Giving birth to a business

Keira OMara - 15 Nov 17

Nine years ago after being made redundant whilst on maternity leave and suffering from severe “baby brain” (or so I thought, it turns out that is just the new normal now), I  gave birth to my business.  I had no idea what I was doing only a why, my why being the need to stay at home with my baby or at very least have more time with him. Flexible working, part time working were not options open to me. I started frantically applying for jobs, any jobs that were vaguely similar to what I had done before. Deep down I knew that none of these jobs were right.  I did actually get a job and started working full time, away from my baby. It was hard and it hurt like hell.

I had had an idea for a new product, whilst breastfeeding my baby.  It wasn’t particularly a light bulb moment, more of a “I could do with something to help me feed in public” and when I searched online and was unable to find said item, I started thinking… “What if I…?”  I mentioned it to a friend who I had not seen for years, on a chance meeting, who put me in contact with a friend of hers who had launched a baby product.  Everything happens for a reason right? The one thing I remember this person saying was “how would you feel if you don’t do this and then you see that someone else has?” That was enough to spur me forward and give it a go.  I registered my trademark that night. There was no going back.

My idea was for a discreet breastfeeding cover , but there were some holes in my plan. Huge gaping holes it would appear. I was not a designer, I had no experience and I could not sew.  When I look back at the first version of my first product, it makes me laugh. I have come a long way.  I literally cut up a bed sheet and tied a teddy bear to me to get the design right.  It worked, so I had a sample made and got some mama’s to test it out. They liked it. I then had some made up, had a basic website designed (by my friends husband) and took myself to a baby show to get some feedback from the general public. Luckily they were kind.   I fumbled about blindly working behind the scenes on my business, accounts, packaging design, social media (which back then was only really Twitter), product development. No two days were the same and I was learning (and making mistakes) on a daily basis. But for every mistake I learnt something, and there would be no way I would make that one again.

I realised that with no budget for advertising, I had to make some noise about my product. Within 6 months of launch I managed to get myself on TV.  The BBC’s Working Lunch were looking for a story on business after redundancy and so I pitched my story to them and they came to interview me. Seeing that I had just got on national TV for free was all the encouragement I needed and I threw myself into PR. Pitching my business story wherever I could. I was in 3 national newspapers in one day with my start up story. After this it snowballed and I was live on This Morning and had several radio interviews.

I still didn’t know what I was doing, but was determined to get to a stage where I could give up the full time job I was juggling with a one year old and a business in the evenings. I was so tired but so passionate and determined to make a go of it, that it was enough to keep me going. Looking back I am not sure how I did that, or if I could do it again. Within a year I had got about 80 stockists for my product.  Sadly a lot of them aren’t around anymore, the online retail world changes quickly. After 8 months  I was able to leave my job. I still wasn’t taking an income but I was so unhappy working full time that we figured tightened belts would be better than being unhappy at work. I left work to focus on the business and my family.

Having another baby meant that I wasn’t able to take a typical maternity leave and I found myself answering emails within days and having her in childcare after 3 months. It was hard but it meant that I could work for a few days and that I had the rest of the week with my children. I would go round to the childminders to breastfeed Lily and then come back to work.  I worked during nap times the rest of the week.

I realised after a few years (which included gaining a few big stockists, a change in supplier and a whole lot more learning) that I needed more than one product if I was to have a sustainable business.  It was following a holiday and the need to buy a new sleeping bag for my baby in a different tog, that gave me the idea for my next product, a multi tog baby sleeping bag.

I thought it would be easy to launch a product that was more mainstream, would appeal to the mass market given that my first product was quite niche. How wrong could I be! The testing and various stages that went into creating Babasac were far more complicated than Mamascarf had ever been.  It took a lot longer at every stage, designs, samples, testing and then even the selling.  At times I wondered whether it was worth it. I continued to use my experience as a mum and that of friends who were also mums, to create products after this.   I have always tried to combine practicality with style in my products.

I have learnt so much along the way. Running a business can be the hardest thing ever, but can also be the best thing, it is a rollercoaster. Highs include winning awards, being on TV, having celebrities use my products, gaining national retailer listings.  Lows have been IP theft, stock theft, divorce, losing money, losing national retailer listings.

I still work from home around my children, I have a great team who work remotely around their children too.  I love the flexibility it gives me. I love being my own boss. I can always be there if my children need me. One of the most rewarding things is hearing feedback from parents (particularly mums) who have used my products and have made a real difference to. I will never forget the email from the lady whose teenage daughter became pregnant and wouldn’t dream of breastfeeding until her mum bought her a Mamascarf.  It made me cry. Also seeing  your precious  newborns wrapped in one of my products will genuinely make my day.

To anyone thinking of starting a business, or with an idea for a business…” Do it! What if you don’t and someone else does?”

www.mamadesigns.co.uk

Keira OMara

Founder of Mama Designs (since 2008) and single mama of two. Originally from Liverpool but living in Birmingham with my children.

View profile for posts, events and more info