With children of her own, Claire McGowan knows how important it is to keep your precious cargo safe when travelling. A licensed Child Restraint Technician, she launched her business, Sitting Safe, to offer expert car seat advice to parents on what is the appropriate form of car seat for a baby or child’s age and stage. Sitting Safe‘s trained technicians are qualified car seat installers for all types of baby and child car seats and booster seats, educating parents and caregivers to make informed choices to ensure the safety of their children.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
I have always had an interest in safety on the roads. As soon as I had my own children, this became much more focused on how to keep them safe when travelling.
The most dangerous place we put our children is in a speeding sardine can – it only made sense to focus on keeping my own children safe.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
I started by offering installations from home to begin with at a very small cost. The demand became high for this and I started making enquiries about being able to offer seats to sell as well. I began with just 2 distributors/brands and slowly expanded what I could offer people to buy.
This became too hard to manage from home while also maintaining a full-time job. A decision was made to expand big time and open a bricks and mortar store, closely followed by a website.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
Opening the bricks and mortar store was a big step towards more focus on sales. The marketing and word of mouth meant that my reach became more than just in my own city and I had people coming from hours away to get assistance with their car seats and keeping their children safe.
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
Opening the shop allowed a little more flexibility for #mumlife – however it quickly grew to something that meant I was working most waking hours just to keep up with the increase in momentum and thus attention.
The bricks and mortar meant that my children could also come to work with me when needed. A playroom was created which gave them their own space if they were unwell, or to hang out in during the holidays.
