The first year of Momento Gifts

Well here we are on the first birthday of Momento Gifts. One year on from launching the website and going live, I think it’s time to reflect on that first year, how I got there and how it’s going so far. 

Starting Momento was a long time in the planning and it took quite a bit of time to get off the ground, for a variety of reasons, but we got there in the end! It’s still a work in progress and, to be honest, it probably always will be as various challenges (and opportunities) crop up. I’m learning daily what it takes to run a small business and I’m not ashamed to admit that I underestimated just how difficult it would be at times, how much juggling I’d need to do and how many hats I’d need to wear. But, we’d never learn anything if everything was perfect from the off so I take every challenge and obstacle as an opportunity to learn and do something differently next time. And anyone who knows me knows I love a hat, especially at a party, so I’m embracing the metaphoric wearing of many hats. 

Firstly, a little bit about how and why Momento started. Since graduating university in 2000, I’ve spent pretty much all of my career working in the hotel industry in various roles from Graduate Trainee to Assistant Food & Beverage Manager, Assistant Front Office Manager, Guest Service Manager, Front Office Manager to Revenue & Reservations Manager and latterly Area Revenue & Distribution Manager. I’ve worked in a variety of hotels from a 5 star “Leading Hotel of the World” to bustling city centre hotels and a busy airport hotel and I’ve learned from some of the best. No two days are the same in a hotel so you learn very quickly to adapt to situations and think on your feet. You learn the importance of customer focus and providing excellent service at all times. That’s an ethos I’ve taken forward and applied to Momento. It’s my aim to ensure that every customer has a great experience from start to finish, from your first click on the website, viewing the collection of products, choosing your purchases and receiving them in the post. 

In 2021, some big changes in the company where I’d worked for 11 years resulted in me taking redundancy and a much needed career break. I had to decide what was next for me and I was lucky enough to be able to take some time to think about it. I spent lots of time with our young puppy Axl, enrolled in some Spanish classes and undertook an online course in starting a small business which was the first step in the process. 

I’ve always enjoyed finding unique and thoughtful gifts for friends and family and it was from that that the idea of Momento Gifts came about. Initially, I had intended that it would be a letterbox gifts business where everything would fit through the letterbox and could be delivered directly to the recipient without any need to be at home. But, as I started researching and trying to source unique and thoughtful gifts I realised that my customers would miss out on lots of lovely products that were bigger than letterbox size and so the business idea evolved. My aim is for Momento to be a one stop shop where you can find beautiful, unique products that would make ideal gifts for your friends and family or the perfect treat for yourself. I’m always on the hunt for something new to add to the range, and I’m trying as much as possible to source products made here in the UK. I want to work with, and stock products from, other small businesses. 

But, back to how I got here. Having completed the small business course, a plan started to form. However, as a notorious over thinker and someone who needs to dot the i’s and cross the t’s, it was slow burning, but meticulously planned and researched. Around about this time, an opportunity arose to return to the hotel industry working with a previous boss and I didn’t want to miss out on that chance. However, as time went on the pull of what became Momento was there in the background and I didn’t want to have any regrets about not starting my own business. So I handed in my notice and planning for Momento really began in earnest. I enrolled with my local Business Gateway, spoke with an advisor and signed up to as many workshops and webinars as I could on all manner of subjects including accounting and finance, marketing, social media, websites and SEO. These were invaluable and for anyone with a small business, or thinking of starting, I’d urge you to get in touch with your local Business Gateway (or its equivalent in other parts of the UK). 

While Momento was still a little spark in the back of my mind, I visited Spring Fair at the NEC down in Birmingham in February 2023 to research suppliers and products that I could stock if/when the plan came to fruition. As someone who is pretty shy, this was more than a little out of my comfort zone but as I plucked up the courage to speak to some of the exhibitors it got easier and I met some really lovely friendly people, some of whom have become suppliers to Momento Gifts. 

As I began to source and receive stock items, I started work on building an e-commerce website. I’m not the most tech savvy person in the world so that was a challenge in itself but I’m proud of what I’ve achieved although fully accept that there’s still room for improvement and more optimisation required. 

In amongst all the planning, building websites, attending webinars and workshops and everything else required when setting up a small business, another job opportunity arose for a short term contract to work with my previous employer and I jumped at the chance. Once the contract was over, I had a month to apply the finishing touches to the website and get all the legalities in place and finally on 30th November 2023, www.momento-gifts.co.uk went live. 

In hindsight, it was probably a little late in launching in time for Christmas but I started to see some orders come in. This was very much a learning curve and quickly reminded me that I hadn’t thought of everything. I’m constantly reminded of that as something else arises but it’s all part of developing Momento and improving the business constantly. 

The first year of Momento has certainly had its challenges, but it’s had its successes too. There was a week in February 2024 when the website was down due to some miscommunications between the website provider and the domain provider - that was stressful and, I’m not gonna lie, resulted in a few tears. But I just had to think about an alternative solution and loaded all the products onto Facebook with details of how to purchase. I’m sure there will be many more challenges like these and I’ll just need to adapt and adjust at they come up. 

Whilst I’ve had a number of orders in the first year, there have been days, weeks and months where there have been no orders and nothing coming in. There are still expenses that need to be paid each month and so most months expenditure outweighs income. Thankfully, I also have a part time job (within the hotel industry, of course) which helps me to pay the bills and allows me to continue building Momento into the profitable business I need it to be. I know that’s going to take some time but I’m up for the challenge.

I’m still trying to build up the name and tell people all about Momento Gifts and have a couple of events coming up where I’ll have a pop up stall and be able to sell to customers face to face. Whilst it’s a little daunting it’s also quite exciting and I’m hoping they go well in the run up to Christmas. 

So that’s a wee run down of how the first year has gone and I’ve think I’ve probably rambled on enough and should start to wrap it up. However, I can’t finish this reflection of year one without saying thank you to all of those who have helped and supported me through it. That help and support has come in many guises, from offering advice and feedback on products, the website or content, to taking photographs for the website, purchasing products, following, liking, commenting, interacting and sharing on social media, recommending and sharing details of Momento to others, to being a sounding board for me. Thank you to those other small business owners who have offered invaluable advice and agreed to supply me with their amazing products. To each and every person who has helped me out in some way within the last year one hundred thousand thank yous. Here’s to the next year in Momento’s journey.