is so short, you need to just go for it and be prepared for a rollercoaster, you will have some highs and some real lows but keep your vision clear in your mind and enjoy the experience!
6. How are you gaining visibility and promoting the business?
We use social media extensively for promoting Mykidstime to our potential users, parents, whilst we work hard on our PR to build visibility and raise brand awareness amongst our potential customer base.
7. Do you use any Social Media?
Yes, particularly Facebook, where we have built a very engaged community of parents. As everyone knows, it’s not high numbers that count but how responsive and how engaged with your brand your community is, and we are proud of our Facebook pages. We use Twitter to network B2B and to find out information, events. I use Flipboard now for ideas for content for the website, and we launched our Pinterest page last year which is great for sharing content as well.
More about Jill
Before starting Mykidstime.ie in 2007, Jill had 15 years’ experience in the UK and the US in the fields of business analysis and Customer Relationship Management, including e-commerce data mining, with extensive project and people management experience. Jill managed projects for British Gas, Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays Bank, AIB. Originally from Scotland, she arrived in Galway in 2002 with a young child and did the Executive MBA at NUI Galway before working part-time until she plucked up the courage to launch Mykidstime with Michelle Davitt.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mykidstime
Twitter: www.twitter.com/mykidstime
Mykidstime Ltd www.mykidstime.ie
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