Award winning website Kiddymania is thrilled to showcase the My Buggy Buddy Clip, designed to give parents an extra pair of hands when out with their little one. This essential piece of pram kit simply clips over the pram handle and snaps securely into place. Multiple shopping bags can be safely hooked onto the clip before snapping into place putting an end to the frustration of juggling shopping and pushing a pram with one hand argh! We all know that situation far too well.

Whether you are taking your baby for a brisk walk around the park, fitting in some errands at your local shops or whizzing around on public transport, the My Buggy Buddy Clip will allow you to securely fasten your bags to your pram freeing up your hands and limiting any strain of carrying bags awkwardly.

The My Buggy Buddy Clip fits a variety of pushchairs and is also great for shopping trolleys too – another place parents need an extra pair of hands. The secure clip opens and closes with one simple flick. It can hold shopping bags, hand bags and changing bags so you can attend to the task in need.

It’s also idea for days out and securely carrying other items such as camera bags, swimming bags or picnic goodies. A lockable version is also available so you can secure your pram if you need to leave it when out and about.

The My Buggy Buddy Clip is used world wide and is so easy to use. It is lightweight and oh so versatile. Kiddymania believe that once you get hold of this essential pram kit you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it. The My Buggy Buddy Clip is available from www.kiddymania.co.uk priced at £.5.95

The BUNDL solves the age old problem of moving sleeping
babies without waking them. The unique design means that you no longer have to
bend or stoop to pick up your baby. In fact it is so easy that by using the
extra strength support handles you can lift up, lay down and move your sleeping
baby with just one hand without waking them and whilst keeping perfect posture.

The BUNDL works like a hammock, fully supporting the head,
neck and spine whilst the soft padded hood completely protects the crown. David
said “I came up with the idea because my wife had complications with the birth
and I had a bad back and we struggled picking up and putting down our daughter,
especially getting her in and out of the car.”

It was originally conceived and designed for Mums who had
undergone caesarean births or who had birthing complications resulting in
restricted movement, for parents or carers with back problems and for disabled
or wheelchairs users. However, after much testing it became apparent that it
was an incredibly useful and practical invention for anyone with a young baby.

The Bundl is the first product of its kind and since
launching at the Brighton Baby Expo in November Snugglebundl have been
inundated with amazing reviews and blessings from parents who have been using
the Bundl. Mike said” It’s one of those simple ideas that you think, why hasn’t
anyone thought of that before! Everybody keeps saying I wish I’d had one when
we had our baby! We feel completely inspired.”

The Bundl is manufactured entirely in the UK, complies with European safety standards and is
available through their website http://www.snugglebundl.co.uk/ and hopefully
before to long in a shop near you.

JellyboxUK is proud to announce the launch of it’s baby gift box store, offering contemporary baby gifts which can be delivered direct to your loved one all wrapped up in a beautiful keepsake box.

One of our real favourite themed boxes is the gorgeous The Grace Gift Box, which contains a 100% organic cotton long sleeved sleep-suit, matching top knot hat, Strawberry star cotton bib and super soft leather strawberry shoes with suede soles.

Customers can ‘mix and match’ the products to create their own gift box to suit their budget, or for speed simply choose one of the themed gift boxes.

Perfect for people looking to select a gift for a colleague, a relative who lives further afield or the ‘woops…left-shopping-until-the-last-minute’ amongst us, JellyboxUK offers a unique selection of the highest quality contemporary gifts that are sure to bring a smile to everyone’s face. And you can rest assured that your gift will arrive promptly, exquisitely packaged the JellyboxUK way.

Why not see for yourself, take a look at our themed gift box selection below, The Little Pony Gift Box, or The Bella Gift Box:

Little Pony Gift Box

Suitable for a little boy or girl, the Pony Gift box includes an organic long sleeve sleep-suit, a soft textured book titled ‘Sir Prance a lot’ and Trotter, the noisy pony. All beautifully delivered in keepsake box with magnetic clasp. £43.93. Suitable from birth.

The Bella Gift Box

100% cotton strawberry baby grow (0-3 months), matching strawberry hat and pink and white lamb rattle. £23.50

JellyboxUK is a family owned business, and prides itself on sourcing quality, practical and contemporary gifts that withstand the rough and tumble of daily baby life. The keepsake box can be re-used to store baby’s first items through his early days, such as photos, books or small toys. JellyboxUK. Let the memory live on.

