Q1. Give a brief description of your business.

We run an organic cotton clothing company with ranges for babies, children and breastfeeding mums.

Q2. You used to be known as ‘cut4cloth’, why did you change the name?

Cut4Cloth was started originally because I couldn’t find any clothing anywhere on the market that would fit comfortably over a cloth nappy. It made sense that our clothing followed the ethical considerations that drew us to cloth nappies in the first place so we made it organic and fair trade. As my son grew out of nappies I realized that there was a market for older children’s clothes that were also organic and fair trade and when I breastfed my second some (now nearly 3yrs) I realized that there was a lack of stylish and discreet breastfeeding wear available too. This led to me wanting to expand the range of products outside just the cloth nappy arena and the name Cut4Cloth was a bit too specific to allow that – so we changed the name to Frugi – Latin for “Fruits of the Earth”.

Q3. In the early days how did you manage childcare?

Kurt (my husband) and I both gave up our jobs, remortgaged the house and put everything we owned on the line to start this business. We knew if we were going to build a really good brand it needed a 100% commitment and so of course did Tom our little baby. So in the beginning we ran the business from home and juggled him between us – we only had one computer, so the other one had Tom. Of course running a business from home also means you do quite a lot of work in the evening when the baby is soundly sleeping!

Q3. What have been your most successful marketing strategies?

We decided a long time ago that we would rather use a big advertising budget for something worthwhile than for a paid space in a magazine so we joined 1% for the Planet – which means we give 1% of our turnover (whether or not we make a profit or a loss) to two environmental charities. We get a lot of positive PR about this and all our other ethical works and so generate a lot of magazine/newspaper inches – which tend to be more effective than advertising anyway, proving that being green can actually be a really good business strategy too!

Partnering with other companies and doing joint offers to each other’s databases in your newsletters etc. is currently working a treat as many similar ethos companies have customers that would be interested in our products.

Q4. How are you utilising social media to market your business?

We have a Frugi Fanpage on Facebook and now have over 1200 Frugi Fans – they talk to each other and to us directly and it is a great communication tool to spread all the latest news on Planet Frugi around!

We also Twitter and have a Frugi Blog – we give our Frugi Crusaders our outfits to review and put “no holes barred” comments about them on all these media. It all increases trust and a feeling of belonging to the brand.

Q5. How are you as a smaller business fighting back against the economic downturn?

We are currently seeing the majority of our growth coming from overseas – the weak state of the pound has seen our export business rocket and we essentially doubled our turnover over the last 12 months.

Q6. For mums that may be considering starting a business, would you advise them to hold off until the waters are warmer, or should they just go for it?

I think it depends what the business is in? If it is property development etc – I’d probably say it’s not the best time to start, but if you have a business that is going to fill a niche and a currently unmet demand, then now is as good a time as any I think. Banks are a lot more wary though so don’t expect too much help from them. A smaller business has a great advantage over bigger businesses though – they can respond to change much much quicker – you see an opportunity – go for it!

Visit Frugi

Aruna is an ex-barrister who now makes an income producing books with BlurbNation. Read on to find out how she does it.

First, a quick introduction to BlurbNation;

BlurbNation is a community of editors, writers, designers, artists, and photographers. Blurb provides everything you need to make books for your clients, including free bookmaking software, your own online bookstore, and a print-on-demand back-end that enables you to print professional-quality books in any quantity. Anyone can become a member of BlurbNation, it’s as simple as signing up and making yourself available to make books

Q1. Can you briefly describe BlurbNation and how it works?

Whilst using the BookSmart software is very easy, there are people who can’t or don’t want to make their own books. Blurb has set up a directory of book makers called BlurbNation to cater to people who want books made but don’t have the time or technical know how to do it.

Book makers who have met certain criteria can apply to Blurb to be included in the directory. The directory is available to the public who can go through it and from details provided choose the right book maker for the job at hand. All dealings between the client and book maker are independent of Blurb who have no contractual relationship with either party.

For book makers themselves BlurbNation is a fantastic means of communicating with each other, sharing ideas and problem solving. In addition to this BlurbNation provides its members with tips on design and marketing too. It can be a lonely job sitting in front of your computer, putting a book together and the support you can gain from other BlurbNation members is immeasurable.

Q2. How did you find out about and become a member of BlurbNation?

