
Life

Share
16th July 2014
03:00pm BST

Once the seed of my business idea was planted, I discussed it with my husband and he backed me 100%. Then I contacted the Fingal Enterprise Board, now known as the LEO (Local Enterprise Board), and the support was fantastic. They informed me of a course they were starting on the following Monday called Start Your Own Business which I signed up for immediately. That was the best decision I made as I learned so much from the 12-week course. We covered financial planning, PR, marketing and much more. I still revert back to my notes two years later!
It took a long time to find a manufacturer who could make our products to the specific design that I wanted. A lot of the factories struggled with the reversible concept. I also had high standards for my designs and wanted to ensure the best fabrics were used and all passed the testing to ensure I could enter retail also. Once I had the prototypes, I met with some buyers and the feedback was very positive. Once my products went into production, I needed to start the PR strategy and spread awareness. I started to engage with the public and introduce the brand and the concept behind it. We also launched the website.
A normal working day doesn’t really exist but I'm not complaining! I wake most mornings at 5.30am and try to get a bit of work done. I leave the house at 6.20am to go to the gym when I can. I am home from the gym at 7.40am in time for the school run. I prefer early morning sessions as it’s when I am most alert and I get to think about my day while exercising. Once the girls are at school, I normally have meetings scheduled. My daughters are both attending school in September, Sophie in Junior Infants and Eve in first class, so I will have a bit more time to work on the business. Once the girls are settled after school, I can attend to some emails. I love the flexibility of working around my role as a mum and also being allowed to purse my passion which is business. I will often work when the girls go to bed but when it's something you enjoy, you don’t mind that. In the early days of starting the business, I brought my daughter to one of my business meetings which wasn’t ideal but thankfully the company I was dealing with understood.
I love managing the business and promoting the brand but I also really enjoy meeting mums and talking to them about their children and experiences as new parents. I am a people person so I enjoy the interaction. It’s also important for me to do this in order to learn from them and create new designs. Parents are my sounding board as every new design I have is drawn from conversations I have had with mums and dads.
I have had a lot of great moments since I started this journey in 2012. However one that really sticks out for me is the realisation that I was really up and running. I had applied for a Priming Business Expansion Grant with LEO (Local Enterprise Office). I had previously received support in the early days and had qualified for a feasibility study which I was delighted with. Having launched the business in March this year, we have been trading for a few months. I applied for the Priming Business Expansion Grant and was delighted to be awarded funding. This validation made me feel that all the hard work had paid off, that I was now recognised as a business.
Although we are relatively new to the market, we are already about to stock in two boutiques in Scotland and I am in conversations with retailers in Ireland also. I have a catalogue of designs coming down the road and the feeling on the market is one of excitement. I am a people person and love getting out there and talking to my customers. I have had amazing feedback from women in business who have offered me advice and support. One in particular is Alison Canavan who runs many ventures. She is a mum herself so understands the pressures of juggling family life and running a business. I intend to keep networking and meeting new people. I will also, in my role as owner and designer of the Happynest brand, be looking to the LEO (Local Enterprise Office) for more learning and development. I realise that social media is a huge tool in getting my brand to market so have been actively engaging with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest to name a few. I have been on an amazing journey so far but I feel it’s only the beginning and there’s a lot more to come!
For further details about Happynest, visit the website here. To suggest other great Irish women to feature in this series, please drop us a line to editorial@her.ieExplore more on these topics: