Hands up those of us who have wondered around a shop in search of a gift, then suddenly stumbled upon something that is very practical, makes sense, and looks good too. The likelihood is this product was created because there was a need for it, and it’s helping making the lives of people better and easier. It’s also likely this product was made by a woman who got fed up of a daily task, but saw a solution for it and took this solution to market – mumpreneurs.
In this blog post we want to look at the rise of the mumpreneurs and some of the successful women out there:
Laura Tenison, founder of JoJo Maman Bebe
JoJo Maman Bebe is a baby clothing retailer which Laura started shortly before giving birth to her first child in 1993. The company now has 46 stores spanning across the UK, and selling to 37 countries – and there are no signs of stopping yet. In 2010, when Laura won Veuve Clicquot’s Business Woman of the Year trophy, her business had a turnover of a whopping £20m. And this was all created on the start-up budget of £50,000 and a plan hatched whilst in a hospital bed.
Danielle & Becca, founders of Scooterpeg
Scooterpeg was created after one of the creators ended up at A&E for a badly sprained wrist, as a result of tripping over a kids scooter in the hall. Quickly realising that most parents share the frustrations and are fed up of the daily obstacle course across the not only scooters but also shoes, bags, balls, bikes and helmets. Danielle and Becca wanted to find a scooter storage solution to keep the clutter out of the way. It’s a simple but brilliant solution to keeping scooters off the floor and out of the way – and we’re incredibly proud to tell you Idea Reality helped make Scooterpeg a reality!
Lucy Burnford, co-founder of AA Automyze
Lucy Burnford came up with the idea after an incident with her second-hand Porsche which had a major fault – and came with a £3,500 bill to settle. She drafted a business plan and teamed up with automotive technology expert Olli Astley and launched the AA Automyze website in 2014. AA Automyze is a free digital management system for drivers which lets them manage and maintain all aspects of their vehicles – from alerts for service, to MOT checks, dating back up to 10 years. All of this whilst 8 months pregnant! The company first started as Motoriety, but since has partnered with the AA to create AA Automyze.
Sian Ellingworth, founder of Buddies
Sian developed her own fluoride toothpaste Buddies after finding out her first child hated mint toothpaste with a passion, and so did the children of 15% adults who were surveyed. Sian created two flavours to help tackle this issue: Hint of Mint with a slightly minty flavour; and Apple Fresh.
She then carried on to design a toothbrush system which assists children with a portioned amount of toothpaste (because who has time to clean up toothpaste from the floor before a school run every morning?) and a more gentle electric toothbrush which has a timer for 2 minutes to make it easy for kids.
If you have an idea or see an opportunity for an idea, we’re here to help you. It’s up to you to create new products which will make not only your life, but the lives of others easier – and that’s the goal for most inventors and creators.
It can be intimidating to think about developing or launching a product especially when your background is in something completely different – but we’re here to encourage you to go ahead and do it! Feel confident in your ideas and we’ll help guide you through the process, from start to finish – from idea development to funding opportunities. Confidentially submit your idea for a FREE review with one of our lead designers!
