Hello, my name is Alison Pinto. I’m Mum to two children, and I run www.menus4mums.co.uk. Menus4mums is an online family meal planning service which helps busy parents save time and money and put tasty, nutritious dinners on the table for their families. Members get a new menu plan each week for dinners the whole family will enjoy, with recipe cards and a handy shopping list broken down into supermarket aisles. What sets us apart is that the meals take advantage of supermarket special offers to keep grocery bills down – especially useful during the Credit Crunch! Continue reading “I Started a Business With Toddlers: Alison Pinto of Menus4Mums”
I Started a Business With a Baby: Rachel Bloom of La Fee Noire
Tell us a little about your business
Lafeenoire Maternity is an online boutique featuring a unique range of funky and functional maternity clothes which tend to be my own taste. The collection includes dresses, tops, lingerie , jeans and swimwear etc but my unique selling point is Hug-a-Bump SPD Maternity Support Band. Created to address a desperate need in the market for a wearable and effective pain relief for pregnancy back pain and symptoms of SPD. This condition now effects up to 1 n 3 pregnancies and in fact almost every pregnant woman can benefit from it as backache is so common place during pregnancy. I commissioned my design to be manufactured and after a 6 month wait it was launched following successful trials with SPD volunteer sufferers I found on the mummy forums and was lucky enough to grab some fab PR in the Daily mail in April 2009 and the band flew.
What was your job before starting your business?
Executive Recruitment for the previous 10 years (headhunting) within the luxury goods marketplace. Self employed and working from home already (for the last 3 years of that time) so the transition into something else from home was not difficult. I was completing an assignment two days after my baby arrived and realised then something had to give!
How did you go from your old career to your new business?
I gave myself a short break and began gathering stock for my website when I saw how quick I could sell my own maternity wardrobe online after I had finished with it. A friend suffered SPD and had been given nothing effective to relieve the problem and I myself struggled with back ache due to a particularly large baby bump due to a fibroid. So the seed of Hug-a-Bump began….I found it far less stressful buying and selling ladies maternity clothes than juggling candidates and clients at every turn…so instead of life with a phone strapped to my head , I now had a tiny baby strapped to my chest!( metaphorically speaking !)
What were your reasons for starting a business?
I need to be my own boss and work around my family commitments as they are priority and the cost of childcare outways the income of most new businesses so it made sense. I already worked for myself and knew I wanted a quieter less stressful life now I had a child. My intention was always to be a stay at home mum when it happened and what girl doesn’t love buying clothes! Hug a Bump is a passion for me as practically every customer who buys it gives me fabulous feedback and is really grateful so the stress of having it made and protecting its name and design is worthwhile. My testimonials sometimes make me well up with the thought that I have changed someone’s day to day life during their pregnancy simply by reducing the pain. It is also now sold globally and is endorsed my UK midwives and international maternity reflexologists too.Now my baby is at school I can work more or less full time on my business so should see a growth
What were your challenges and how did you overcome them?
I self-financed the business from my previous income and am slowly recouping this initial investment. I figure you need to speculate to accumulate but have never used a bank loan. Credit cards are useful of course! I started with a pretty poor home made website and tinkered for a long time before investing in a designer and am now on my third (and for sometime final!) design and I am now delighted with the image of the site. In creating a home-made site I did benefit from becoming quite proficient in HTML, links and general SEO so I do all of these mundane tasks myself to save money. I feel I have the time so use it wisely to save myself money
What training, information or advice did you need to get started?
Basic IT, I am self taught and read and read until I understand how to do the things I need to do myself. IT support and SEO services cost a fortune so if you learn you save. Information is out there for all to use and is generally free.
If you could give one piece of advice to a mum of a baby or toddler starting a business, what would it be?
Don’t skimp on a cheap looking website…it will look cheap to everyone and your shop window will let you down. It is false economy. Don’t overload yourself with trivia and be sure to find a niche. There are hundreds of Maternity clothes websites but only one Hug-a-Bump SPD Maternity Support Band. Find your niche and push it. I had recent interest from a well known retailer following my own introduction to the product but given the margins involved to get a product into retail, be sure you keep focussed on the end goal and control before you leap into handing your ‘baby’ over to someone else!:-)
You can visit Rachel’s website at www.lafeenoire.com
I Started a Business With A Baby: Shelley Connors of The Marketing Bean
I set up my Marketing and Event freelance service, The Marketing Bean, when my daughter was 10 weeks old. Crazy? Well maybe, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. In this guest post discover how I juggle mummyhood, business and being a good fiancée, oh, and writing my new blog http://themummybean.blogspot.com/, did I mention the crazy part?
The business bit…
The Marketing Bean is a freelance marketing and event service, helping small businesses grow. We provide companies with experienced and professional freelancers as virtual marketing assistants. The Marketing Bean can support in all aspects of marketing from social media, PR and copy writing to event management, administration and conference facilitation.
So how did I get here?
