I sometimes kick myself for not starting a business before I had my babies. It would have had some free time in the evenings to get a little business started and money wouldn’t have been so tight. But I know that I simply didn’t have the push I needed to get me started until I had my first baby.
Often it takes a major life change to nudge us into self employment. For some, being a mum is the change that does it, but there are mums who have faced other challenges and made the jump into self-employment too. Jen Sargeant who I wrote about a couple of weeks ago was one of them. Today I’m handing over to Theresa Lodge of J&M Baby Equipment Hire, who started her business when she became a single parent…
“I am 37 and mum of two boys Jack aged 6 and Max aged 4. I was a part-time time stay at home mum with three small time part time jobs to help our finances – they were Medical Secretary, Legal Secretary and a Dinner Lady. I have always wanted to “work for myself” but never really had the nerve to actually do anything about it. However last year me and the boys’ father separated.
After I initially got over the shock of being a single parent it gave me the boost I needed to actually do something about my dream. I knew from previous experience of taking our two boys on holiday what an ordeal travelling with two young children and all the equipment you needed to take with you was so decided to start a company hiring baby and toddler equipment.
The first problem I came across was a name but after lots of umming and arrhing I decided what better name than to call it after my two boys “J&M”. I spent every spare minute that I wasn’t being a mum and doing mummy chores and playing with the boys researching, setting up a website etc even thought this meant spending lots of sitting at the laptop until the early hours of the morning and then still being up bright and cheerful for the school run the next day.
In June this year my website went live and I cannot believe how well it is going already. The feedback I have got from customers is great and it really makes me proud that I am helping them as well as fulfilling my dream of working for myself.
At the moment I still have my three small part time jobs as a Legal Secretary, Medical Secretary and Dinner Lady just so I still have a regular income to rely on but if my business keeps going the way I am hoping it will I may have to give these up to concentrate full time.
I would love your readers to read my story as it would inspire them to go for starting up their own business. Its a shame it took such a drastic action as my relationship breakdown for me to actually get the nerve to do it and I wish I had done it years ago but I am up and running now and plan to keep going from strength to strength.”
With your energy and determination, I’m sure you will. Good luck Theresa!