The founders of Women and Wheels - Kate Kembery and Debbie Tan - talk to The NextWomen about  starting their multimedia car review site, what the future holds for them and how it is best not to go looking for bad reviews.

Explain what Women and Wheels is about

Women and Wheels is about motoring but it's written by women for women. We aim to get away from mens' car talk and offer a more practical female viewpoint.  Each car we test has a video to go with the review making it a very visual experience. There are also features and news items, a blog and a forum where women can come and exchange views and knowledge in a non-threatening and supportive fashion. We feel there is a huge amount of women who buy cars and have a great influence over choice of family car. With this in mind, our features, news, jargon-busters etc are an enjoyable read, providing information in a more palatable form. We are aiming to demystify the whole subject of cars and car buying by providing usable information, not just about the driving experience, but about actually living with a car.

How did you come up with the idea?

The idea took shape over a curry and bottle of wine. Deb's husband, being a car photographer, has always said there is not enough for women in the motoring world and after a second bottle of wine we thought let's do something about it. So that night Women and Wheels was born.

What made you decide that it was not just a good idea but also a good business?

We went in with our eyes open knowing that we would not make money overnight. We had to give ourselves time to build relationships with the manufacturers, who we rely on to provide cars, while at the same time developing the site.  We've had tremendous support and feedback from manufacturers and motoring organisations who are keen to get into the women's market.  With our own enthusiasm and belief in the website and the response from others in the industry we strongly feel there is a place for us in the motoring world.  Time will tell as the site is still in its infancy.

What distinguishes the company from others that offer similar services?

When we test a car we are approaching it from a very practical way. We are neither journalists nor motoring experts and are less concerned with engine size and more concerned with boot size.  By showing a car through video our aim is to give the viewer a proper taste of the car and its assets and failings.

How did you fund your business and what is the business model?

The very nature of building the website is that it takes time and that is all it has cost us so far - our time.  We are in the enviable position of being able to develop the site and not rely on it to bring in any money in these early days.  We are having such an enjoyable time building the site, developing relationships, promoting ourselves without the pressure of having to earn any money at the moment, that it almost has a hobby-like feel to it, but we are both very clear that while we want to continue having fun, we want Women and Wheels to develop into a viable business in the very near future. Between us we have a wide range of 'in-house' skills capable of developing the site to a certain level, after which point we will bring in the 'experts to take it to the next phase in its development.

Tell me one experience you had in setting it up that others can learn from?

Building and developing a site takes time and it is important to be realistic about this from the beginning. We have learnt to accept that it is a work in progress and as such, demands flexibility and an open mind. We knew from the start that there was not going to be an immediate monetary gain.  We've learnt to keep our enthusiasm alive which is essential for keeping the website alive.  To combat the possibility of getting disheartened, we try to devote some time each day to Women and Wheels even if it's just making one phone call.  This definitely helps to feel you're moving forward on those days when enthusiasm is low. Having said that, we would love to give up our part time jobs as we could easily fill every day with work on it.

What is the next step you plan to take with your company?

We feel the site looks fantastic and now we are faced with the daunting task of promoting ourselves. Again we are new at this but we are optimistic, because, having overcome our terror of being in front of a camera, cold calling manufacturers, organisations, newspapers and penetrating the male-dominated world of cars, we feel that promoting ourselves is one more step on our very steep learning curve.  Once we have successfully begun the process of promoting ourselves we can then begin the business of approaching advertisers and start to generate some money.

Anything else?  Any nice stories readers have sent you?

One of the surprises is the amount of attention we have been getting from motoring forums - not all complimentary - but it shows there is a huge interest out there generating discussion and comments. After an afternoon of being battered and bruised we came out having learnt not to go looking in those dark places that are better left undisturbed. We were consequently told by a very well-seasoned motoring journalist that people very rarely say good things and its best to ignore them.  However, after the onslaught we realised that it hadn't all been bad and were bolstered up once more by all the positive comments that came from both sexes.