From cool Capri pants and wrap cardigans, to tanks and fitted tees, the Fit & Fabulous range impress, perform and pamper.  The beautiful designs can be mixed and matched with everyday clothes so they don’t just have to be worn when exercising and expecting.

The moisture-wicking capabilities in the majority of the range ensure comfort and dry wear-ability and because the fabric naturally retains its shape, the clothing mirrors the growth of changing bodies and bumps.

Nikki Wetherell , Founder of Fit & Fabulous and sports trainer, said, “Wearing over-sized t-shirts and jogging bottoms that are unflattering and uncomfortable can really make you feel drab when you are pregnant and trying to find the motivation to exercise. I decided to find a solution to the gap in the market for maternity sportswear that looks and feels great, and thus Fit & Fabulous was born”.

She added, “We hope women will love our clothes so much they will want to wear them not only when they exercise bit also when they are out and about or at home relaxing and after the birth of their baby too. As a mum of two I believe that my stylish, comfortable clothing will give you a boost and help keep you looking fit and fabulous throughout your pregnancy and beyond”.

The range includes a ‘Racer-back Tank’ with slim v-neckline and wide straps to keep you looking feminine whilst you work-out. Front Capri’s with a clever V-shaped front waistband that holds your baby bump are both comfortable and flattering. For a little bit of luxury, try the ‘wrap over hooded cardigan’ that does what it says on the tin.

All items from Fit and Fabulous will take you from the school run to the gym and onto lunch with the girls, so wait no more and head to www.fitnfabulous.co.uk

Based on the principles of simplicity and purity, The Clothes Tree, has been created as a complete alternative to existing auction sites and offers mums a gentle, stylish and upmarket online boutique to purchase new and nearly new designer pieces and to sell outgrown items.

The project was championed by Business Gateway who put The Clothes Tree forward for funding via the Scottish Enterprise high growth pipeline in 2010.  The company was successful in obtaining part-funding and for the past 18 months, Mhairi has been growing and developing The Clothes Tree whilst juggling the demands of single motherhood whilst working in her Surrey based role as Communications Manager for BBC One’s ‘Bionic Vet, Noel Fitzpatrick.

The Clothes Tree provides an auction style facility whereby sellers can auction their items or sell at a named price; however the company sets itself apart from the competition by providing an easy to use ‘Sell it for me’ facility.  Busy mums can simply log in to The Clothes Tree site, list the number of items they wish to sell, submit the form and a few days later they  receive two beautifully branded mailing bags – one of which can sit at the back of their child’s wardrobe for outgrown items to be placed inside, the other which is sent back to The Clothes Tree by Freepost.

The clothes are then steamed, hung and photographed professionally and descriptions listed on the site, taking any hassle element out of the process for busy mums.

When the bag in the wardrobe is full, mums can take a few minutes to log back on, fill in the ‘Sell it for me’ form, submit and they receive their next two bags and so on.

The Clothes Tree was created when founder, Mhairi Clarke spotted a gap in the market for creating a beautiful, boutique style environment which would provide an enjoyable browsing and shopping experience for mums and offer a simple, easy to use facility for selling outgrown designer pieces.  Mum of one, Mhairi commented; “I started to become really conscious of all the bags of beautiful clothes which my son had worn only a few times which were mounting in my loft.  I always thought that I would sell them at some point but that point never came around and I lay in bed one night and pictured all the houses across the country which were like mine – bags of beautiful clothes in the loft, or at the back of children’s wardrobes and thought that there must be a way of bringing all these fabulous clothes together in one place. I set out to create a place where beautiful clothes can be loved again and The Clothes Tree grew from that idea.”

She added; “Just because an item has been worn just a few times doesn’t mean that it’s not a valuable or a luxury item, so each item sold by The Clothes Tree is lovingly wrapped in tissue paper and sent to the customer in one of our beautifully branded mailing bags.  I wanted to create an enjoyable shopping experience and for customers to feel just as they would if they were buying the item for the first time.  I love buying fabulous clothes, shoes and items for my home, my son and myself but like most people, I do feel guilty about my spending so I also wanted to create The Clothes Tree as a means for mums like me to recoup some of their spending by selling their child’s outgrown items on this site and have the opportunity to buy fantastic items at a third of their original price.  My philosophy is that if you know you’re making a little bit of money out of something you already have, you won’t feel quite as guilty or anxious about your spending, whether it’s for your child, your home, your family or yourself and it’s better to have a little bit of something than 100% of nothing!”

