Sometimes I sit and wonder how the hell I got myself into the business of running a small business. I can't believe I actually took the plunge and turned our pipe dream into a reality. I say "our" pipe dream as the original idea for this business was actually my husband's.

We were living in a reginal NSW at the time in a town I totally despised - it's only saving grace was the fact that it was an hour away from my home town and my (compared to the yokel locals) nice and normal friends and family. I'm sure the majority of the town's inhabitants lead very happy lives, it just did nothing for me at the time. The only reason we were there was for my husband's work. It was a compromise - we had to do our time and then we could move to beautiful Brisvegas.

Whilst living in "Yokelsville" my husband found it really hard to find birthday gifts for me that I would a) like and b) use. I would like to think that I am an easy going kinda gal who would be the happy recipient of anything her desperate husband gave her but I'm pretty sure husband would tell you differently. To be fair, it was slim pickings in Yokesville and I guess I was never going to be happy with a cheap bottle of Eau De Pharmacie Locale. Yikes, as if!

So Husband (who is annoyingly gifted in the intelligence department - seriously I'm not sure if I've won an argument in five years, not that I would ever tell him that) decided that there had to be an easier way for guys to get their hands on a decent gift for their lady friend, especially those living in regional areas. Bing! Online gift store. Problem solved. The more husband talked about this great idea the more intrigued I became.

I was studying externally at the time so had plenty of time to look into this life saver for men that was going to change my life. The more research I did into the online business, the more convinced I became it was a good idea. I was never deluded, I knew it was going to take a lot of hard work. Several successful people told me that it was going to take at least two years before I could even think about making money. I was fine with that. Bring it on small business world. But until you actually delve into a venture, you never really know what it's going to take.

We decided that if after a couple of years it wasn't working we would cut our losses and move on.  Fast forward a couple of years and I am still here. It's been a hell of a ride and there have been several lessons learned along the way. Next time I will share some of those lessons with you.