a money crisis
Lindsey Fish, 34, is the founder and Ceo of mums enterprise roadshow. she lives with her partner andrew, molly, four, and six-month-old rosie in rickmansworth, hertfordshire.
as i sat at my desk in our home office staring at figures on the balance sheet, i could hear the happy sounds of andrew playing with our daughter molly. he’d had such faith in me; how could i tell him my business was £10,000 in debt?
my career in events and marketing had given me valuable experience but when we started a family – and with childcare costs so high – i decided to set up my own business.
many of the mums i met were experiencing the same back-to-work conundrum as me, so i had the idea for mums enterprise roadshow. the aim was to hold events where mums could meet flexible recruiters, discover courses to retrain or find mentors to help them establish a business.
i set up my first event in june 2016 in a country house in hertfordshire. i didn’t need upfront investment – selling exhibition stands and sponsorship would cover the cost. the problem was the venue, which insisted on providing food and drink for attendees. i had to pre-pay for that and estimate the numbers who’d attend. Fewer people turned up than expected and this, coupled with an overspend on print marketing, meant i owed £10,000.
i couldn’t get extensions on payment terms and a personal loan, and had to admit defeat. if i couldn’t pay, the company would go into administration. i’d given up a fantastic job in the city for this and we needed two incomes. i was really worried about telling andrew that instead of turning a profit, or even breaking even, i’d failed.
we talked it through and andrew insisted he still had confidence in me. he agreed to get a loan to cover the debt, which i could then repay with subsequent events. talking honestly about what had happened actually strengthened our relationship and made me determined to make it work.
with the wisdom of my previous mistakes, i had a much better grip on the budget this time and targeted a more populated area – Brighton. it was a free event with refreshments for sale and i tracked my marketing spend, using social media instead of print advertising.
these small but vital tweaks worked and the event was a hit, with over 700 women attending. we ended £4,000 in profit. andrew came along and as he saw the hustle and motivated faces, he said, “you were right, this will work.” it was the ultimate vote of confidence. we’ve grown massively since then. i have a business partner, lucy, and our event at the Business design centre in london attracted 2,000 people. we’re in Birmingham in october and Brighton in February 2018. we then aim to add events, rolling out to eight regions and reaching 30,000 mums by 2020.
i’m proud to be facilitating the growing “mum economy”. i’ve learned valuable lessons and feel i had to get it so wrong to get it really right. i’ve grown hugely in confidence in both my business and relationship, which was strong enough to endure in tough times. mumsenterprise.events w&h