The Clothes Tree launches on 10 October and stocks all the major children’s designer labels from Armani, Dior, Stella McCartney, Abercrombie & Fitch, Kenzo, Ralph Lauren and Juicy Couture to names such as Mini Boden, Simonetta, Catimini and Vertbaudet.

The Clothes Tree can be found at www.theclothestree.co.uk

of Business: Sweetling

Your Name and Age: Maria Law, 49 and Sophie Law, 45  (Sweetling sisters)

Tell us about your family:  Sophie and I are sisters in law, we have 8 children between us, Sophie having a mix of 2 + 2 and I have 4 girls.  We grew up in CambrIdge during the 70’s and 80’s.  Sophie did a foundation at St Martins and her degree at Central school of Speech and Drama, specializing in Costume design.  I left school at 17 and joined the civil service as a junior press officer for the old MAFF department. I had 2 of my children in my early 20’s and when they were toddlers set up a small catering and event company in Cambridge which grew quickly and gave me my first taste of owning my own business.

What did you do before coming up with your business idea and how was it making the transition? I was working as a freelance food journalist and Sophie was busy in the theatre as a freelance costume designer.

When did you launch? The Initial concept for Sweetling first bras was June 2008, our product launch was September 2009

How did you get started? Initially we designed the business strategy and products from our own homes, Sophie spent many hours at the kitchen table – losing precious pattern pieces to sticky fingers and curious cats!  We quickly realized that we had to have our own space and signed up for a studio in our local arts based building – Chocolate Factory 2 based in North London.

It was to be a fortuitous move for us.   We joined in with their annual Open Studio weekend  and were quickly picked up by a well regarded design collective –“East London Design Show” who nursed us through the first 2 years of getting to market.  We were both very green on general business practise and quite convinced we were going to change the world!!  After attending many government funded courses we began to get a much better picture of how to run and be a successful modern business – which includes utilizing all the different ‘ market places’ that our young society embraces.

What’s your favourite thing about running your own business?  Both Sophie and I get very excited about each and every sale, we celebrate every single purchase that leaves our bespoke studio whether a very first bra for an excited young girl or a multiple retail order, they are all very important to us as they re-affirm our very initial idea.

What’s the thing you least enjoy about running your own business? In the beginning we had a huge uphill struggle to get any kind of press or media backing, talking about and promoting a product that deals with teenage girls growing breasts was a struggle for most traditional business people.   It was much easier for them to say ‘no’ rather than to have a conversation which made them uncomfortable.   This has improved since our TV appearance and also the Reg Bailey report commissioned by the government on ‘The oversexualisation of young girls’.  We are also backed by the Mumsnet ‘let girls be girls campaign which has been helpful to us in marketing terms.

What has worked well about your business? Even though Sophie and I had known each other for over 20 years we had never worked together.  Sitting in a small design studio for 6 hrs a day with only each other and Miss Dolly for company is a true test of a partnership.  Our biggest piece of advice for anyone considering a partnership is to keep talking and to ‘jump on’ any potential disagreement early and set aside ‘a meeting’ to discuss volatile point as quickly as possible, e.g. “Sophie I can tell that you are not happy with what I have just decided/said do you want to make ‘a meeting’ about it now”.

What’s been your biggest business mistake?  How did you deal with it?  We launched solely on the internet, because we could not afford a shop and high street retail at that time was not interested in our product.  We had to make a lot of stock to give young girls a good choice of styles and designs.  We felt there would be little point in launching a site which only had 2 bras on it, also we have to carry a lot of size options and most UK manufacturers want decent minimums – so with our hands lightly tied we had to take the decision to put all of our investment in ‘holding stock’ – apparently this is wrong.  After turning our stock a couple of times we have learnt which sizes are the biggest seller so can now manufacture accordingly – it’s all a learning curve.

