Former midwife shares her love for cloth nappies with online business

This project is part funded by Invest Northern Ireland and the European Regional Development Fund under the Investment for Growth & Jobs Northern Ireland (2014-2020) Programme.

Laura Donaldson from Bangor, launched Baby of Mine in May 2020 as an online business offering high-quality reusable and eco-friendly cloth nappies to parents across the United Kingdom and Europe.

Mum of two young children, Laura spotted the business opportunity after using cloth nappies on her second child and falling in love with the outstanding benefits the product provides to both parent and child.

Talking about her business idea, Laura explained: “I started using cloth nappies with our second child, when he was around four months old, and quickly became a huge advocate.

“I would never go back to using disposable nappies as cloth helps protect my son’s skin from the chemicals that disposables are made from.

“There is also huge savings to be made with using cloth and you can reduce your household waste by up to half.

“My passion for caring for parents and babies had never left me after leaving my job as a midwife.

“So that, combined with a love for cloth nappies, gave me the idea for a business that would allow me to introduce families to the benefits of reusable nappies.”

Laura turned her idea into a reality after taking part in the Go For It Programme, which is delivered free of charge by a team of experienced business mentors through Northern Ireland’s wide network of enterprise agencies.

The Go For It Programme It provides expert advice and help with developing a robust business plan to help turn ideas into a commercial enterprise.

Laura continued; “The Go For it Programme was fundamental in helping me get Baby of Mine up and running. My assigned business advisor provided me with so much specific help and guidance, which was amazing.

“She helped me to write my business plan, which included projected sales figures for the first two years and sales and marketing targets that would help with business growth. Without this help and support I don’t think the business would be where it is today. I can’t believe this service is free of charge as it was so helpful.”

Maeve Killingbeck, Business Advisor with North Down Development Organisation Limited on behalf of Ards and North Down Borough Council who made Laura’s dream finally become a reality added: “We are delighted to see Laura’s business up and running and doing so well in the first few months of online trading, especially under these difficult circumstances.

“She came to us with a clear idea for a business, driven by a passion to share her love for cloth nappies with other parents.

“We worked with Laura virtually throughout the lockdown phase of the Coronavirus pandemic to help her develop a business plan.

“It focused on key elements such as e-commerce, product sourcing, sales and marketing and a two-year financial forecast that gave her a clear roadmap to successfully launching her online business.“

If you have a business idea you’d like to develop or if you are thinking about starting a business contact the Go For It Programme on 0800 027 0639 or visit: www.goforitni.com.

* This project is part funded by Invest Northern Ireland and the European Regional Development Fund under the Investment for Growth & Jobs Northern Ireland (2014-2020) Programme.

Invest NI’s full range of support and services are delivered through local offices.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper whenever you are able to do so.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper when you can safely.

You can also enjoy unlimited access to the best news from across Northern Ireland and the UK by subscribing to newsletter.co.uk

With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Thank you