How a mother, after getting her MBA from the top b-school, started an online barter business from home while taking care of one baby and expecting another.
June 26, 2006 (Press Release) --
Sunnyvale, CA – June 26 – Right after graduating from the MBA program at MIT Sloan School of Management, Wong could not wait to resume her pre-MBA high-flying career: managing director of one of the largest web solution companies in HK. She took a senior management position from a fast-growing company but within two months she realized something was missing in her original plan: that saying good bye to her then 8 month-old baby every morning and missing him all day was hard. She quit the job and decided to start her own business from home.
It was not like any of the ventures she had started before. With a baby at home and another arriving in a few months, this time Wong had very limited resource, mainly time and monetary investment that she could afford on the new venture.
After contemplating different business plans, Wong decided to start a niche business: online barter. She founded Woonba.com (the Cantonese pronunciation of “let’s exchange”) in April 2005. After two months of successful Beta operations the free online barter site http://www.woonba.com was officially launched.
“Barter is rare because people who barter transact with relatively non-liquid media: specific products or services, as oppose to money, a media that can match almost all sellers’ needs,” said Wong. “Yet, barter is much more fun. Buying items or getting services with money is relatively boring and predictable. Bartering, on the other hand, allows you to get what you want with some of your “excess inventory”, be it the bike that has been sitting in your garage forever, or if you were a masseur, the time on your non-fully booked schedule. You have to be creative in the entire process. If you were the seller, you will also get surprises from time to time because people might make interesting offers to get your items. For example, I posted a digital camera on my site and one day someone offered me a little puppy!”
Another advantage of bartering is that people learn to fully utilize their existing “inventory” instead of spending more money on items they desire. Barter will change your mentality and will definitely save you money from this perspective. Not to mention the fact that barter can also save you time because it combines two transactions (selling and buying) into one.
One more advantage of this online business is that it allows Wong to connect to the business world while taking care of her 18 months old baby at home as well as expecting her new baby in July. That is the kind of balanced life that she truly enjoys.
You can check the site out at http://www.woonba.com
Interview Contact: Vivian Wong
vivian.wong@gmail.com
http://www.woonba.com
Cell: 408-768-3755
It was not like any of the ventures she had started before. With a baby at home and another arriving in a few months, this time Wong had very limited resource, mainly time and monetary investment that she could afford on the new venture.
After contemplating different business plans, Wong decided to start a niche business: online barter. She founded Woonba.com (the Cantonese pronunciation of “let’s exchange”) in April 2005. After two months of successful Beta operations the free online barter site http://www.woonba.com was officially launched.
“Barter is rare because people who barter transact with relatively non-liquid media: specific products or services, as oppose to money, a media that can match almost all sellers’ needs,” said Wong. “Yet, barter is much more fun. Buying items or getting services with money is relatively boring and predictable. Bartering, on the other hand, allows you to get what you want with some of your “excess inventory”, be it the bike that has been sitting in your garage forever, or if you were a masseur, the time on your non-fully booked schedule. You have to be creative in the entire process. If you were the seller, you will also get surprises from time to time because people might make interesting offers to get your items. For example, I posted a digital camera on my site and one day someone offered me a little puppy!”
Another advantage of bartering is that people learn to fully utilize their existing “inventory” instead of spending more money on items they desire. Barter will change your mentality and will definitely save you money from this perspective. Not to mention the fact that barter can also save you time because it combines two transactions (selling and buying) into one.
One more advantage of this online business is that it allows Wong to connect to the business world while taking care of her 18 months old baby at home as well as expecting her new baby in July. That is the kind of balanced life that she truly enjoys.
You can check the site out at http://www.woonba.com
Interview Contact: Vivian Wong
vivian.wong@gmail.com
http://www.woonba.com
Cell: 408-768-3755
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