Monday Mumpreneur with Laura Mackintosh from Rain-Shine

On Mondays we feature a mumpreneur just like you and me who’s ready and willing to open up their lives and their business to us.

They share with us their motivation, their challenges and their proudest moments in business and they also tell us how they take time to nurture themselves.

If you’re looking for inspiration, then our featured business mums show you what’s possible.

This week's award winning business mum is passionate about getting our kids from behind their computer screens and out into the fresh air.

Your name:

Laura Mackintosh

Tell me about your children:

Erin age 7 and Sara aged 4.

Where do you live?

Stirling in Scotland

PC or Mac?

PC

Tell us about your business:

I co-own and run a small family business with my mother called Rain-shine. We started the company in October 2010, when my youngest was just 8 weeks old. We provide quality waterproof clothing and swimwear to parents, nurseries, schools and groups to allow children the freedom to play outside come Rain or Shine.

We are proud to say that the majority of images used on our site are of our own children or those of satisfied customers, so REAL children! We recently published an ebook containing fun, easy outdoor play ideas to get the little ones more engaged outdoors and offer a FREE chapter of this to all our customers – a little something extra.

What motivated you to become a mumpreneur?

I was on maternity leave when my mother and I got in to a discussion about clothing and the need to get the kids outdoors whatever the weather. We talked about how when my sister and I were young that we had the regatta all in one waterproofs and how you never really see these anymore. It was decided from then and we started selling the all in one waterproofs and snowsuits from Regatta. At the beginning we had a basic 5 page website listing our products, which has grown today to well over 100 pages. Our product range has grown to include brands such as Trespass, Togz and Keela and we introduced a swimwear range from Konfidence, Speedo and Zoggs.

We are passionate about getting more children outdoors and reducing the amount of screen time. We were so saddened to hear that for the first time our childrens generation actually have a general lower life expectancy of 5 years. If we can help in any way to break down one of the barriers to outdoor play (unsuitable outdoor clothing) and getting kids more active, then we are delighted.

What’s been your biggest challenge in business?

The biggest challenge has to be the age old time management problem – having young children, you want to be able to ensure that you spend quality time with them as well as working on the business. I must admit I found this tricky in the first instance as we built the business.

How have you overcome it?

As my business was built around the needs of children (waterproof clothing and swimwear to get outside) I turned it to my advantage. I got the kids kitted out in our clothing range and walked the talk as they say. It was the best solution as I got to spend quality time with the children and they grew to love being outdoors and having a healthy lifestyle. In turn I also got to properly test the products which enables me to talk from the heart about them in our product descriptions and in our blog.

What’s been your proudest business moment?

My proudest business moment to date has to have been winning Theo Paphitis #SBS award in December 2013. We are excited to be attending an exclusive winners event in January 2015 where we get to meet him in person.

What’s your catchphrase or favourite quote?

“Come Rain or Shine, we’ve got the kids covered”

What do you do to relax or nurture yourself?

I enjoy reading business books (believe it or not I find this relaxing) or listening to mediation cds. Most of all however I enjoy just getting out with my kids and since we discovered geocaching this is all they want to do!

What was the last treat you bought for yourself?

2 nights stay in Hilton in Birmingham plus return flights from Glasgow for the #SBS winners event.

Favourite colour: pink

Favourite flowers: carnation

What one piece of advice would you like to give to a new mumpreneur?

Don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s hard to be super mum and super business woman at the same time. Make sure you take some proper downtime to recharge your batteries.

To find out more about Laura and her business, visit her site:

Website: www.rain-shine.co.uk

Contact her here:

Email address: laura@rain-shine.co.uk

And connect with her on social media:

facebook: facebook.com/rainshinewear
twitter: @rainshinewear
pinterest: @rainshinewear
youtube: www.youtube.com/user/rainshinewear

Think your mumpreneur story will inspire our community? Drop me an email over on the contact page – and I’ll be in touch. Or let me know in a comment below.