"Buy less and work less" was the graffiti I read on a brick wall in south Belfast this week. I'd just passed a day nursery on an early walk to work at 7.45am and saw sad-eyed little toddlers already staring out of the window near the wall. Obviously day-care is necessary for many mothers, but it's a long day for anyone when it starts before 8am and doesn't finish till at least six o'clock, never mind if you are under two years old.
Maybe it’s time to acknowledge that we need to make professional concessions to bring up a family. Newtownabbey mum Carol Magill has changed her priorities since she became a mother. She’s set up a new business based around her baby and she’s even na
med it after her toddler son William.
The internet business, www.babybill.co.uk, aims to help parents overcome the frustrations of parenting, through offering clever, well-designed baby products – many of which are new to Northern Ireland.
As mum-preneur Carol explains:
“Babies and toddlers are brilliant fun and having William was the best thing I ever did – but being a parent comes with lots of frustrating little jobs: such as the numbers of bottles you have to wash every day (usually 2,000 a year), the challenge of getting a wriggly wet baby out of the bath (without dropping baby) – and of course there is the nappy changing, the toilet training and the toddler tantrums!”
So, inspired by her new role as a parent, Carol started thinking about making life easier for other mums and dads.
“Modern parenting is a juggling act and when I was pregnant I was dismayed at how bulky and inconvenient some baby products can be. I constantly looked for baby items to help ease these jobs and I found that these types of time-saving products were available if you knew where to find them – and so I have collated them all together.”
Carol has based everything round her own experience as a working mum – and in so doing, joins almost 170,000 mums in the UK who have set up a business from home and are contributing an estimated £4.4bn to the British economy.
And Carol says that the really great thing about these products, such as the Cuddledry which was featured on Dragons’ Den, is that they are mostly invented by mums, who saw the need for well designed baby goods. Baby Bill is also prototyping some new baby products.
Statistics show that almost a third of business set up by new mums are internet-based, and that a third of mums found that the drive to set up their own business came about while they were expecting their children, with mums citing the wish to be at home being a key motivator. As Carol explains:
“Making money is of course a key motivator, but it was also a lifestyle choice, as I wanted a business which would fit in with William.
“Difficulties with childcare and the cost of childcare were also on my mind, as I know that if I choose an internet business, I could cut down on these costs, by choosing working hours around my son.”
And although Carol is absolutely passionate about her project, she also recognises that there is a downside to her new lifestyle choice.
“Of course, it can be lonely being self-employed and there is a huge financial risk, but before I went alone I spoke to Investni and I had been working with an Investni business mentor for over a year, whom I still call upon for advice.”
