The mumpreneur
Starting their own business is a dream for one in 10 mums, according to a survey from BT.
Some 62 per cent of the mums said that choosing the hours they work was the main reason they wanted to start-up in business, while 50 per cent wanted a better work/life balance and 38 per cent said they liked the idea of being their own boss.
Lynn Hogg proprietor of on-line discount maternity store www.more4mums.co.uk/ and mother of 2, said that “it’s hard to get a work/life balance with looking after 2 small children, but I feel that being my own boss is the best option”.
The government is only too keen to help mums start a business, they have recently unveiled a new strategy, aimed at doubling the number of female entrepreneurs. This strategy offers advice on pitching for bank loans and preparing business plans. This strategy together with a recent upsurge of mums starting and running business has lead to a new term being used that of “the “mumpreneur”.
In the UK, more than a third of female entrepreneurs are aged 30 or under, and 74% of women who started a business did so before their child was two.
It’s not just down to a desire for flexibility, it’s also the result of good ideas. Many of these mumpreneur businesses are based on children and their needs: there is nothing that shows up a gap in the market quicker than hunting in vain for something for your baby. The White Company’s Christian Rucker started The Little White Company because she couldn’t find baby bedding or pyjamas that she liked.
Lynn of more4mums, said she wouldn’t have it any other way. “It is good to be flexible in the hours I work with my business, the business gives me a challenge and I get to spend time with our 2 children, when it suits me…the flexibility is the key driver”.
It certainly looks like the mumpreneur is a fast growing segment of the business world in the UK.
