We are very pleased to have Iveta from MumsLikeYou (www.mumslikeyou.com) telling her story and the story of how MumsLikeYou started, and where it’s planning to go!

This is definitely a website, and a businesswoman to keep you eyes on!!

Nicki x

 MUMS LIKE YOU !

About becoming a mum, loosing my job and starting all over again 

The past 2 years have been all but boring for me. My life changed beyond recognition and I got to do a lot of things for the first time: became a mum, lost my job and started a business – all in the course of 24 months 

After working for 10 years in the financial sector, I was made redundant in the beginning of the year. Initially I was in shock not only because I ‘d worked really hard, but also because as a new mum with a small kid, I had little chance in finding another job in the banking sector. Although I was not earning anywhere near the multi-million pound bonuses that bankers are nowadays associated with, I had a good income to keep us comfortable and to afford the small luxuries in life. When I was made redundant we cancelled our house hunting and holiday plans, relieved the nanny and I focused on what to do next. Fortunately my husband was really supportive and encouraged me to think about what really matters to me and go for it 

How I started Mums Like You

That’s exactly what I did. I’d been thinking for a while about setting up a website that will help mums stay connected and share information. Being a mum and having spoken to a lot of other mums, I knew motherhood can be very lonely, especially if you live far away from family & friends. This is how the idea of Mums Like You took shape and after months of researching the market I launched the site in the summer of 2009. I have been fortunate with having excellent web designers which helped a lot with creating the site. I have also had a lot of help along the way from like-minded women entrepreneurs which I met on networking forums online. Some of these ladies have been truly inspiring for me, with their drive and determination to build successful businesses, while at the same time looking after family & kids.  

The website took off really fast and three months after launch we had 25,000 hits per month and over 3,000 unique users. 

What lies ahead

In the short run there are lots of exciting developments on the site - we are working on some great new tools, which should make the site even more valuable to mums and will be releasing them over the next couple of months. We have a series of fantastic competitions on the way and guest appearances from popular authors, journalists and mumpreneurs planned until the end of the year. In the long rum, I would like Mums Like You to grow to become a favorite online destination for mums in the UK 

Happier now?

It may sound very conventional, but in the past few months I have become more appreciative of the small things in my life: the mornings when we all sit and have breakfast together without rushing to catch the train to work; the fresh and healthy meals I now have time to cook, the long walks in the park I take with my daughter. I feel we have a much better quality of life, despite the fact I don’t earn the money I used to.  

Professionally I have started doing something completely new and different from what I have done so far. It’s a very steep learning curve for me, but I enjoy every bit of it. 

It is very early days, but we have already been rated by Webuser as an up and coming website in their 'Best on the Web' reviews. I am very excited about that, but without a doubt my proudest moment so far was when I started receiving 'thank you' messages from mums that have joint the site and found it really helpful.

Working in finance never gave me this kind of personal fulfillment and I hope that Mums Like You will enable me to make a living, while knowing that my work has a positive impact on the lives of a lot of mums! 

Visit Iveta’s new blog and be kept up to date with the news:

http://www.mumslikeyou.com/blog.php?user=mumslikeyou&blogentry_id=190

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Kotori is a new company that specialises in sewing kits to make beautiful things for your children, your home and your family.  From personalised height charts and dressing up costumes to recycling bags our designs are chic and exclusive.  We've scoured the globe for the very best in organic, fair-trade and designer fabrics, and our step-by-step instructions mean that even an absolute beginner can get great results. Our kits contain everything you need to complete each project from pre-cut pattern pieces to needles and pins. 

Here at Kotori we think that, with a little bit of help, anyone can sew. It was this conviction that led to two Leeds mums starting the company after meeting at NCT antenatal classes.  We started out as Mummy Made It designing and selling kits to make things for children.  The feedback from people outside the baby bubble led us to rebrand our company and extend our product range to appeal to a wider audience. 

Visit our website at http://www.kotorikits.com to see our full range of products and keep an eye out for our Christmas range which will be available soon. 
 

Website:

http://www.kotorikits.com

Find us on Facebook:

http://bit.ly/cMGdn

Blog

http://kotorikits.blogspot.com/

 

In June of this year, my sister and I  launched our very own website called www.hamptonblue.co.uk  It’s an online boutique for jewellery, accessories and gifts. We stock everything from costume and semi-precious jewellery to occasion bags, scarves, photo albums, candles, gifts for children, soft toys – the list goes on. Hampton Blue is a one-stop shop for self-indulgent treats and all those gifts for family and friends. 

