Behind The Brand: Anchor & Arrow

If there's one thing we love at One Fine Baby, it's a female-owned and run business. Better still if they are - and employ - working mums, too!

In a sentence, this is Anchor & Arrow.  Founded by Lorna Doe, she began her small business manufacturing styling baby swaddles while on maternity leave and how has a whole range of practical and stylish baby products in beautiful designs. 

“I started Anchor & Arrow as a hobby initially, alongside my long standing media career of 12 years,” Lorna said.

“While I was on maternity leave tackling being a parent for the first time, I had a little space to  focus on evolving Anchor & Arrow into a business. I’ve grown the product range from 6 swaddle designs to over 10 products in the space of 18 months.”

Where has Anchor & Arrow grown to since then?

Starting in her garage, Lorna has since moved  into her own warehouse with a team of 5 incredible women and opened a bricks and mortar store in the northern beaches of Sydney.

“I always wanted to create a work environment that was fun and flexible for other women to come to work in in whatever stage they were in at in their parenting journey,” Lorna said.

“We have new and expectant mums, mums juggling multiple children and women that have raised their families and want to work and do something for themselves. Regardless of where they are at, we want to create a safe and understanding workplace for them and a job they genuinely enjoy.”

Anchor & Arrow has had some incredible achievements in the last 12 months, doubling revenue and securing baby product stockists around the country.

Epic growth and now big awards!

Lorna has been so successful over the last few years, that she has been named as a finalist for the AusMumpreneur Awards in not one - but four - categories.

Specialising in swaddles with hand painted prints, Anchor & Arrow creates practical and stylish baby products in beautiful designs. Lorna’s hard work and creativity paid off with her new business making the finals in Product Design, Retail Ecommerce, Rising Star and Ausmumpreneur of the Year categories.

The AusMumpreneur Awards, presented by The Women’s Business School, celebrate and recognise Australian mums in business achieving outstanding success in areas such as business excellence, product development, customer service and digital innovation. The awards are designed to recognise the growing number of women who successfully balance motherhood and business in a way that suits their life and family. 

What is Anchor & Arrow's best-selling product?

Anchor & Arrow has had some incredible achievements in the last 12 months, doubling revenue and securing baby product stockists around the country.

“We launched a brand new sleeping bag range, which is our best selling product to date, and probably my favourite achievement is our first physical retail store opening in Freshwater which I am incredibly proud of,” Lorna said.

What's the best part of owning your own business?

There are many benefits to balancing business and motherhood as Lorna explains, “I love being my own boss and being able to spend more time with my son. I have been able to create flexibility for our family which I wouldn’t have had with my media carrier,” she said.

“I love working with other mums to come up with our collections and our little ones are very much a part of each product that we have designed. Balancing motherhood and business is definitely a tough juggle but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

How did COVID impact Anchor & Arrow?

It can be challenging to be a successful business woman whilst raising a family, Lorna knows all too well. “The first wave of COVID saw my online business triple in revenue in its first year, we hired 4 team members and moved out of my garage into a 150sqm warehouse,” she said.

“We were so excited about where we were heading. When the second wave hit mid last year, I genuinely thought I was going to lose everything. We had a new product launching, a huge stock invoice to pay and all our offline sales channels vanished overnight. There were a lot of tears and sleepless nights about how to keep my staff's jobs safe and keep my head above water."

“I knew I had to pivot and focus my energy on the sales markets and channels that were available. We managed to get through this period and god did I learn some valuable lessons that will make Anchor & Arrow stronger for the future.”

Do you have any advice for people wanting to start their own business?

“Owning your own business is incredibly challenging and rewarding. Never start a business because you want to get rich, start it because you genuinely see a problem that your product can solve,” she said.

“Passion for your business is what gives you the tenacity to keep going through the hard times. Also remember that you can’t do everything yourself, work out what you are good at and outsource what you aren’t.

“A coach of mine once said to me, ‘Lorna you have done an incredible job getting the business this far but you are now the bottleneck in your business and if you let go of some responsibilities to others the business will continue to grow’.”

Read more at www.ausmumpreneur.com. The winners of the AusMumpreneur Awards will be announced at the AusMumpreneur Awards Gala Dinner in September.