How do you fit in work with the family? Is your partner supportive of your business? We fit our business around our families which was one of the main reasons that we set up in the first place.  Our partners occasionally get jealous of the time that we devote either talking about or facilitating the business – but that is only natural and in the main they are very supportive.

Are you working towards a financial goal for your business?  Sophie and I are building the brand so that we can take a satisfactory wage from Year 5.

Would you ever give up your business to do something else? No, although everyday is not perfect running your own business is very stimulating and exciting. Nothing can replace the buzz that you get when you look back and realize just how far you have come – It is quite special to make something from nothing.

Do you have an exit strategy? No.

Have you had your ‘I’ve made it’ moment?  Tell us about it.  If not when do you think it will come? We had a good moment when our story was broadcast on the BBC 1 programme “Britains Next Big Thing” hosted by Theo Paphitis.  Now when we mention Sweetling people are very generous with their time and also quite open about the subject.  From these small beginnings we can hope for a wider acceptance of celebrating every young girls naturally developing body.

Where do you hope to be in five years’ time?  In 5 years time we will have a 1% market share and have introduced our brand into International Markets.

If you have a flexible working business opportunity, please explain briefly what you offer and how people find out more. We are very interested to hear from Mothers who have daughters and would like to organize and run Sweetling home parties in their area.  Please email maria@sweetling.co.uk for more information.

Your website link. www.sweetling.co.uk

If you can offer a discount or special promotion for Family Friendly Working readers, please write it here:  Please use the promotional code SLDF814 for a 10% discount across the shopping cart.

I’m 35 years old, married to husband David and have two amazing little ones, Joseph (aged 2) and Ellen (aged 4 months).  We live in a small rural village called Shellingford in Oxfordshire with our cat Darrel Green (named after a famous cornerback from the Washington Redskins). And our chickens number 4 and 5.  (1-3 met sticky ends so we stopped naming them!).

I started Just Maternity Jeans in October 2010 while pregnant with my daughter.  I decided quite early on into my maternity leave with my first child that I wouldn’t go back to my corporate job, (a Marketing Manager for a software company) and started thinking hard for a business idea to build on.  I knew I wanted to work from home, fitting it around caring for my children, so I decided on a website.

The idea for a specialist maternity jeans website evolved from my frustrations at finding a poor selection of jeans on the high street during my first pregnancy.  When it came to wearing them for my second pregnancy they were as good as useless with tattered bump bands or baggy bums and knees.  I decided to look further afield to see if I could find a specialist maternity jeans manufacturer and I found quite a few.  They are smaller than the high street mega companies, but their attention to detail is far greater.

I invested a large chunk of savings into my jeans collection.  I chose 9 suppliers from all over Europe! Bellybutton from Germany, Boob is from Sweden, Valja from Denmark, 9Fashion from Poland, Crave and Funmum from the UK and so on.  My aim was to create a collection that would have something for every shape and size.  I sell tall, petite, plus size, over the bump, under the bump, on the bump, skinny, boot cut, jeggings, you name the variety and I’ve tried to include it.   I’ve created picture keys to help mum’s decide on the waist fitting that suits them best and a style guide to help decide on the ideal shape for your figure.

My husband and I are doing all the marketing for JMJ organically.  We’ve worked tirelessly to get our website ‘Google ready’ working on our keywords, meta tags, heading tags etc, along with external link building, blogging, facebooking and tweeting.  It has paid off!  We appear on page 1 of Google for the term ‘maternity jeans’ which has hugely improved our sales! We know that Google is a fickle character, so we aren’t counting on being there permanently (up against the likes of ASOS and Debenhams and Seraphine).  We will continue getting JMJ talked about on the web and hope we remain!

If I was to give advice to anyone wanting to launch a website, it would be to find a niche and one that not too many other companies are doing.  It is far easier to work your website up the Google rankings on a specialist subject, than a more general site.  For example, the competition for ‘Maternity Jeans’ is far less than for ‘Maternity Wear’ or ‘Maternity Clothes’.

We’re crossing our fingers that JMJ continues to grow at such a fast pace.  My husband is from the US so we are already doing our research on launching there next year.

Find us at www.JustMaternityJeans.com

Tell us about your family: Married with son aged 3 and daughter aged 9 months

What did you do before coming up with your business idea and how was it making the transition? I worked in Sales and Account Management roles in ground transport so this was something completely different! Making the transition was incredibly liberating and exciting as I knew I’d found the right career and was going to change my life for the better.