I found Blurb very early on and was addicted, making books for anyone and everyone who mentioned an idea, whether it was a party, a business or a passion! As a result of that I was lucky enough to be asked to be the first BlurbNation member in the UK. For some time I didn’t really understand what it was all about. As the months went by and Blurb got more and more exposure here in the UK, I started getting email enquiries and then actually started getting work through it. I didn’t realise how useful it would be then but I am very grateful for the opportunities that have come my way through BlurbNation.

Q3. Did you have any previous photography or publishing experience?

No, I had no previous experience in either field! I qualified as a barrister and had a criminal and family law practice for 12 years but stopped to bring up my son and daughter (now aged 12 and 8). When my daughter was 5 and at school full time, I found a new lease of life and having received a Canon digital SLR and a Mac Book Pro lap top as Mother’s Day and birthday presents three years ago, there was no stopping me!

I had always been interested in photography but it was an expensive hobby as developing and printing film was a costly exercise, largely because you didn’t really know what you had till the film was exposed. Now you know within seconds of taking a photograph so there is no waste of time or money! I hadn’t had my own income since having my children and I became keenly aware of the fact that everything cost money! Here for the first time, I could experiment with my photography and editing without feeling guilty about mounting costs because if I didn’t like what I did I could simply erase it!

Q4. Do you think it’s possible to make a full or part time wage from book making with Blurb Nation?

In this day and age there is so much competition in every field. Blurb has created such a unique platform where your only outlay is your time and the cost of printing a book so really, there is no risk of losing capital. Realistically, when starting out, Blurb Nation can certainly provide you with pocket money. It will take your own initiative to turn it into a full income sustaining project. If like me you have chosen (and are lucky enough to afford) to stay at home and look after your children, then joining Blurb Nation and making a go of creating full time income from it is not risky. I don’t want to jump the gun and say that I am making a living from it but I can say that I am not far off from being able to!

Q5. Are there any particular skills you think are necessary or helpful to be successful with BlurbNation?

I had no qualifications in the fields of photography and design but I think I had a natural flair for it. The one thing I have gained from BlurbNation and the team who run it is confidence. That confidence, a good eye for design, creativity, and huge amounts of enthusiasm has been my secrets to success.

Q6. How could someone interested in following in your footsteps get started?

To put it very simply, download the software if you haven’t already, get creating and if you have the ability, perseverance and enthusiasm, you will be on your way over those stepping stones to success. You have nothing to lose by trying. In the world we live in it is not every day you get the chance to try something for nothing. BlurbNation is effectively one such chance!

Read more mumpreneur case studies..

Today I’m wondering if there is a sea of change in the world of work for mums.

A very rudimentary timeline;

Pre-1980’s (?) Mums stayed at home to look after children, whilst father earned the ‘daily bread’.

1980’s – Noughties Mums managed careers and family simultaneously. Supposedly ‘having it all’.

The Future

The landscape is changing, many mums are accepting that they wish to be a stay at home parent, if not in full, then in part. Mums also accept that they a) cannot survive on one wage and b) have ambitions of their own. Mums have realised that they cannot ‘have it all’ without ‘doing it all’. The answer is in work/life balance. Up until now ‘work/life balance’ was office talk for ‘we’ll let you leave at three, if you come in at 6am…’ or ‘you can request work/life balance, but you won’t get it, because the business comes first’.

Mums are starting to look for new ways of working, mumpreneurs are popping up all over the place with businesses that allow them to work and enjoy being a parent. Some mums are franchising to allow them to be self employed. Others are looking for opportunities online to make an income. Even the high-fliers are going freelance.

Multiple Streams of Income

One of the ideas I’ve been considering lately is that of multiple streams of income. I think this may hold the key to the way mums will work in the future and a real work/life balance.

The realisation that doing one job that earns £1000 is exactly the same as five revenue streams that earn £200 each, should make us all evaluate what we really want from life and aspire to settle for nothing less.

Example

Erica works as an office clerk. She earns £1000 per month and works thirty hours a week. She must be at the office 9am-4pm each weekday.

Versus

Erica spends 20 hours (one time) producing an ebook. She sells it online and earns £200 per month (around 20 sales of a £10 ebook). She spends two hours a week on admin including promotion and answering emails.

Erica works as a waitress part-time (she enjoys the social aspect of this). She spends seven hours a week working. She makes £200 per month including tips.

Erica does some freelance writing on Bukisa and a couple other sites. She makes £200 per month in residual income, she has just over 100 articles on Bukisa. She usually spends around three hours per week building a back catalogue, which will continue to earn and grow.

