Features / Start-ups
Mum’s the word
Pity those who have to put in a full day at the office after the wailing insomnia of a night with a teething baby. Despite holiday pay, regular salary and ever-growing parental rights, many new mums are rejecting formal employment and setting up alone in the search for maximum flexibility. Enough to coin new and awful jargon – this is the age of mumpreneurs.
Hannah Slowey founded a print company when her first daughter was born, selling personalised images through Not On The High Street. “Elephant Grey started with one print design, and me making the prints in my spare time,” says Hannah, who has a background in graphic design.
“I set the business up because I needed to earn money and wasn’t prepared to put my baby into childcare when she was very young. I wanted to be a full time mum but earn a living in my own (unsociable) hours.” It’s since grown to employ a team of four at their Bedminster HQ, including Hannah’s husband Justin.
Image – Hannah Slowey, who founded print company Elephant Grey to fit work around her children.
“The thought of having to return to a job that didn’t really fulfil me after maternity leave was a driving force to look into how my website could earn me money,” says Fritha Strickland from Easton, who turned her blog into a business and online homewares shop after the birth of her son Wilf and now has more than 220,000 followers on Pinterest.
“I set up Tigerlilly Quinn before becoming a mother but I started accepting sponsored content around two and a half years into blogging; within two years of that my blog was making the same amount of money I would have earned had I returned to my old job.”
Although few would call it the easy path, most mumpreneurs don’t look back. “As a mum, you are already a project manager and running your own business has many similar demands!” laughs Hannah, who says flexibility over her time is the major advantage, allowing her to share parenting and business responsibilities with Justin. “Neither of us miss out on seeing the children grow up and we get to spend a lot of time together as a family.”
“I feel like it’s the perfect situation,” says Fritha, who shares stories of her life with . “My husband has been able to drop down to a four day week. I’m able to set my own timetable. I’m currently pregnant with my second child and suffered some really bad morning sickness. I was thankful this time round that I was able to drop some projects to get through this period a little easier.”
Image – Dionne Thomas (second from left) with some of her models
It’s not without its caveats. “Having your own business as a single parent can be very challenging as it’s a lot more responsibility than working for someone else,” says Dionne Thomas whose fashion label Puckoo Couture, based in Hamilton House on Stokes Croft, produces ‘daring, eco-conscious’ clothes and counts Jessie J and Kelis among its clients. “I’m one person doing the jobs of a team of people. That can be very stressful, as well as being a mum!”
“You rarely switch off and can often work evenings and weekends,” nods Hannah.
Frequently the finger is pointed at spiralling childcare costs as the chief incentive for maternal entrepreneurship, but for many the true motivation seems to be the reshuffle of priorities.
“I came from a poor working class back ground and I watched my mother struggle working all hours of the day and night in multiple low-paid to make ends meet,” says Dionne. “It led to her becoming extremely ill and unable to care for us. I didn’t want my son to have to go through that. He was – and still is – a major driving force for me in work. Having my own business has enabled me to spend quality time raising him as well as building a career for our future.”
Of course it’s hard work to set-up a business, even without a baby on your hip.
“I think that the recipe for success in your own business is to find your niche, what you’re passionate about,” muses Hannah. “If you really love your product or the service you provide then you’ll be prepared to spend your precious time making money from it. Do everything you can to keep your costs low and be prepared to take minimal wages from the business initially, whilst putting any profits back in to help you grow.”
Fritha is a firm advocate: “Just go for it! Both my shop and blog were slow builders when it comes to actually making money from them but it was worth those times for where we are now. Motherhood really clarified what I wanted to do with my life and I can definitely say I wouldn’t have made the leap to becoming self-employed and starting my own businesses if it hadn’t been for having my son.”
Main image – Fritha Strickland of Tiger Lilly Quinn with her family.
www.elephantgrey.com
www.tigerlillyquinn.com
www.puckoocouture.bigcartel.com