Name of Business: Mummy’s Maid Ltd

Your Name and Age: Kez Luckett aged 39

Tell us about your family: I am married to Andy who is a Network and telecoms manager. We have two children Amelie who is 6 years old (going on 16) who loves Hannah Montanna, high School Musical and anything pink and girly and Jack who is 3 years old and into anything relating to building or bob the builder(although he does secretly love Peppa Pig too). We spend a lot of our spare time renovating our family home which we have been doing for the last 5 years which is a 1947 built post office

What did you do before coming up with your business idea and how was it making the transition? Pharmaceuticals and I am still making the transition

When did you launch? Mummy’s Maid official launch was September 2010

How did you get started?

My vision for the business initially started after I gave birth to my daughter and found that I was unable to keep up with the day to day running of the home due to complications during labour. During my second pregnancy I suffered with Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction which made any physical exertion almost impossible. At that time I needed short term help with the children and the home, unfortunately none of the companies I approached were able to provide less than a few month’s contract. The real push forward for the business came after I spoke to one of my friends who was a single mother who was finding it increasingly difficult to find a job that would allow her the flexibility to work but still allowed her to pick her daughter up from school. From speaking with her I discovered there were numerous mums out there that wanted to work but were finding it difficult to find a role that allowed for the juggling that most mums do.

Initially we tested the water to see if what I had in mind was of interest to other mums, so one Saturday a friend and I conducted market research in a busy shopping centre to gain an insight as to whether there was a need for what we had to offer, what mums wanted and how much they were willing to pay. We also gave out surveys at our local NCT group too. Once we had gathered all this information we knew that there was a real need out there both for our clients but also the ladies who would potentially ,work for us. With all the information we had we decided that Mummy’s Maid would provide short term household help to Mums who had given birth, we soon discovered once we set up that many mums needed our service

The next part was the exciting part trying to come up with a name….(we had many horrendous ones!!!) logo, service package ( which has adapted and changed over the last year) website, as well as registering the company with company’s house. I also spent time speaking with local Mumpreneurs who ran successful businesses in the area to understand the highs and lows they had experienced in setting up, so I could learn from them and maybe avoid some of the common pitfalls.

We launched our business on September 1^st 2010 and to start with it was a bit of an anti- climax. I thought that the phone would not stop ringing but discovered that setting up was the easy part, making people aware that we existed and that what we did was the challenge. During the first 6 months working out which was the best way to advertise and raise awareness was difficult and expensive as I had no experience in advertising or marketing. However my first advertisement in Families Chiltern and Thame Out (local Magazine) not only started to generate business but also gave me contact to a group of lovely ladies who came to work for me. In the space of a year and a half we have grown from 3 ladies to 19 and have now expanded into other counties.

What’s your favourite thing about running your own business?  The satisfaction of helping so many women

What’s the thing you least enjoy about running your own business?  There are many highs and lows to running a business but the thing I think I enjoy least about running my own business is when we get a telephone call from a Mum who needs our help but they live in an area we don’t currently operate out of.

What has worked well about your business? Being able to offer flexibility to both our clients and our employees. Our clients can use us as and when they need to and our employees can fit this job around other commitments such as children, grandchildren and other jobs they may have

What’s been your biggest business mistake? How did you deal with it? I think trying to pigeon hole the services we offer, over the last year are service package has evolved and still is. I think change is inevitable and have learnt to go with it

How do you fit in work with the family? Is your partner supportive of your business? It is a bit of a juggling act but I am supported by my wonderful mother in law and husband. A lot of work gets done after the children go to bed, normally Andy will work on the house and I will do my paperwork and we both try to finish at 11.00pm. Another great time to work is about 6am before the children get up

Are you working towards a financial goal for your business? Yes I am. I have both short term and long term goals set.

Would you ever give up your business to do something else? I think it is a possibility in the future once Mummy’s Maid becomes a nationwide success that I may want to try my hand at something else but I am totally enjoying it at the moment

Do you have an exit strategy? Yes I do but at the moment my main focus is getting Mummy’s Maid to where I want it to be within 5 years.

Have you had your ‘I’ve made it’ moment? Tell us about it. If not when do you think it will come? I think running a business is full of “ I’ve Made it “ moments as you need to celebrate every success and milestone you have along the way. I think the dream I have of what the ultimate “ I’ve Made it” will come when the company goes nationwide which we are working towards now

Where do you hope to be in five years’ time? I would like to be in a position where I could spend more quality time with my children. I would like the company to be Nationwide and be in a position where we are able to offer more Mums a chance to get back to work doing a job that offers flexibility around their children

If you have a flexible working business opportunity, please explain briefly what you offer and how people find out more. Mummy’s Maid provides short term household services to busy mums and those who have recently given birth. Each of our services are a minimum of two hours long and consist of: cleaning, washing and ironing, errand running and childcare. Most of the ladies who work for us are mums who fit Mummy’s Maid around other commitments whether this be children at school, other jobs or semi- retirement. We ask that our Maids are able to offer between 6 – 15 hours a week, drive and have access to a car. In return we offer a salary of £7.00-£8.00 per hour and flexible working. For more information on our company visit our website at www.mummysmaid.co.uk or send in a cv or profile to info@mummysmaid.co.uk

Your website link. www.mummysmaid.co.uk