Buggyboot: Mums in business
The buggyboot®plus is basically a unique storage system which fits onto the back of a lightweight stroller, saving you from having to take a bag with you, or hang loads of shopping bags onto your pushchair (we’ve all been in the position where we’ve taken our child out of the buggy and it’s fallen over…) But the buggyboot®plus also has a step which an older child can ride on and attachments so that a shopping basket can fit on top of the bag, making popping in to shops a whole lot easier. Gurgle catches up with Charlotte Evans one of the inventors of buggyboot®plus and also chats to Deborah Meaden, the Dragons' Den dragon who invested in the product.
Charlotte Evans is mum to Nancy, 13, Georgina, 11 and Barnaby, 9 and came up with the buggyboot®plus idea with her friend Carolyn.Gurgle: Where on earth do you start once you’ve got a really good idea like buggyboot®plus
Charlotte: For me, it wasn’t something I would have liked to do alone, Carolyn was another mum I knew from the school playground, who I told about my idea. When she came on board she encouraged me to go forwards with developing it into a product and from there we put our heads together and tried to use common sense. We looked in the yellow pages for designers and business links and contacted the local university because they were running an enterprise scheme. Neither of us really knew anything; starting a business is a mountain to climb...
Gurgle: Why do you think the buggyboot®plus is a good product?
Charlotte: My children are a lot older now, but I was a typical mum strapping the kids into pushchairs and walking into town to get a few apples. Sounds fine, but it was often a stressful experience loading the pushchair up with goods, trying to control a toddler and baby and having bags hanging off the buggy and coming home with welts on my arms from carrying plastic bags! Not to mention the times I’ve popped into the supermarket with the pushchair and ended up resting the shopping basket on my child’s head! I used to lie in bed thinking: there must be something that can make life easier for parents out shopping.
Gurgle: Has the product evolved from when you had the first idea?
Charlotte: We’ve designed the buggyboot®plus, which is our deluxe version. This is because the buggyboot is designed for shopping but lots of individual consumers and people in trade told us that it would be useful if the buggyboot had a ride on attachment so that an older toddler can ride behind the stroller. However the moment you bring something that a child uses into it, you have an added safety aspect. We wanted to make sure our product was absolutely safe for children to use so we put it through lots of tests. Sometimes it felt like two steps forwards and ten steps back.
Gurgle: How did you fund the Buggyboot project?
Charlotte: We both worked part time at the beginning, Carolyn as a trainer in child protection and I worked as an independent market researcher. We managed to get a soft loan from having a good business plan and our husbands helped. If you aren’t particularly business minded, find someone who is that can help you.
Gurgle: How did you prepare for going on Dragons' Den?
Charlotte: We practised and practised! We looked like insane women walking our dogs and repeating our pitches over and over again. The best thing it made us do was think like a business and forced us to consider things like profit and loss.
Gurgle: How did you feel when Deborah Meaden invested in Buggyboot?
Charlotte: We were thrilled. She is such a business guru! To have such a friendly investor to help us go forwards was fantastic. Deborah made us think like a business; she cut to the chase straight away and told us what we should be concentrating on and what we were spending too much time on. She’s also approachable and constantly knows what’s going on at buggyboot. She’s trustworthy but she also believes in us, which is very important. She’s got fantastic contacts and we’re all really pleased about buggyboot selling in Mothercare stores. We all feel that the product will be greatly enhanced by having a store presence.
Charlotte’s tips and advice for mum’s thinking of becoming mumpreneurs:
- After you’ve had your initial idea, getting that idea to become a product will take time. If you think it will take a year, add another year or two onto that!
- Choose your business partner well; just because you’re best friends with someone doesn’t mean they’re an ideal candidate for going into business with. I met Carolyn at the school gates dropping off our kids and we’re a good match. I’m more into details and she’s more black and white with her approach; it works well. Going into business together does test a friendship.
- I would advise any would-be mumpreneurs to do everything methodically, don’t hurry things and if you don’t know how to do something, ask, ask, ask!
- Carolyn and I have a mantra; always be nice to one another! This really helps on stressful days.
Gurgle talks to Deborah Meaden, the multi-millionaire business woman best know for her appearances in BBC 2's series Dragons' Den, who following Charlotte and Carolyn's pitch on the show, invested in buggyboot® plus…Gurgle: What potential did you see in the buggyboot?
