Monday Mumpreneur with Lucy Morley
Every Monday we feature a mumpreneur who’s ready and willing to open up their lives to us. They share with us their motivation, challenges and proudest moments in business and they also tell us how they take time to nurture themselves. It’s lovely to have them here at Mums Got A Business and we hope you enjoy connecting with them too.
When I first discovered this week's profiled mum's business, I thought "What a fabulous idea! Why hasn't this been done before?" I just love products that are thought up by mums.
We are in exactly the right place to see what's needed and where there is a gap in the market. I just know you're going to love what Lucy is doing.
Your name: Lucy Morley
Your website: www.wholovesme.co.uk
Brief description
We make personalised flash cards for babies and young children to help them recognise family members and teach them a bit about them.
How many children do you have? Two little boys, Alex (2) and Ethan (1)
Where do you live? London
PC or Mac? Mac (I've recently been converted!)
Tell us about your business
Our personalised flash cards help babies, toddlers and children learn more about their extended family who they may not see frequently, while encouraging communication and language skills. I created these cards after I realised it was more important for my son to be able to identify his grandparents as opposed to a ball or sheep! The cards have a photo on the front while on the back of the card is a brief description of that person. For example, a picture of Granddad could be on the front with the description, ‘Granddad likes fishing’ on the back. All of the pictures, names and words are uploaded by the customer on the easy to use website.
For babies, the cards are visually stimulating, help with family and friend recognition, and introduce first words. For toddlers, the cards are a fun new toy that teaches them about their family, while learning different colours, jungle animals and new vocabulary. They can also find the hidden heart in each of the animals. For children, the cards are a helpful reading aid and an excellent conversation starter.The cards give you all the educational value and interactive fun of a set of flash cards, but with the added benefits that they are unique to you and teach your child about something very important - who loves them! We have just won three awards in the 2011 Loved By Parents Awards – winning Gold for Best Baby Gift, Gold for Best Baby Print Product and Silver for Best Innovative Idea.
The cards have undergone thorough CE safety tests to meet European safety standards. They have none of the harmful chemicals that photos have, making them safe if they end up in little people's mouths. They’re available online from www.wholovesme.co.uk. You can buy individual cards for £1.99 each or a pack of cards for £11.99 (8 cards) or £17.99 (16 cards) which come in their own presentation box.
What motivated you to become a mumpreneur?
I didn't set out to become a mumpreneur - I just loved the idea behind the cards and thought other people would too, and wanted to work for myself in order to spend more time with my boys
What’s been your biggest challenge in business?
Marketing. I'm not from a marketing background so that's been a real learning curve, and obviously essential to be good at when launching a new business! I do really enjoy it though (and am hopefully getting better at it!)
How have you overcome it?
A lot of research into the subject. I've spoken to friends who work in marketing and who run their own businesses and I've read a lot of ebooks on the subject - anything about marketing, twitter, blogging, PR. I think Twitter is a great source of information for finding out about these things too. A lot of people offer free trials with advice and they're definitely worth looking at.
What’s been your proudest business moment?
Winning the Loved By Parents awards for Best Baby Gift and Best Baby Print Product in August. We also got the Silver award for Best Innovative Idea. I was absolutely thrilled to bits!
What’s your catchphrase or favourite quote?
The catchphrase for Who Loves Me? is "Bringing families together" - its what we always bear in mind with any new angle we consider for the business. My personal favourite quote would probably be a line from The Princess Bride or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid!
What do you do to relax or nurture yourself?
I love a night out (or in) with friends. There's nothing better than a giggle over a bite to eat and a glass of wine!
What was the last treat you bought for yourself?
A really nice bikini in the Boden sale.
Favourite colour: Blue (good job I've got boys!)
Favourite flowers: Lillies
What one piece of advice would you like to give to a new mumpreneur?
Believe in yourself - having confidence in yourself and your product is possibly the most important thing you can have.
Fancy featuring as one of our amazing mumpreneurs? Drop me an email over on the contact page - and I’ll be in touch. Or let me know in a comment below. And remember to drop by every Monday to welcome our latest profiled mum.
