NEW MUMS – NEW BUSINESS
Friends Leah and Louisa share their experience of starting their company, Pimp my Pram, while on maternity leave – and explain how you can do it, too…
ost mothers struggle to juggle M family life with a career, but Leah Caffrey, mum to Gray, one, and Louisa Hills, who has son Oscar, 22 months, found a surprising solution: starting their own business after leaving their jobs to have kids .
“I’m a freelance TV producer and it’s not your average 9-5, so I wanted something more flexible,” says Leah, 34. Her friend Louisa, also 34, who worked in market research and was also freelance, felt the same. “We were both new mums and by coincidence we’d both been decorating our pushchairs to make them look a bit prettier,” explains Louisa. “It was only when we discussed it that we thought a pram accessories business could work.”
They tried out different ideas, but eventually settled on selling belly bar covers, and Pimp my Pram was born. “We realised every pushchair had a belly bar, so we started making covers for them in lots of different fabrics,” says Louisa. “We found so many parents wanted something to make their pushchairs look a bit different and personal.”
The business is relatively new, but the pair have dreams for the future. They are selling up to 25 bar covers a month at £12 each from their Etsy online store, and they hope to grow the business as their children get older. “It’s not always easy, but having each other means we always have support, and we can work around the children’s nap time,” says Leah. “We’re not making a fulltime living, but the extra money helps while we’ve got toddlers, and we hope to slowly make the business full-time when the kids are older. Our dream would be a Liberty collaboration!” following people with a big fan base, then sending them products. Immerse yourself in the community and do videos so people can see the ‘face’ behind your brand. You don’t need to be a tough ‘businesswoman’, just be yourself – people like that.”