Deborah: I don’t have children myself, but having worked a lot in the holiday park environment in the past, where there are often 3,000 kids on site. I saw what difficulties parents had with buggies, especially when they topple over backwards!
Gurgle: Was it the product or Charlotte and Carolyn that made you invest (Or both)?
Deborah: I’m different to the other Dragons in that I won’t invest in a bad product even if the person is good. A good person can waste time on a bad product, but you can always bolster a person who has a good product. What I had in Charlotte and Carolyn was both; they were both calm and unflustered, had already achieved a lot, were very well prepared and had a great product.
Gurgle: What characteristics should an entrepreneur have for you to consider them a good investment?
Deborah: There is one underlying issue, I have to trust people I work with. I have to trust that they have done enough work and that they’re not trying to bluff me. Some people seem great at presenting themselves but after an hour in the Dragons' Den they run out of steam and can’t back up what they are saying. I look for strong characters that believe in their product.
Gurgle: How did your input help buggyboot?
Deborah: The first step was a meeting to identify what they’ve got covered and what they needed help with. From that first meeting I knew I was right; they were the complete package. One of my jobs was to help them to rely on their own judgement. I think they were shocked when during the meeting I said, ‘what do you think?’
99% of entrepreneurs, even at very high levels, lack confidence in their own judgement. I helped Charlotte and Carolyn to be more aware of their potential, helped them to focus and keep them focused and also to help them with decisions like, what is important and what should they drop. Sometimes it helps to have a fresh person with a fresh perspective looking over a business.
Gurgle: Are there plans for any more products for parents?
Deborah: There are plans and talks, but before we get too distracted with what comes next, I always think, lets land buggyboot® plus. We have to remember that this is a really good strong product. It’s great though that we can use it as a launch pad for other things. Our first shipment is now in the UK and orders can be placed for buggyboot® plus online at mothercare.com
Gurgle (getting excited at this point about being a gurglepreneur): What advice would you give to any budding mumpreneurs out there?
Deborah: It’s undoubtedly difficult in the current climate for any entrepreneurs to make money, but I wouldn’t discourage anyone. Having a good business plan is a great start, but you’ve got to get your ducks in a row. When things are financially tight, people tend to stick with what they know. Unless you are fixing an obvious problem, now is probably not a great time to ask anyone to take a gamble on you.
If you are a mum who has a great idea, ask friends around you to help. Jot down the skills you lack, designing or accountancy for example, then see whom you know who can help you out. A good route to market is finding a partner who can help you out, but always remember that in a business environment friendships can be tested.
Gurgle: From a business point of view, are there any other products in the parenting sector you think are good?
Deborah: You may have seen the product Cuddledry (a hooded baby towel that the parent also wears, making it safer and less slippery when getting your child out of the bath) on Dragon’s Den, that was a great idea and although they turned my investment down, I thought it was a fantastic product and an inexpensive solution to bathtime worries. I think they are even bringing out a range for pets – so good on them!
Gurgle: Do you think having children holds women back in business?
Deborah: Until you have children you’re not sure how you are going to feel about your career, but essentially having children will affect timing; how much time can you realistically spend on the business? I have met mums who think they'll have the baby on Monday and be back on their laptops by Tuesday but in reality your whole world changes. Bringing up a baby is a full time job and trying to run a business alongside that is asking a lot of yourself. Having said that, the two businesses I’ve mentioned, buggyboot® plus and Cuddledry have both come from mums’ with babies who have been inspired to solve a parenting problem, so essentially as long as you are realistic in the expectations you give yourself, anything is possible.
Deborah’s top tips for mums getting into business:
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Have I got a genuine market for my product - will people buy it?
- Have I got the time to devote to this right now?
- Is this the right moment to be going into business?
- Have I got a good business partner or can I go it alone?
- Always consider the market’s point of view. Most inventors are solving a problem, but is it a big enough problem – do people care enough?
Interested to find out more? Read Deborah Meaden’s new book, Common sense rules: what you really need to know about business, Random House, £18.99 out on 28th May.
‘buggyboot® plus’ retails at £69.99 and will be available from a number of Mothercare stores across the UK and online at www.mothercare.com from 1st June onwards. Exact store locations can be found online at www.mothercare.com or visit the Buggyboot Ltd website at http://www.BuggyBoot.com
For your chance to win a Buggyboot - Click here!
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