As a mother of two young children  ( age 7 and 2) I was faced with the choice of going back to working as a Training and Events Coordinator for a major charity and having to pay childcare for two children or going self-employed and attempting to grow my own business.  As much as I enjoyed my job, I had reached a time in my life when I didn’t want someone else telling me what time I had to start work at or how many days holiday I could have a year and I wanted to spend as much time as possible with my two kids.   Hence, the idea for Hampton Blue was born and I’m not sure how, but I managed to talk my sister into coming on this little adventure with me!

Obstacles along the way

There is a huge amount of work and long hours involved in setting up any business and it is not for the faint hearted.  Neither one of us has worked in retail, except from part-time jobs when we were younger, so it’s a steep learning curve.  The whole domain of e-commerce is something else we have had to learn from scratch, but we are building on our knowledge on a daily basis.

The main challenge of online retailing at this point is getting people to the site and impressing those individuals enough to want to buy and come back again and again for repeat orders.  It’s not like a bricks and mortar shop, where you have an immediate passing trade.  We need to raise our profile and let people know we exist.

Plans for the future

We want to build on our product line and bring new and innovative gifts to the consumer.  It’s a work in progress and we hope to add gifts for men, a wedding gift and baby gift section, as well as offering gift vouchers very soon.  

Also, consumers are becoming increasingly interested in where the products they purchase come from and how they are made and therefore, we would like to add more Fairtrade products to our website and are constantly on the lookout for new Fairtrade suppliers.  Additionally,  it is our intention to source local artisans for more individual and locally crafted products that we can offer on the Hampton Blue website.

We hope we have created an online boutique that offers consumers an aesthetically and intellectually appealing forum where they are able to have a stress free and relaxing shopping experience and at the same time find unique and interesting gifts for any occasion. 

Visit us at:  www.hamptonblue.co.uk

Email: info@hamptonblue.co.uk

Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/business/dashboard/#/pages/Belfast-United-Kingdom/Hampton-Blue/95711746691

 

Phew! Our August event at the fab new venue (Cairn Hotel, Harrogate) was on Saturday 22nd August and was a lovely day. We were very fortunate to have a roomful of friendly & professional exhibitors, fab customers and I can't not mention the helpful & dedicated staff at the Cairn.

Being the professional photographer I am I 1) Forgot my camera so had to take photos on my new mobile and 2) forgot that I was a rubbish photographer so these few pics from just before and after the doors had just opened are pretty much all I have that are viewable - I'll pop a few of the others on Facebook.. It has already been agreed that Steph will be in charge of the pics next time!!

                   Nicki x

 

 

 

Goodness me - doesn't time fly when you're having fun!

Saturday is the Harrogate Mumsworld Family Event - See our "Upcoming events" page for details of the day & our exhibitor list. We have people from all over, local & further afield exhibiting & it promises to be a fantastic fun filled day with plenty to do, see (and buy!) for all.

New improved (and bursting at the seams) goody bags for the first 200 through the doors, and of course seeing the wonderful organisers (!!)... all fantastic reasons to pop along!

Now as I'm shamelessly plugging our local event, it's only fair I shamelessly plug a fab local Mumpreneur.... Elizabeth from ChiggsLtd tells us about her business & how it came to be started!

Nicki x

 

 

 

 

 

My business, Chiggs Ltd, (www.chiggs.co.uk ) retails and wholesales my own inventions- the Baby Feed Wheel, Baby Medicine Wheel and the Get Well Wheel. These are parenting products, cards and gifts with numbered dials to keep track of baby’s feed and everyone’s medicine times!
 
The inspiration for my first invention, the Baby Feed Wheel, came in October 2005 when I was visiting a friend who’d just had a baby. In the midst of sleep deprivation, she couldn’t remember her little boy’s last feed time, so I jokingly suggested she used a car parking disc to set the time whenever he had a feed. A couple of days later I took round a little ‘homemade’ version (covered in blue paper with a little picture stuck on the front!)
Remembering my own ‘hazy days’ after my daughter Holly’s birth, when I would write all her feed times down on pieces of paper, I realised what a useful idea this would be for new parents.
 
After two months of design, research and sourcing suppliers I secured a design patent and commissioned the first print run of Baby Feed Wheels. Although I'd initially planned to sell online through my own website, www.chiggs.co.uk , I had designed the Baby Feed Wheel in blue, pink and lemon with “to” and “from” printed on the reverse; so as well as being a thoroughly useful product for parents, it could also be sent as a congratulations card or ‘new baby’ gift, just as I had made for my friend. This opened up the possibility of wholesale sales, so I started by approaching local baby, card and gift shops and received an excellent response.
 