After the first 10 weeks of having my beautiful baby girl in my life I knew I didn’t want to go back to work full time but knew I needed to work somehow. We fell pregnant whilst living in Australia so I had to leave my job there as a Marketing and Sponsorship Executive and wasn’t entitled to maternity pay from the Government when we got home as we had been out of the country too long (don’t get me started) So…www.themarketingbean.co.uk was born and I have been taking on freelance work from home ever since.
Ready? Set? Go!
So I knew I wanted to work for myself… then what?
I’d suggest either stick to what you know, like me, I have always worked in events and marketing so trusted my skills and experience. The alternative would be to expand on a hobby or something you feel passionate about.
I set my website up free of charge, using ‘Getting British Businesses Online’, I would highly recommend this service. It’s easy to use and comes with fantastic, user friendly resources.
Then I networked, the best business tip I could give, both face to face and online. Join networking sites like 4Networking or forums like Mumpreneur UK and attend events, seminars and conferences if you can. If this isn’t practical due to childcare then Twitter and other social networking sites are just as effective in getting your business out there!
But I can’t juggle!
Nor can I, but I can organise, and so can you. ..
I’m upfront with my clients, they know I have Belle full time and that she comes first. Therefore I get the best of both worlds, the ability to organise my week around Sure Start classes and play dates whilst still actively using my business skills and contributing to the household, UK economy and wedding dress fund (Vera Wang in my dreams!)
I am lucky and if I have meetings to go to, or days I need to be at events both Belle’s nannies can help out, or James will schedule time off when he can. But, for the majority, I work around Belle’s routine so I can enjoy her and we can spend time together.
Setting up your own business may sound scary and doing so with a 10 week old baby may sound pure madness but I am so glad that I did and would encourage any new mum to do the same. Being your own boss is a great way to ensure you spend as much time as you want with your little one (and the other half, don’t forget about them, date night is a must!). It works for me, and I’m sure it can work for you too!
You can read more about Shelley’s business at www.themarketingbean.co.uk (Twitter: @marketing_bean).
Or if you would like to know how she’s getting on in her continued journey of working motherhood, James adoring and wedding dress hunting please follow her blog http://themummybean.blogspot.com/ or Twitter @TheMummyBean
I Started a Business with a Baby: Julie Davenport of E-Voice Speech Recognition
E-Voice Speech Recognition Limited is a leading provider of Dragon NaturallySpeaking (Speech Recognition software), TextHelp Read & Write, and mind mapping software solutions in the workplace, for individuals with literacy difficulties, or for those that require hands-free approach to computing due to RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury) or other medical conditions. In addition, we provide one-to-one, customised training as part of our solutions, all of which can be purchased with funding by Access to Work along with a wide range or ergonomic mice and keyboards, microphones, and digital recorders. Dragon NaturallySpeaking can also be used for individuals wishing to improve productivity, by speeding up repetitive tasks, replicating keystrokes with voice commands, and enabling the user to dictate three times faster than most people can type.
Prior to E-voice, I worked for a company called The GeoInformation Group as an Aerial Photography Data Specialist. I worked with the company for over 13 years starting in an administrative role and then went on to work within the production team to produce high-resolution digital aerial photography including some of the imagery you see on Google. Continue reading “I Started a Business with a Baby: Julie Davenport of E-Voice Speech Recognition”
I Started a Business With a Baby: Viv Smith of Poppy Sparkles
I’ve made jewellery since my early teens, and as stay at home mum on a career break from teaching English in a secondary school full-time, decided that this was my now or never time to take my hobby craft business further. I have always loved creating jewellery and dreamed about running my own business. With the additional motivation of wanting to be with my young family longer than I might otherwise without an additional income to my husband’s, I launched Poppy Sparkles in March 2010, creating special occasion jewellery from Swarovski crystal, Freshwater Pearls and sterling silver.
I soon learnt a business lesson about being flexible and realised that my small range of charm style jewellery for little girls was most popular. Then I had a few ‘eureka!’ moments as I discovered my niche with birthstone jewellery and my USP (unique selling point) with my charm system. So, now I specialise in Birthstone Charm Jewellery.
A lot of my challenges I share in common with other women who are juggling motherhood with a business – fitting things in around children is hard. Beads and babies do not mix, so all jewellery creation has to take place in the evening. And, whilst some tasks can be slotted in around my children in the day, such as a spot of tweeting on twitter or a blog post draft, a lot of tasks require full concentration.
I’ve established Poppy Sparkles with no funding. It’s been a challenge, but I’ve harnessed the power of Social media for free advertising, as well as valuable networking. Unable to out-source things, I’ve had to learn lots of different things from writing a press release to basic web design. However, having no money does make you think very carefully about business decisions and how to re-invest income from sales.
Establishing a business is hard, but factor in establishing a business whilst also fulfilling the demanding role of being a mum, it can become quite a challenge. Surrounding yourself with supportive people is important. Having support from family and friends is essential, as at times you may need to call on them to help manage childcare, but support from other business mums or people in your chosen field is also very valuable. Twitter has been an excellent resource for me and helped me create a supportive network around me – there are people that share my interests (eg handmade items, Etsy etc), as well as other mums seeking to establish a business and it’s great to share tips and encourage each other.
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