When did you launch? January 2011

How did you get started? Throughout 2010 I worked from home, making use of every available opportunity in the evenings and at weekends while I was still in employment, and worked whilst on maternity leave. When my daughter was born I took 2 months to myself and then started work again balancing a laptop on my knee in a toy-filled sitting room, in between caring for my new baby. (Luckily for me she was, and is, a very easy baby.)
I used the time to set up my website, carry out market research and really develop what I wanted Dress With Confidence to achieve. I also offered my styling services throughout last year free of charge to friends and acquaintances to gain as much practical experience as possible.

What’s your favourite thing about running your own business?
I love fashion, of course, but believe that good style advice lasts a lifetime. My focus is on helping women look good, feel confident and know what suits them so they look and feel great every day. It’s very rewarding to see the positive change in people once they see themselves as they wish to look and can make a huge difference to their confidence, in all areas of their lives.

What’s the thing you least enjoy about running your own business? Oh that’s a no brainer – admin! Keeping my accounts under control, although I now have a great new accountant to help me with that.

What has worked well about your business? Using www.third-door.co.uk as a work space provides me with sociability and the feeling of ‘going to work’. I’ve got to know a bunch of the Third Door regulars and although they all work in different businesses, we chat, share advice and generally have some of that office banter that you miss when you work at home. I’m able to be totally focused whilst working there and it’s great to be free of the kinds of distractions that I have at home. I’m definitely more productive in that environment.

What’s been your biggest business mistake? How did you deal with it? Thinking I could do things ‘on the cheap’. More specifically my first website which I did on a shoe string and was a disaster. I now have a website I’m proud of and it makes a huge difference when networking. I now feel confident directing people to it.

How do you fit in work with the family? Third Door provides me with brilliant, flexible childcare. I put my daughter in the Ofsted nursery downstairs and go upstairs to the hot-desking space where I can get on with admin, nip out to see clients, pop back in to say hi to my daughter, tackle a few emails, before heading out to see more clients. It gives me complete flexibility. And best of all, I can pick and choose my days each week depending on my workload.

Is your partner supportive of your business? Yes, 100%

Are you working towards a financial goal for your business? Yes, but it changes all the time. My first financial goal was unrealistic as I’d underestimated the set up costs and the fact that if you want to do things properly and be professional then you have to spend money.

Would you ever give up your business to do something else? No, I can’t imagine having this same passion for any other career.

Do you have an exit strategy? No as I can’t imagine wanting to do anything else. Perhaps my daughter will take over the business?

Have you had your ‘I’ve made it’ moment? Tell us about it. If not when do you think it will come. Not yet although I’ve had a few mini “I’ve made it” moments when I get calls from people I don’t know out of the blue who want to hire me – I get a huge buzz out of that. I think my big moment will come in about 2 years time when I can start drawing a salary which matches what I used to earn.

Where do you hope to be in five years time? I’m really interested in NLP and plan to study this seriously within the next 5 years. I’d love to be able to offer confidence coaching as a consultative service alongside personal styling.

Your website link.: www.dresswithconfidence.com

If you can offer a discount or special promotion for Family Friendly Working readers, please write it here: To celebrate my new website I am offering a 20% discount on all personal styling services until the end of June. I am also running a competition to win a complete makeover worth £1500. The make-over includes everything from personal training to confidence coaching, detox to body shape analysis. The aim of the make-over, which will take six weeks, is to transform how the winner looks, feels and dresses, providing them with a whole new look.

Your Name and Age:

Tell us about your family: Married with son aged 3 and daughter aged 9 months

What did you do before coming up with your business idea and how was it making the transition? I worked in Sales and Account Management roles in ground transport so this was something completely different! Making the transition was incredibly liberating and exciting as I knew I’d found the right career and was going to change my life for the better.

When did you launch? January 2011

How did you get started? Throughout 2010 I worked from home, making use of every available opportunity in the evenings and at weekends while I was still in employment, and worked whilst on maternity leave. When my daughter was born I took 2 months to myself and then started work again balancing a laptop on my knee in a toy-filled sitting room, in between caring for my new baby.  (Luckily for me she was, and is, a very easy baby.)

