Four hard-working mums share their business secrets to earning more while working LESS – all with same thing in common
THERE’S more than ever to celebrate about mums on Mother’s Day tomorrow.
Not only are they the backbone of family life, they are also making a huge contribution to the economy.
An increasing number are setting up businesses and juggling work around their children.
Women in the UK launched more than 150,000 new companies in 2022, twice as many as in 2018.
Here, four female entrepreneurs tell Mel Hunter how their kids even boosted their success . . .
‘My home hair salon brought in £150,000
in the last 12 months’
CALLY BORG is an award-winning hairdresser who now puts her family first – by working from home.
Cally, 38, swapped a busy freelance career doing TV, magazine and celebrity styling for setting up her own salon at home in Reigate, Surrey, and last year turned over £150,000 while working just four days a week.
She was able to spend more time with daughter Eliza, 12, and partner Andy, as well as her stepchildren, Alexa, 17, Luke, 15, and Elise, 13 – and is also now making far more money, after struggling financially when Eliza was little.
She says: “I don’t work evenings, weekends or school holidays and my business is doing better than ever.”
Cally left school at 16 and worked in top salons before becoming a freelance stylist but was flat out, and says: “Only when I had a health scare four years ago did I realised my priorities were wrong.”
She has now created a luxury home salon and can charge accordingly.
She adds: “I have started to forgive myself for the stupid hours I worked when Eliza was little.
“Now I am there for her.”
CALLY’S TIP: Prioritise time for yourself – I get my best ideas when rested. And set boundaries so you spend quality time with your family.
See callyborg.com
‘Ideas for my GoHenry pocket money app came from my kids’
LOUISE HILL was inspired by her children to co-found pocket money app GoHenry – and 12 years later it is now a global business with an annual revenue in 2022 of nearly £40million.
Louise, now 59, and mother to Isabella, 25, and Mackenzie, 23, then chatted to other parents about her idea.
She says: “Children were using money online but without any safety nets.
“A lot of the early ideas for GoHenry came from my children.”
So GoHenry launched in 2012, giving children age six to 18 a pre-paid Visa debit card controlled by parents.
For much of her own kids’ teenage years, Louise, of Lymington, Hants, was building the business.
She says: “I had a big mortgage but was lucky to have a great network around me – friends who helped with the children.
“I had many sleepless nights – being an entrepreneur is not an easy ride.”
GoHenry now has 250 employees, and last year was snapped up by US investment app Acorns.
LOUISE’S TIP: If you believe you can do it, try.
Maybe start it as a side hustle.
See gohenry.com/uk
‘My son and I are a team, he was inspo for my WC invention’
ZOE CHAPMAN invented eco-friendly portable toilet the Whizzer – inspired by her young son.
After Zoe, 39, appeared on TV’s Dragons’ Den a year ago, winning £25,000 of investment from Sara Davies and the same from Steven Bartlett, it was 11-year-old Mayson she phoned while the cameras rolled.
Zoe, from North London, recalls: “He told me, ‘I’m so happy for you’. And I told him, ‘I’m so happy for you – we’re a team’.”
Running her business from her two-bedroom home has not always been easy, especially as she has ADHD, PTSD and bipolar disorder.
‘But Zoe says: “Mayson is used to things being unpredictable.
“Add in running a business and he has to be adaptable.”
Zoe hit on the Whizzer idea while potty-training Mayson, and launched it in 2021.
With different designs for adults too, it now turns over £200,000 a year, and she ploughs all profits back into the business.
She adds: “I’m doing it for Mayson.”’
ZOE’S TIP: No one can be you better than you, so let “you” shine through.
See kiddiwhizz.com
‘Travelling with son made me realise I could do anything’
SALLY TETTERSELL designs retro-inpsired homeware from the comfort of her own home, while caring for nine-year-old son Elliot.
The death of her partner Jaime eight years ago inspired Sally, now 48, to quit her job as an NHS manager and travel the world for six months with Elliot, who was by then three.
She later returned home to North Devon and in 2020 set up Sally Tettersell Designs with just £500.
She says: “Travelling proved I could do anything and, after what I’d been through, it didn’t feel as daunting to take a leap of faith.”
She also has the “safety net” of a part-time job with a clothing company.
Sally says: “As a single mum, the finances fall to me. I’d like to run my business full time, but in the meantime there are bills to pay.”
She works on her venture whenever she can fit it round Elliot and her other 20-hour-a-week job, and has built a turnover of £25,000 a year.
Sally adds: “When I’m working I feel I should be more of a mum, and when I’m being more of a mum I worry I’m neglecting the business. But life is short, I want to show Elliot that you can follow your dreams.”
SALLY’S TIP: Have a strong support network and do something you love. This will get you through tough times.
See sallytetterselldesigns.com