My new business Mum on the blog today is Tanya from 10 Little Birds! A fantastic website that has lots & lots of gifts for children all £10 and under! A treasure trove of goodies and Tanya is giving a £10 voucher away to one of my lucker readers at the end of this post so make sure you enter that after you have read all about her of course 
Who are you?
My name is Tanya Sonachan – I’m married to Mike and have two lovely daughters Sienna who is 8 and Gabriella who is 5… I live in South West London
What do you do?
I’m a mummy, wife and have worked as a PR in the Fashion sector for almost 20 years. After spending many years thinking up creative ideas to help promote my clients I felt it was time to do something for myself and my family and the online kids gift site www.10littlebirds.com was born!
When did you establish your business?
The site went live last June but the idea was developed over a year before
What made you start your own business?
Through my FT job I have watched small businesses in the fashion sector launch, develop and flourish.
I guess I really wanted to try it myself and knew that with the right idea, concept, branding and marketing that there was no reason that I couldn’t make something work too! I also wanted to work with my husband to create something that would hopefully in the future afford me more time with my children, something flexible.
Coming up with the idea was probably the hardest bit the rest was a labour of love! The idea came from the seemingly never ending birthday party invitations that arrived home in our daughters school bags every week! We’d panic buy birthday gifts often spending far more than we’d intended and thought hang on – there has to be a better way! We felt that up to £10 was a good amount to spend and thought wouldn’t it be great if there was a kids gift shop where you could find a whole host of ideas within that price bracket and not just toys (as kids today have sooo many) other things too…
Once I had the idea I knew that we HAD to do it! I thought, well if it doesn’t work at least we tried and gave it a go rather than thinking ‘what if???’ in 10yrs time.
I then couldn’t stop thinking about the idea, it was on my mind all the time…it became an obsession really and I just thought it’s now or never! I felt immense calm and great satisfaction once it was finally up and live!
What do you love about working for yourself?
Well sadly I’m not quite there yet as I am still working full time – but what I do love is that there is now something else there in the future!! Something we own and something we can build together as a family.
I also love that I have learnt a whole host of new skills, got to know new people and hopefully shown my children you can do anything you set your mind to!
Is there anything you do not like about working for yourself?
There are never enough hours in the day!!
Is there anything you would go back and do differently if you could?
Customise a template for the site from the beginning. We wasted months trying to build our own site from scratch it looked really good but we couldn’t link our merchant account to it!
There really are so many great templates that you can make your own if you have a strong logo and colour scheme.
I’d also start a Twitter and Facebook campaign much earlier to build our audience.
What advice would you give to a Mum considering starting her own business?
Do your research! Look at your competitors, think about who your target market is and ask some of them what they think! We cooked lots of different groups of mummies from our daughters schools dinner over a month and got their feedback. Did they like the idea? What do they look for as a party gift? Also what logo and colour scheme they liked best…
But if like me you think about your idea all the time, if it’s the first thing on your mind at night and again in the morning – don’t wait for someone else to do it! Go for it! Enthusiasm is a great asset!
Tanya is kindly offering a £10 voucher to one of my lucky readers; to enter to win just complete the rafflecopter below! Good luck xx
Some funky fairy lights :1)
I think I would buy the Melissa & Doug sticker books – one for boys and one for girls for my son and daughter xx
I would definately get the finger printing dino art set – my son Thomas age 3 would love it!
I would get my girls the Childrens book of baking
Kim Carberry recently posted..Mermaid or Whale?!
I would love decorate your own treasure box! Looks amazing and great fun!
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I would use it on the Fairy Stickers:
http://www.10littlebirds.com/1000-fairy-stickers-203-p.asp
@Dorothee77
i like the http://www.10littlebirds.com/mushroom-fairy-lights-433-p.asp
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I love this pirate cupcake baking kit – http://www.10littlebirds.com/cupcake-baking-kit-pirates-156-p.asp
The Cow sound mug looks great!
BONE HEAD BRUSH/COMB & 100′S OF SILLY JOKE CARDS
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BEAD BAZAAR MINI FLOWER KIT
Had not seen this website before! seems like a good idea the ten pound and under theme, as you say for party gifts and that kind of thing!
