Meet the Mumpreneurs!Behind every great baby idea there's a mum who's been there, done that, and had baby posset on her T-shirt! Babyworld takes a look at 'mumpreneurs' who have used their experience of parenthood to forge a new career…
Bumps and Babies photography franchise
At the same time, Andrew, who worked as a financial adviser, was becoming disillusioned with his job and tired of the rat race. One day, a friend of his showed him a collection of wedding photos that he particularly admired so Andrew checked out the company's website. On it, he saw that they were offering to train people to become photographers and then set up their own franchise so he booked himself and Olivia on a course. Olivia had always been a keen amateur photographer, often borrowing her father-in-law's old camera to take portraits and shots of Thomas. The idea of becoming a part-time photographer really appealed to her, and she decided to concentrate on portraits of families and children. The course ran for six days over three months and involved an exam. That was to be the relatively easy part; once qualified Andrew and Olivia needed to buy the necessary equipment to set up their franchise. "We needed to buy cameras, backgrounds, stands, lights and a softbox," revealed Olivia. "It was quite a hefty investment but well worth it." Andrew concentrates on wedding photography, while Olivia does mainly child-based portraits, either in a client's home, at a playgroup or in her own at home. "We have a large lounge, which serves very well as a studio," she said. "The surroundings tend to make the babies feel more at ease and it's great that I can work from home." Thomas attends a playgroup one day a week, which is when Olivia does most of her work. "I tend to do all of my shoots on Fridays as I can't do them when Thomas is about!" admitted Olivia. "However, every shoot involves two hours of finishing work afterwards so I do that in the evenings and sometimes when Thomas is around, as that is computer based and not as difficult. Then the client will come back again to view the photos and choose the shots they want to buy." Olivia is extremely happy at the way in which her career has taken a turn for the better and the fact that she can earn some money while spending most of her time with Thomas. "Next July he will be eligible to attend nursery two days a week, which will help free up a little more time for my work, as it's rather manic at present. However, I am very glad to have taken this career path and it's nice to be able to work with Andrew on something together; it really is a family business!" Find out more about Bumps and Babies at www.barrettandcoe.co.uk The Nanny Share Company
Theresa Byrne and Alex Dalton met when they got together to share a nanny 3 years ago. Alex had been searching for months for a childcare solution she was happy with for her daughter Isabelle, when she finally stumbled on Theresa's advert for someone to share a nanny on her gym noticeboard. The share was a real success, with the nanny enjoying the variety it offered her and the children really enjoying each other's company. A by-product of the share Theresa and Alex didn't expect was the close friendship they themselves formed. As working mums their parenting concerns were very different from those of other friends who were stay at home mums. They met regularly to share stories, unwind and offer each other advice and support. A familiar theme to these evenings together was - 'there must be something else we can do with our lives'. From these conversations they came up with the idea of a business that would make nanny sharing an easy option for mums looking for great childcare. They often heard fellow mums say they didn't have the time or energy to hunt around for a share, so they looked for a way to make the finding process as simple as possible. Both Theresa and Alex were working in fairly demanding jobs and the thought of putting in the work to get a new business of the ground was daunting. Idle chat over a glass of wine was fine, but getting on with the hard work was another story! Then, last summer they holidayed together in Spain and there they decided they were going to give the idea a go. They wanted to build a website that would allow parents to advertise their childcare needs online and also give them the facility to search for families close by who also wanted to share a nanny. As parents who were familiar with the ups and downs of nanny sharing, they also wanted to offer to share their experience and advice with members and create a site that was friendly and accessible. Three months of hard work writing business plans, talking to working mums and briefing web designers came to fruition in February 2006 when The Nanny Share Company was launched. The site was received really well by parents and professional organisations alike and generated a lot of press interest. The community of nanny sharers on the site grew quickly and Theresa and Alex quickly realised there was nationwide enthusiasm for nanny sharing, which the site was encouraging further. Theresa and Alex envisage a real growth in nanny sharing now the site is in place; "we believe the only thing stopping nanny sharing being the most popular childcare choice has been the problem of finding like-minded families nearby. Now this problem can be overcome, we can see a lot of families linking up locally to get the best for their children." Find out more about The Nanny Share Company at www.thenannysharers.co.uk
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When
Olivia Austen's son Thomas was born nearly three years ago, she was certain
she did not want to return to her high-pressured job as a debt collector.
"There were so many targets and I didn't like that," she explained. "However,
I did need to work to bring in some money so my husband Andrew and I had
a think about what I could do."
Friends
Theresa and Alex were working in fairly demanding jobs often having the
conversation ' we must be able to do something else with our live'. They
finally hit on turning their successful nanny share into a business
Being
made redundant whilst she was pregnant with her third child gave Laura
Hitchcock the push to start up her own business and as she says 'stay
home with my boys, yet also have an interesting, rewarding career.' 
Nearly
everyone knows how shattering it is to have to get up to deal with a newborn
every night. While we accept it as part and parcel of being a newparent,don't
we all wish sometimes that we had a nanny who could placate nipper while
we managed a decent eight hours - even if for one night?It was theyearning
for quality kip that inspired Anastasia Baker to create her business Night
Nannies. 
