Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Lindsay Naylor, Founder of Little Foundations, located in Philadelphia, PA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Simply put, I help parents with their babies. I start by helping parents with feeding and sleeping. I support parents in helping their babies to eat, sleep, play, and communicate in their first few years. With individual services and my online course and community, I help parents to have less stress and create healthy habits from the start. Little Foundations is also a social enterprise, meaning that the profits are used for social good. Every customer is a family that is helped, and they are also giving back to a family in need. Every baby and every family deserves to have support, and I'm working to do my part every day.
Tell us about yourself
I love helping parents and giving them more time to enjoy their babies. I am a bilingual speech and feeding therapist and have been working with families for over 10 years. After years of seeing families struggle with sleep, I also became a certified pediatric sleep consultant to guide families toward more sleep gently. When parents tell me that they are feeling less stressed and that their babies are eating better, sleeping more, and starting to play in new ways, I am motivated to keep moving forward in business.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
While I am proud of all that has happened and grateful for all the families I've worked with, I am excited about my new online course. I launched the Little Foundations Feeding Academy, which is an online course and community to support parents with everything they need to know about feeding their babies from birth into toddler years. With everything from breastfeeding, bottle feeding, starting purees and solids, to avoiding picky eating and making feeding fun, I serve parents and families to keep feeding fun and easy. It has been such a pleasure seeing parents go from stressed and overwhelmed to confident and excited about feeding.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
For me, one of the hardest things about being an entrepreneur is being confident in taking action. When I first started, I thought I wasn't 'ready,' and I wanted to read more books and take more courses to make sure I got things 'right.' I've learned it's more important to get quality information, take consistent action, stay flexible, and pivot when necessary.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
While it isn't always easy, having a business is the best gift you can give to yourself. For anyone interested in working toward becoming a successful entrepreneur, I'd say:
- Work on your mindset. Take care of yourself and work hard to change your mindset about business, money, and success. Your mindset will get you through the hard moments. With decisions big and little, think, 'what would a successful entrepreneur do in this situation.'
- Take action. Learn from people, collect your information and then get to work. Don't spend all your time reading every business book and taking every online course, and forget to work on your business. Learning is a lifelong activity, so make sure you dedicate time to work on your dream business daily.
- Remember your 'why.' Even when it feels hard and things aren't going the way you planned, your 'why,' or the reason you started, will keep you grounded and motivated. Think about the reason you want to be an entrepreneur. Is it to help people have financial freedom for you and your family, work from anywhere... all of the above? Whatever your reason is, keep it fresh in your mind and work toward it daily.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.littlefoundations.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LittleFoundationsInc
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/littlefoundations/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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