Erica also has a blog, she has begun selling some advert spots and has been doing reviews for a while. She makes on average around £200 per month. She spends around five hours per week on the blog writing articles and promoting.

Erica (from not working at the office) saves travelling costs of £4 per day (bus fare), lunch costs of £3, monthly collections of £10, work clothes £20 (per month), and childcare costs of £420(12 days x £35). Erica saves well over £200. She ditches the ridacard, eats low cost lunch at home, saves £10 to treat herself/husband/child, wears jeans and a t-shirt which doesn’t need replacing too often and looks after her child herself except for two days a week when her child goes to nursery to socialize whilst she works from home.

Total Earned (and saved) = Over £1000
Time spent working = 17 hours

Many of these hours can be worked at any time of the day or night. I have left out a zillion other possible income streams (small ebay business, freelancing with a skill you have, childminding, selling crafts on etsy, the list goes on…). The earnings also don’t account for the growth in residual income ie. increased ebook sales, adding Bukisa articles etc…

I believe this is a realistic picture of how many mums will make a living in the future. I plane to prove or disprove this theory. My next post will describe how…

For now, what are your thoughts?

Fiona has kindly offered to share her experiences launching and expanding her business Wallstory Murals

Q1. Give a brief description of your business and how you came up with the name.

I design, illustrate and produce Paint By Number Children’s Mural Designs for parents to paint themselves. I don’t know how I thought of the name, I think it just came to me. Murals are on the wall, and they tell a story as simple as that. It had a nice ring to it too

Q2. How did you come up with the idea behind Wallstory Murals?

I am a graphic designer by trade, and I worked in the design and advertising industry for many years. After 11 years of trying for a baby, my son Callan came along thanks to IVF. Two years later Briony came into the picture- thankfully quite naturally (saving us a fortune)
After waiting such a long time for a baby, I wanted to spend every minute that I could with him so I decided to give up work. I have an intense need to be creative, and as they kids got a little less demanding, I began painting murals for friends as an outlet for my creativity. This progressed to a small mural painting business that kept me creatively satisfied for a few years.
During this time I realized that most people are not lucky enough to be able to afford the luxury of a professional mural artist to a paint mural for their children room, so I started looking at what DIY mural products there were available to help keen DIY parents. This led me to create my first website ‘Murals For Kids Rooms’ where I found ideas and resources for creating children’s murals and children’s wall art.

I cut my website teeth on this site, and when we moved to France, I needed something I could work on at home to earn some money. It was a natural step from an information site to a webstore. I created a DIY mural shop ‘The Magic Mural Factory’ which sells all manner of DIY mural products from Sticker Murals to Cloud Painting Kits and Paint By Number Murals.
My suppliers are all USA based as are the majority of my buyers. This shop also gave me an idea of what was popular and what sold the best. I found that my biggest sellers were the paint by number murals, and as I couldn’t find anything similar in the UK I decided to produce my own range of paint by number murals designs for the UK market.
Wallstory Murals was born.

Q3. Did you have any start-up costs, if so how did you raise the finance?

Start up costs were minimal as I do all the designing, illustrating, website design and management. It was just my time rather than any money that was required. As the orders come in I put the money back into the business by printing up extra murals for stock.

Q4. Do you employ staff or do you do all the work yourself?

At the moment I do just about everything myself but I do employ a lovely lady in the USA where the murals are printed. She does all my packing and shipping. I will shortly be using UK based printers to produce the designs and will then have to find another reliable packer and shipper person to help me there.

Q5. How many hours a week do you spend on your business?

Every minute I can find is spent on Wallstory Murals. I juggle the kids, housework and everything else that goes with being a mother. This means that I sometimes work late at night when the kids are in bed and the house is quiet and peaceful. I’m not a good morning person otherwise I’d be up at the crack of dawn working before everyone got up.

Q6. How do you manage your childcare?

As I work from my little office at home, I am always here for the kids, so it’s not a problem. They are now 11 years old and 9 years old, so they are getting a lot more independent and can even make me a cup of tea. My husband is very supportive and will take the kids out or off shopping when I need extra time.

Q7. What strengths do you think it takes to run a successful business?

