It remains the case that if you’re a mother who wants to start a business, you’re still very much on your own.
According to a survey from BT business conducted earlier this year, starting a business is a dream for one in ten mums, with 62 per cent saying that choosing the hours they work was the biggest reason for wanting to start up.
Kim Johnson used to run an advertising and marketing company, so was used to people coming to her pitching inventions, but she had had no ideas of her own until her daughter was born.
After little Aimee slipped off a chair whilst trying to join her mother at the worktop, Johnson searched the Internet for something to elevate her child while keeping her safe – but found nothing. So she came up with FunPod, a standalone child safety unit that solved the problem.
It was not an easy learning curve, however. ‘The male-dominated nature of the industry meant it took me five months to actually find a manufacturer who would take me seriously,’ she says.
By a stroke of luck, a husband of a friend turned out to be a manufacturer of childrens’ furniture for day nurseries, and the ball was rolling.
The standalone child safety unit launched in November 2006 and is now sold in seven countries worldwide, winning nine awards and earning its founder “Mumpreneur of the Year” for the North of England in a specialist magazine.
But it may never have happened without the faith of a fellow parent who happened to be in the industry.
I was interested to see if there were any specific financial help for mothers in business – but the search continues. ’There are no specific grants I am aware of, but it is vital to tap into local knowledge as there may be certain funding initiatives in certain parts of the country,’ says John Grange, advisor at Business Link. Hardly definitive evidence of a recognition from financing institutions of the sizeable mumpreneur demographic.
Nevertheless, there is help out there for mums. Prowess is an online network supporting the growth of women’s business ownership through a women-friendly support structure – but there is a fee involved of around £76 for an individual. This compares to £200 for membership to Women in Business Network (WIBN), a networking organisation for business women of all levels of seniority across a wide range of industries, offering training, events and guidance for businesswomen. A free option is available in Everywoman, which bills itself as “the UK’s leading provider of training, resources and support services for women in business”.
These resources may help mothers starting out, but more needs to be done to ensure institutionalised sexism and lack of tailored financing options don’t stand in the way of mothers growing their startup.
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