Sarah Thexton Photo Fairy Tales

Great Mum In Business Feature
Sarah Thexton of Photo Fairy Tales
creative photo gifts!

Ces Creatively Asks :
Hello Sarah, welcome to Supportive Business Mums and thanks for taking part in this interview feature to help us all get to know you a little better.

To start with, will you please describe yourself in five Words?

Sarah Replies :
Hi Ces, thanks for featuring me. I am Imaginative, Perfectionist, Motivated, Sincere, Hard Working

Ces Creatively Asks :
Ok, so what about your business, can you describe that in five words for us?

Liz Replies :
“Online shop offering unique gifts”

Ces Creatively Asks :
I think that is a great description Sarah! So how did you get started with Photo Fairy Tales?

Sarh Replies :
I wanted to get back into work when my daughter Amy started school full time. I needed something that could give me the flexibility to look after our daughter and still provide an income, but also something that gave me the opportunity to use my artistic skills. I studied art & design at college, and had spent a number of years working in theatre marketing, publishing and as a designer.

I felt I needed something that would make use of my strengths which in turn led me to come up with the initial idea of selling my Fantasy Portraits online – I used to design these images as a hobby with photos of Amy, and that really planted the seed for my business idea.

I spent a few months planning and developing the idea, and once Amy started going to school all day I was able to devote more time to putting my plans into action. I built a website and then swiftly embarked on a sharp learning curve!

Ces Creatively Asks :
It’s awesome that you have been able to take the step from enjoying something as a hobby to a great and popular business with great unusual gifts. What do you enjoy most about running your business Sarah?

Sarah Replies :
I love every aspect of it! I’m the one that determines which direction my business goes, what I’m going to sell, how it’s going to look. I am always thinking of new lines for the site, and if I come up with an idea for a new design or product range, I can work on it and react on it as I decide. I’m always coming up with new ideas, and that coupled with my customer orders means that I’m really able to keep my creative and artistic juices flowing!

I even quite enjoy the paperwork! Although it’s a juggle and can be tricky at times, being able to be flexible with my work hours is great too. I might not have the budget that larger businesses have, but as a small business I’m a lot more nippy. I have the ability to react to something fast which they don’t have: whether its introducing a new line, creating a custom design for a customer, bringing in new designs, communicating with customers – I have the flexibility to go with the flow as it demands. PhotoFairytales has grown from a small site that simply offered the Fantasy Portraits, to a larger online gift shop that now offers a whole range of unusual products. I took it in that direction, and I love the fact that I’m in the driving seat!

Ces Creatively Asks :
You are doing a brilliant job too Sarah What does a typical day in your business involve?

Sarah Replies :
I get up at 6am every morning and boot up my computer while I take a shower. I check emails and orders that have come in overnight so that I can get a rough idea of what the day has in store. I then spend the next couple of hours tearing around getting Amy ready for school, shoving washing and dirty plates into their respective machines, hoovering and feeding the pets. I’m a blur!

I walk Amy to school then I’m back at my desk by 8.40am. I’m there until 3.15pm when its time for the school run again (lunch over the keyboard!). If I possibly can, when the weather is good we’ll visit the local park with friends on the way home or occasionally pop to the beach for an hour. If work is too busy, then I’ll have to come straight home and get my head back down.

I work again until around 6.30pm, then it’s time for Amy’s tea/bath/bed. I’m usually back at my desk again for an hour around 8pm, although once or twice during an average week I’ll be there until around 10 or 11pm. Then I collapse into bed for a few hours until my next day starts! It sounds like a long day (it is!), but because I love what I do it never feels like a slog.

Ces Creatively Asks :
Goodness you are so organised and it seems the routine and hours really work well for you. My hours fluctuate a lot more than that but I enjoy what I am doing so much it isn’y like work. Is there anything that you have found challenging about running your business so far?

Sarah Replies :
Balancing work and home is probably the trickiest thing. I do often feel guilty when I tell Amy we need to go straight home after school so that I can crack on with work – and school holidays are particularly hard. I try very hard to make sure I have time to spend with Amy during the holidays, although it doesn’t always work out that way.

