The drive: What challenges have you overcome?
There have been so many challenges since starting the business seven years ago. In fact, if someone had told me just how many and how enormous they would be, I’m not sure I would have gone ahead! So I’m glad that I didn’t think about this too much before I decided to launch the brand. Sometimes it’s better not to know!
My first huge challenge was trying to find suppliers who were willing to work to our very strict ‘natural and non-toxic’ requirements. The second challenge was learning to ‘speak their language’ as I hadn’t been to design school and didn’t have a background relevant to manufacturing products. They’d ask for things like ‘tech packs’ to be sent over and I’d have to just nod and pretend I knew what they meant, and then just work it out as I went.
Fundraising as a solo, female founder was another huge challenge. Firstly, finding the time to dedicate to fundraising, when I was the only one running the business, was tough. Secondly, I was turned down on several occasions for being a woman and for being a mother juggling family life and work. One investor said this out loud, while others changed course after finding out I was pregnant.
Covid was also a massive hurdle we had to overcome. Our whole business model had to adapt, and our cash flow was put under a lot of pressure as factories closed and we had limited products to sell, but lots of bills to pay!
Thankfully we’ve now completed three fundraises and are growing at over 120% year on year.
For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
The pros are having the flexibility to work around my children and be available to go to school plays, matches, and cuddle them when they’re not well. Another pro is having so much drive and passion for what I do, and knowing how much of a positive impact the products are having on the health of children and the planet.
As for cons: the rollercoaster ride which is sometimes up and brilliant, but also often extremely challenging (ref ‘challenges’ above!), and as a solo founder, these challenges fall on me alone!
Hopes and dreams: What next?
I have so many plans to develop lots of other natural, non-toxic and biodegradable children’s products. We’re launching five new products in the next few months with many more in the pipeline. I’m also excited about the innovations in the plastic alternatives space, as these could be really useful in developing future products which I have wanted to make for a while but for which we are very limited by available materials. Paddling pools, for example!
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