You have to be like a little terrier dog. Never let go, keep at it pulling, pushing, shaking, growling determined to get that bone even when the other dog is much bigger than you you just have to keep trying. If you don’t have much money then you have to be even more determined. Learn to do everything yourself, and when a bit of money comes in, you can start to delegate and get some help in. I’m still at the push, pull, shake, growl stage and I’m not letting go until I can pay someone to help me.

Q8. What have been your most successful marketing strategies?

It’s still early days for my own paint by number mural designs, so my website has been my sole marketing platform. This has taken up all of my time and has been an enormous and frustrating learning curve, but I am getting there. I didn’t have any spare cash to pay for expensive ‘pay per click’ advertising on Google, but I have still managed to get my sites on page one on the listings for DIY children’s murals and other specific search phrases. There are other harder search terms that I’m working on, and that’s an ongoing battle and a much bigger bone.

I am in the process of marketing my designs to various child product related catalogue distributers in the UK and that will be the first non website marketing I do. A small local marketing company have taken on this challenge to market and distribute the designs for me, so I’m crossing all my finger for some results from that.

I plan to save some of my profits to exhibit at baby and décor related shows in the future, but I will definitely need more money and help there. I’ll be looking for other people who have done this form of marketing and see what information I can glean from them

Q9. And finally, do you have any advice for parents considering starting their own business.

I’d say do it, but be passionate about your idea. You need to live, sleep and breathe your work. Don’t underestimate the work you will need to do. Start small. If you have very young children, start it as a hobby, test the waters and see if there is a niche for you to fill.
Work on it an hour here and there as that is probably all you’re going to get until they are a bit older. Learn all you can about accounting, tax , marketing and the internet. Find out and what help is available to you through local business links to get you started. As you children get older, you will then have a good grounding to start really pushing your idea.
Start writing a blog. Blogging is a great way to ‘meet’ other like minded people. It’s also an excellent way to get onto the internet as blogs are easy to learn to use and have great visibility in google searches. Comment on other peoples blogs, make friends with others who have been doing it for a while, and you’ll be surprised at how willing people are to share their knowledge for free.
Enjoy what you do. Make you hobby your business, and when the kids are at school you are free to really get your teeth into your business.

I would be the first to admit that I am guilty of not sticking to my own rule, but try and stop working when the kids get home. Be strict about your ‘knock off’ time and make time for them. It’s very tempting to keep working when your office is at home and you love what you do. Pretend you work in an office and have to catch a train home. Be there for your children. That is after all why we want to work from home.

Please go and visit my site Wallstory Murals and please feel free to comment and find children’s mural ideas on my blog.
If you need some more ideas for children’s murals please visit my site or other website

This is an interview with Maree Macey, parent and founder of Poteez.  A disposable potty to use on the move.  I hope you enjoy the interview and if you are thinkng of starting a business I hope this interview helps inspire you.

Q1. Give a brief description of your business

Poteez is a flat-packed, bio-degradable, disposable cardboard potty that is designed to make potty training on the go carefree and simple. It assembles quickly and simply into a strong, secure and comfortable potty your child can use anytime, anywhere.

Q2. How did you come up with the idea behind Poteez?

As a child I was diagnosed as having a degenerative bone disease known as Spondyloepimetaphaseal Dysplasia – only one of five recorded cases. My parents were told I would never walk but my mum gave me the belief. I spent much of my childhood in and out of hospital.

The condition means that I only grew to four foot tall and as an adult I was told I wouldn’t be able to have children, because of my size, condition and the possibility of passing the condition on. Eventually my husband David and I decided to try anyway and after a very difficult pregnancy Thalia Lea was delivered at 31 weeks on July 18th 2002. She weighed just 2lb 9oz and spent seven weeks in intensive care.

As she got older and we approached potty training I really struggled to clean out the potty, and going out was impossible and that’s where the idea for a disposable one came from.

When we researched it we found the only disposable potties available used plastic bags and we didn’t like that idea – so we set about creating our own cardboard-based version.

Q3. How did you come up with the name?

David has always been quite creative and it took him only a few designs to come up with the first version. When it came to the name we just brainstormed between ourselves, we wanted it to describe its function but convey the benefits – i.e. that it makes life easier. Poteez was our sixth attempt!

Q4. Did you have any start-up costs, if so how did you raise the finance?

Although we registered the name quite quickly we weren’t in a position financially to do much for quite a while. We did actually take part in a couple of TV invention programmes – The Richard Hammond Show and then Sky One’s The Big Idea with Ruth Badger, narrowly missing out on the £100,000 prize.

