But Miracle baby and children’s gear store owner Harriet Moir was not expecting the past decade to zip past as fast as it did.
It is the store’s 10th birthday this month and she is ‘‘absolutely astounded’’ at how quickly the milestone has come around.
She recalled how she and her former business partner Samantha Cadman were so full of confidence and enthusiasm when they started their new business venture together.
‘‘Fresh-faced — no kids yet — and full of enthusiasm, coupled with my background in the children’s clothing industry and Sam’s retail management experience, we thought we’d absolutely nail it.’’
Ms Moir said despite her extensive experience in children’s wear and Mrs Cadman’s retail management experience, they quickly discovered it was not as easy as they thought it would be.
‘‘Turns out, we did not have a flipping clue. Nada, zip, zilch.
‘‘But somehow, the enthusiasm never waned and we stuck at it — constantly learning on the job and making many, many, many whopping great mistakes.
‘‘Two or three years in, it was common for us to say, ‘Oh God, if only we’d known that when we started’.’’
Fast forward 10 years, five babies between them, a shop move and Mrs Cadman leaving the business recently to put more focus on her family, Miracle continued to grow, she said.
‘‘We’re still working it out. But we’ve definitely managed to shed our training wheels.’’
She said the greatest achievement of the business had been turning its customers into a supportive community.
‘‘The highlights have been the friendships, the relationships we’ve made.
‘‘There’s a sense of community.
‘‘It can be really isolating having young children and we’ve always wanted to be a place that people can come and have a chinwag if they need to, and make connections.’’
Ms Moir said the store would have a huge birthday party at its Wall Street Mall store on Saturday.
Traditionally, it is the person celebrating the birthday who gets all the presents.
But Miracle was turning that around, and would be giving away prizes to celebrate the day, she said.
‘‘We might even roll out some memory-lane pictures too, because everyone needs a good look back through their haircuts and yo-yo pregnancy weight from time to time.’’
