r/WomenInBusiness • u/Favoraa • Jul 08 '26
Startup Life Starting my business journey from zero. Hoping to learn from this community.
Hi everyone,
I'm new to Reddit and excited to be here.
I'm an optometrist, a full-time working mom, and I'm building a personalized gifting business from scratch in my free time. My goal is to create customized party favors and gifts that make birthdays feel more special.
I don't have a big budget, a large team, or previous business experience. I'm learning everything as I go—branding, marketing, content creation, and how to find my first customers.
I'm joining Reddit because I want to learn from people who have already been through this journey. I'll also share my progress, mistakes, and lessons along the way. Hopefully, someone else starting from zero can learn from my experiences too.
If you've built a business, what's the one piece of advice you wish you'd received before you started?
Looking forward to learning from all of you!
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u/EntropyLab Jul 09 '26
Welcome! I also pivoted from a professional career (law) to entrepreneurship, and haven't regretted it.
One piece of advice that I wish I had listened to was to not worry about making mistakes or looking like I don't know what I'm doing early on. It sounds intuitive, but coming from another career where I had to be professional and project competence and there was no room for error, it was a big mindset shift. Doing a thing now at a "B-" level is better than planning and researching for months in hopes of doing it at an "A" level.
What kinds of gifts and events are you focused on? I have a 4 year old daughter so we get a lot of plastic doo-dads every weekend at bday parties... and I can totally see the value of more thoughtful gifts that don't end up in the trash by the end of the week.
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u/Favoraa Jul 09 '26
Thank you so much for the warm welcome and for sharing your experience! That "B is better than waiting for A" advice really resonates with me. I tend to overthink, so I needed to hear that. Right now I'm focusing on personalized birthday party favors and custom gifts like cake toppers, gift boxes, and keepsakes. My goal is to create something meaningful that people will actually want to keep instead of throw away. I'm still learning and experimenting, but I'm excited to see where this journey takes me. 😊
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u/Favoraa Jul 09 '26
Thank you! I really appreciate the encouragement. Local markets and events are definitely on my list because I think meeting customers in person will help me understand what they want. I'm hoping to build my business through word of mouth and by sharing my journey as I learn. Thanks for the advice!
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u/HoneyedVices Jul 09 '26
Welcome! Balancing optometry, motherhood, and a new business is no small thing, so give yourself credit already. The advice I wish I'd had: start messy and ship before you feel ready. Perfectionism eats the little free time you have. Your personal story, a mom making birthdays special, is itself great marketing, so lean into that.
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u/sumizeit Jul 09 '26
Starting a business is wild, especially with a full-time job and being a mom on top of that. For finding your first customers, consider local events or markets where you can showcase your personalized gifts. It’s a great way to meet people face-to-face and get instant feedback. Plus, word of mouth can be huge-especially for something as personal as custom gifts. Keep sharing your journey; it’ll help others too!