Thankfully she’s very good and can occupy herself, but it doesn’t stop me from feeling bad! I do have to make sure I stop when I promise, and (other than peak times such as Christmas) I don’t work at the weekends so that I can devote that time to recharging my batteries and spending time with the family without interruption.

Ces Creatively Asks :
Yes school holidays are challenging for sure. I am putting together this feature right now with my 3 boys bickering at the side of me LOL. So as many of us biz mums do, do you struggle with a clear divide between work and family life?

Sarah Replies :
It’s better than it used to be – when I started the business I worked from the dining table and my laptop was constantly there blinking away, and piles of paperwork were everywhere. Now I’ve converted the spare bedroom into a proper office so I can close the door at the end of the day and not be tempted back in! Other than particularly busy periods, weekend work is a no-no: I think it’s important for me to be able to clear my head for a day or two, and it means I can have proper family time.

Ces Creatively Asks :
Tell us more about your family and what makes you tick outside of business?

Sarah Replies :
I’m married to Murray who also runs his own business, offering training courses to the hospitality trade. We have our daughter Amy who is now 8, and who takes a very keen interest in PhotoFairytales (I often ask her advice on new designs and products, and she’s rarely wrong!). Our dog Freddy and cat Bella complete the family.

We live very near the coast in Norfolk, so we’re lucky enough to have both countryside and seaside right on our doorstep. Most weekends we enjoy discovering new walks with Freddy – our favourite at the moment is a dramatic crumbly cliff top walk a short drive from home!

Ces Creatively Asks :
That is such a fantastic beach pic of Amy. I love to be beside the sea and we live on the Dorset coast but also close to new forest so I share your love of beach and countryside! Ok, so what would your advice be to someone about to set up a business in your industry?

Sarah Replies :
Remember that customer care is paramount – when you’re selling a product or service online and customers can’t touch the item or speak to you directly, you need to be sure that your communication skills and service are second to none.

Research your field, and try to ensure you have something unique to offer: whether its simply the way you look after your customers, or the items that you sell, make it stand out from the rest. Don’t stand still and always look at new ideas and ways to develop and improve: whoever said “build it and they will come” didn’t know what they were talking about! There’s a lot of competition out there, and you need to make your voice heard as much as possible. SEO must be constant for your website too – I aim to do at least one thing every day.

Ces Creatively Asks :
Lots of good advice! Now a fun question… What ALWAYS makes you smile?

Sarah Replies :
Easy: happy customers! I never fail to get a shiver of delight when a customer takes the time to contact me and tell me how happy they are with their purchase. How fantastic is that: a customer taking time out of their day to write to me?! I really do strive to look after my customers, and I want to make sure they always leave happy. I definitely thinks this pays off as I get so many new customers that arrive after a personal recommendation from friends or family, and I have lots of “regulars” that come back time and again. When you are an online business I think customer care is so important, and I put it top of my list in everything I do.

Ces Creatively Asks :
Why would you like to #WIN a facebook fan page design from www.biz-brand-buzz.co.uk?

Sarah Replies :
For a small business with little or no advertising budget, social networking is an enormous part of what I do and has helped me to promote the business to a huge extent. Being able to improve and develop the PhotoFairytales Facebook page will be of huge benefit to a small business like mine and would make a massive difference to my online presence.

Name : Sarah Thexton
Business name : PhotoFairytales
URL : www.photofairytales.co.uk
Email : queries@photofairytales.co.uk
Twitter name : @photofairytales
Established : 2009
Location : Belton, Norfolk
Delivery area normally covered : Worldwide

PLEASE SUPPORT SARAH :
Please support fellow GREAT BUSINESS MUM Sarah by leaving a comment about this feature and sharing it with your network. Would you like to be featured here too? Email : ces@creativelyminded.co.uk and I will be in touch soon. By supporting each other we will ALL grow.