I used the time to set up my website, carry out market research and really develop what I wanted Dress With Confidence to achieve. I also offered my styling services throughout last year free of charge to friends and acquaintances to gain as much practical experience as possible.

What’s your favourite thing about running your own business?
I love fashion, of course, but believe that good style advice lasts a lifetime. My focus is on helping women look good, feel confident and know what suits them so they look and feel great every day. It’s very rewarding to see the positive change in people once they see themselves as they wish to look and can make a huge difference to their confidence, in all areas of their lives.

What’s the thing you least enjoy about running your own business? Oh that’s a no brainer – admin! Keeping my accounts under control, although I now have a great new accountant to help me with that.

What has worked well about your business? Using www.third-door.co.uk as a work space provides me with sociability and the feeling of ‘going to work’. I’ve got to know a bunch of the Third Door regulars and although they all work in different businesses, we chat, share advice and generally have some of that office banter that you miss when you work at home. I’m able to be totally focused whilst working there and it’s great to be free of the kinds of distractions that I have at home. I’m definitely more productive in that environment.

What’s been your biggest business mistake?  How did you deal with it? Thinking I could do things ‘on the cheap’. More specifically my first website which I did on a shoe string and was a disaster.  I now have a website I’m proud of and it makes a huge difference when networking. I now feel confident directing people to it.

How do you fit in work with the family? Third Door provides me with brilliant, flexible childcare. I put my daughter in the Ofsted nursery downstairs and go upstairs to the hot-desking space where I can get on with admin, nip out to see clients, pop back in to say hi to my daughter, tackle a few emails, before heading out to see more clients. It gives me complete flexibility.   And best of all, I can pick and choose my days each week depending on my workload.

Is your partner supportive of your business? Yes, 100%

Are you working towards a financial goal for your business? Yes, but it changes all the time. My first financial goal was unrealistic as I’d underestimated the set up costs and the fact that if you want to do things properly and be professional then you have to spend money.

Would you ever give up your business to do somethingelse? No, I can’t imagine having this same passion for any other career.

Do you have an exit strategy? No as I can’t imagine wanting to do anything else.  Perhaps my daughter will take over the business?

Have you had your ‘I’ve made it’ moment?  Tell us about it.  If not when do you think it will come. Not yet although I’ve had a few mini “I’ve made it” moments when I get calls from people I don’t know out of the blue who want to hire me – I get a huge buzz out of that. I think my big moment will come in about 2 years time when I can start drawing a salary which matches what I used to earn.

Where do you hope to be in five years time? I’m really interested in NLP and plan to study this seriously within the next 5 years. I’d love to be able to offer confidence coaching as a consultative service alongside personal styling.

Your website link.: www.dresswithconfidence.com

If you can offer a discount or special promotion for Family Friendly Working readers, please write it here: To celebrate my new website I am offering a 20% discount on all personal styling services until the end of June. I am also running a competition to win a complete makeover worth £1500. The make-over includes everything from personal training to confidence coaching, detox to body shape analysis. The aim of the make-over, which will take six weeks, is to transform how the winner looks, feels and dresses, providing them with a whole new look.

Wildly optimistic, I was looking forward to finally having manageable curls that were frizz free and even better would apparently submit to the power of these high performance products. It would make a nice change from trying to shape my hair like a hedge.

The hair mask is an extreme repair for curly hair and you use it like a super dooper conditioner after shampooing. This is my favourite of the three products as it works best. That’s if you can get past the smell and the colour of the packaging. I am a girl who prefers to use products that are less pink and smell of something you might find in the natural world not a factory.

Using the serum was overall a frustrating experience, it looked promising, and even has a clever dispenser which gives a small squirt at a time, probably a good thing, but once on your skin it takes forever to wash the slippery stuff off and quite honestly my hair felt really lovely and soft to touch but still looked frizzy once it had been applied even generously. Hmm my optimism was now waning.

The hair spray – This was doomed from the start as I got it in my mouth, ugh! Although I admit it does hold your hair – I just don’t want my hair set in concrete.

To sum up I would try the hair mask again but not the serum or hairspray. You have to find a product that suits your hair and the way you manage it on a daily basis, for me it wasn’t a new hair make over but I’ll keep trying and I enjoyed giving it a go.

Reviewed by Felicity Truscott