Around the same time we began speaking to some Business Angels, a firm of accountants called Winburn Glass Norfolk (WGN), who gave us information on how to raise finance. We soon learned that we may be suitable for Regional Investment Fund investment so we contacted South Yorkshire Investment Fund, compiled a strong presentation and were awarded £120,000 of funding to start the business properly.

Q5. Do you employ staff or do you do all the work yourself?

One of the first things we did was secure the services of a business mentor who had a huge amount of marketing experience. With his help we went back to the drawing board, redesigned the product, artwork and packaging.

We also employed a PR company to raise the profile of the product and – most importantly set up links in China to have the product made and imported.

In the early days we were assembling the products ourselves but as sales have grown we have recruited others to help.

Q6. How many hours a week do you spend on your business?

We work really hard – just about every hour possible. David oversees the production and sales side of things and I look after all the administration and financial aspect.

Q7. How do you manage your childcare?

Now that Thalia is at school it is much easier. During the holidays we sometimes take Thalia with us – she was the inspiration for the company (and features on the packaging) so it is great that she is involved. When we have important meetings we ask family to help out but as with all family-based businesses childcare involves a lot of juggling!

Q8. What strengths do you think it takes to run a successful business?

It takes a lot of patience, dedication and passion. We learned very quickly that nobody will love your product or put as much effort into it as you do and we therefore need to remain focussed.

Q9. What have been your most successful marketing strategies?

Our approach has been in two stages really – before we could afford to employ a PR agency, Lucre, we just entered as many competitions and TV shows as possible and sent our story to as many magazines and newspapers as possible. Now that the product is the in the market place we have a stronger story to tell and have been doing our own research into potty training methods that we hope will further raise the profile of Poteez.

Q10. Would you consider yourself a leader? What are your strengths?

Our strengths are our dedication and belief in the product. We truly believe that there is a market for this product and we have been told that our passion rubs off on other people.

When we started this we were both very inexperienced and have learned a huge amount since then. It has been a rollercoaster ride but our determination has won through.

Q11. Have you done any courses or learning programmes to help you run your business?

The whole thing is a learning curve, no specific course will prepare you for the journey you will follow, one thing I will say is If you can’t do something, find someone who does. It’s better to surround yourself with the right people and get somewhere, than pretend you know and get it all wrong, otherwise it just takes longer and costs more.

Q12. And finally, do you have any advice for parents considering starting their own business.

When you consider the odds I have overcome throughout my life and challenges we have faced with setting up Poteez, I think it demonstrates that no matter where you are from or what your background is, if you want it badly enough and try your best, you can achieve success. I’d just say “Good luck!”

I have been asked to take a look at the BabySock and give my opinions (I’m pretty good at that!).

I have been paid a small fee to do this, however, it’s the kind of site/product/business I like to champion. Why?

I’m fascinated by Mums, who, through the journey of motherhood come up with products and ideas that help other mums, or help them to support their family and still spend lots of quality time with the kiddies (somethingelse I champion!).

A bit from the about page;

“After moving to the Seattle area with her 6 month old, Robyn found that she wanted to go for walks anytime the rain would clear. The only problem was that her daughter would kick off her blanket. The blanket would get wet, dirty, or stuck in the wheel of the stroller. She started looking for a product that wouldn’t come off her baby. After several months, she realized that despite her lack of sewing skills, she would have to make her own. A few modifications and another baby later, BabySockâ„¢ was born in 2004. Robyn will proudly tell you that each BabySockâ„¢ is now made by professionals in the Pacific Northwest.”

Wonderful, how about a little picture Robyn? With such a personal story it helps other mums and dads relate to you on a parent to parent level.

A great little story, and as much as I love the ‘mumpreneur thing’ the product needs to be good too. There is no doubting the BabySock is a simple idea borne from a simple problem, we have a similar idea with a slightly different design here in the UK and it seems to do quite well. The price is nice too, at $29.99 it translates quite well in British pounds, although I’m not sure if that has a lot to do with the exchange rate?

Overall, a nice product that has it’s place in the market, however a few tweaks to the website would be good, as I mentioned a photo, and a larger variety of styles of BabySock perhaps with some funky patterns? could really take the product and brand from good to great (from a shopper’s perspective!). Part of the appeal of the BabySock needs to be the brand and I think some funkier designs could tip me over the edge into a purchase.

What does everyonelse think?