Would be hard to choose with so many things on offer! this has caught my eye for now the usbourne first dictionary
http://www.10littlebirds.com/first-dictionary-72-p.asp
would be nice for my eldest
I would get the radio control helicopter
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FOOTBALL SNAP would be perfect for my son
Thanks fro introducing me to the site – fantastic present ideas … loving the fairy lights – http://www.10littlebirds.com/felt-scottie-dog-fairy-lights-193-p.asp – currently on my daughters wish list for her new room !
my 5 year old daughter all excited when she seen the pig torch on you website so would have to be that and she loves to colour in so this would be fab http://www.10littlebirds.com/jumbo-colouring-book-419-p.asp
I would love either the superhero notebook or the hang man game for my little boy. He’s already decided he is going to be a superhero when he grows up, so this would be perfect for him
Alpha bracelets
@littleboo_21
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I would buy the Field Binoculars http://www.10littlebirds.com/field-binoculars-68-p.asp
I really like the DECORATE YOUR OWN MIRROR kit
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POCKET MICRO-SCOPE I think! It looks pretty amazing
@ljbarton
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Love the mushroom fairy lights!
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I love the Bead Bazaar Mini Flower Kit
childrens book of baking
I think I’d be tempted to buy some sticker books for my little girl, like this one. She has just discovered the fun of stickers!
http://www.10littlebirds.com/girls-sticker-pad-420-p.asp
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The felt horse fairy lights! They’re so cute http://www.10littlebirds.com/felt-horse-fairy-lights-194-p.asp
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Fairy lights or beads! x
I like the bone head brush and the secret message kit.
it would have to be the ‘learn’ section. with homeschooling the kids – there were so many goodies on there that make learning fun. x
i think it did the twitter follow as @thebeesleybuzz (but i put my @rebeccabeesley name in the rafflecopter box) thanks. x
I’d love the mushroom fairy lights for my daughters fairy themed room http://www.10littlebirds.com/mushroom-fairy-lights-433-p.asp
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My eldest would love this http://www.10littlebirds.com/100s-of-silly-joke-cards-46-p.asp
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the fairy lights or beads
http://www.10littlebirds.com/mushroom-fairy-lights-433-p.asp
Kara recently posted..Learning Resources Answer Buzzers – A Review
It would have to be Build an Electric Dragster for my son! http://www.10littlebirds.com/build-an-electric-dragster-55-p.asp
x
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Whatg a brilliant site! Love the dog lights (have a dog mad 4 year old) and the pirate stuff and I want a super hero plan for myself! Plus she has Orchard Toys products – check these out other mums, they are brilliant – easy to play, made of sturdy board with fantastic graphics.
It was hard to choose but I couldn’t go past Dinosaurs Love Underpants – I know a little boy who would LOVE that book! …..plus his Dad has told him that dinosaurs live in France…I think that needs ironed out and a Pants War sounds like just the thing!!
http://www.10littlebirds.com/pillowhead-bee-cushion-112-p.asp I love these
some great items. i think the large soft plastic dinosaurs would be loved by my boys
@claireishoop
Oh my goodness! So much gorgeousness in one place! I can see this is going to be a favourite! Thank you for sharing and encouraging my habit of online coveting
Loving the Souper Spoon! 
Super inspirational stuff – love the hangman game and the white bunny night-light. Wishing you fun and success in your Mummy business – Alison
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This one http://www.10littlebirds.com/spaceboy-colour-pencil-tube-169-p.asp
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It would have to be the knitted t-rex… although whether I’d end up with 1, 2 or 3 would be left to the children to decide- they all love dinosaurs!
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http://www.10littlebirds.com/24-triangular-pencil-213-p.asp
these or
http://www.10littlebirds.com/octopus-rattle-blue-green-16-p.asp
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I would love to put the voucher towards the boys food face plate… we’re trying everything right now to get our litte boy to eat! I think this may be another great tool, that or the Air fork one!
Love this interview….what a good idea…going to check this site out for sure – perfect for birthday presents
Laura x
http://www.sidestreetstyle.com
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I’d get the FELT SCOTTIE DOG FAIRY LIGHTS. They’re super cute
@caro_mad
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I’d get the heart print suitcases to store my daughters little bits & bobs and keepsakes somewhere beautiful! http://www.10littlebirds.com/heart-print-suitcases-192-p.asp
http://www.10littlebirds.com/woodland-mini-backback-1485-p.asp Woodland Backpack for little miss
http://www.10littlebirds.com/woodland-mini-backback-1485-p.asp Woodland Backpack for little miss
http://www.10littlebirds.com/woodland-mini-backback-1485-p.asp Woodland Backpack for little miss
I’ve been coveting one of the bunny lights you picture in the post for ages, so probably that, although the gorgeous dtrings of fairy ligghts are very tempting too…
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Has to be the Felt Horse Fairy Lights as my son loves horses. http://www.10littlebirds.com/felt-horse-fairy-lights-194-p.asp
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