The Baby Medicine Wheel followed a couple of months later. Whilst on a short break with friends, their little boy started teething and needed medicine. Our friends used a Baby Feed Wheel to record the time of each dose so that they knew when the next dose would be due. Shortly after the holiday I contacted the Patent Office with my second product!
The Get Well Wheel completes the Chiggs range, (which are all printed in the UK and hand finished in Harrogate), and came about when my husband's Gran asked for a  Baby Medicine Wheel to keep track of her daily medicines! With ‘time of last medicine’ printed on the front, older children and adults of all ages can monitor their medicine times whether recovering from illness, or taking regular medication.
I’ve found developing my own inventions into a business incredibly rewarding. It’s a long way from my previous career as an Air Stewardess, and has been an incredible learning curve! Chiggs Wheels are now sold in shops throughout the UK and abroad, and by a wide variety of online retailers. Along the way I’ve had great support from my husband Andrew, and my daughter Holly, now 6, is an important part of the business. She’s handed leaflets out at trade fairs, licked stamps, stuck stickers and if she had her way she would be allowed to answer the ‘phone, too!
 

Visit us on our facebook page here-

 http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Chiggs-Wheels/205607680031?ref=ts

Elizabeth x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is Enhance-Me?

 

Enhance-Me offers a service where you can send a photo to them and it is completely transformed into a stunning custom Magical Photo Portrait. Set up in February 2006 by Victoria Dixon, the business offers a great way to create a one of a kind personalised keepsake gifts that can be treasured forever. The perfect way to mark any occasion, birthday, anniversary, wedding, holiday and more. There is a huge range of themes to choose from and custom backgrounds created at your request. It is suggested that you order Christmas themes well in advance of Christmas – they are perfect for creating very special cards – but Victoria finds herself extremely busy in the weeks approaching Christmas so to be sure she can accommodate your order it is suggested you order early!

 

Victoria regularly makes custom orders so take a look at her work and feel free to contact her with any special requirements. She has had some fantastic feedback from customers including a wonderful review posted recently on Dooyoo.co.uk – You can read it here: http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/internet-sites/enhance-me-com/1284609/

 

Where did it come from?

 

Enhance-Me began when I lost my baby boy Thomas, eight months into my pregnancy, I was advised not to work in my following pregnancy - something switched inside me at that moment that made me realise I just would not be able to leave my baby girl when she was born to return to full time work. Initially, as a hobby, I had played around with image-editing software on my computer, and had submitted a few pictures to art galleries – these had sold well. Later I did a few free portrait enhancements for friends, who had requested that photographs of their children be transformed into fairies. These friends had such a positive reaction at the final result that I decided to dip my toe in the water and put the service online. When my www.enhance-me.com went live I really wasn’t sure what to expect. I was surprised at just how quickly the orders came flooding in. I can’t even begin to describe how thrilling it is to find people who like and want the work that you do!

Thanks for reading

 

Victoria Dixon x

 

 

For more information and to see some of Victoria’s work please visit her below!

 

Visit: http://www.enhance-me.com

 

Contact: info@enhance-me.com

 

Join us at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Enhance-Me-Unique-Personalised-Enchanted-portraits-created-from-snapshots/50188689373

 

Follow us at: www.twitter.com/enhance_me

 

Read our Blog at: http://enchantedphotoportraits.blogspot.com/

 

 

 

 

Juicytots is an online children's boutique set up in 2007 by mumtrepeneur Abby, after the birth of her third child.  She had had a career with a High street retailer up until this point, but a change in family circumstances meant that her current childcare arrangements couldn't continue.  It was the push she needed to finally do something she had thought about for a long time.  An online business meant that she could juggle work around her children, Harry 9, Lily 6 and Ruby 3, with the unwavering support of her husband Neil, whilst making the most of her retail background.
 
www.juicytots.co.uk  stock a great range of clothing from top brands including No Added Sugar, Molo, Fabric Flavours, Toby Tiger and Bob & Blossom with more being added as the business grows.  Juicytots also stock a great selection of bags, design-led homewares, party supplies and giftware.  The newest addition is the fantastic Very Hungry Caterpillar range, inspired by the classic Eric Carle story, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.  The range includes gorgeous party tableware, soft toys & clothing with the range being added to as new products are launched.
Juicytots also stock a good selection of Charlie & Lola goodies, including bags, brollies, mugs, stationery and giftware, with a brand new party tableware range coming in September.  Other characters on the site include Mr Men & Little Miss, Guess How Much I Love You and Roald Dahl character stationery & giftware.  Abby says, " I have tried not to go for TV based character merchandise, but for quality merchandise based on classic children's story books that have longevity. Characters that were perhaps childhood favourites of my customers, this way they can pass on the stories of their own childhood to their kids"
Subscribe to the Juicytots mailing list and you will receive a code giving 10% off your first order.
Visit: www.juicytots.co.uk
Contact: enquiries@juicytots.co.uk
Join us on Facebook: http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/wwwjuicytotscouk/29651727748
Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Juicytots 
Read our Blog: http://juicytots.blogspot.com/