PREGNANCY BABY FAIR: CATHERINE CLEARYmeets two women who decided to set up a business together while stuck in traffic in a car-pool
IF IT WASN’T for a broken car radio, Claire Finnan (30) and Jennifer Shaw (25) might not be facing into the busiest week of their lives next week. The two colleagues were car-pooling to work almost a year ago when Finnan’s car radio fizzled and died. So they started chatting as they drove and what they talked about was going into business together.
An idea was born in the morning pre-Christmas traffic between Swords and St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin, where they both work. They decided to pitch it to the RTÉ TV programme Dragon’s Den. “It was very last minute,” Finnan says. “We went home that night and looked online and the closing date was two days away. We did a podcast. We made a little home video in Jen’s kitchen. If it ever got out, I’d die. We were the first people they rang and we were the only ones who had sent in a little video.”
The women had the idea of a trade show where exhibitors could sell to the thousands of people every year who find themselves pregnant or thinking about pregnancy. The idea was to bring the weird and wonderful world of buggies and breast pumps under one roof for the new inhabitants of planet baby.
“I got married last August and I suppose I had babies on the brain,” Shaw says. “You’re thinking about it a lot and we thought this is probably the market to be in because there was a baby boom.”
Four of the five business dragons on the TV show rowed in behind their idea. The finance and mentoring they received will culminate in a €250,000 show in the RDS next weekend, which they hope up to 14,000 people will attend.
In hindsight, Dragon’s Den was the easy bit, Finnan says. They have never learned so much so quickly, she says. As a former nurse, now working in the communications office of St Vincent’s Hospital, she brought PR experience to the project. Shaw’s job as human resources project manager brought another set of skills.
“When you’re in a recession people can be vulnerable and I’m used to working with people who are feeling vulnerable. Jen worked in higher education with people returning to study. I think it works well in business too, to be gentle with people, and to understand the position that they’re in. With 99 per cent of people we’ve engaged with, it has been personable. Because we are personable people.”
Is it nerve-racking to be responsible for a big budget less than a year after talking in abstract terms? “It’s not because we have the best accountants in the world. It sounds like an awful lot of money, but we know exactly where every penny is going.”
Another big life shift has happened since they appeared on the TV show and risked falling flat on their faces in front of half a million viewers. Shaw is three months pregnant and expecting her first baby in April.
Does she worry about the juggle of fitting motherhood into an already hectic life? “I think it’s going to be more motivation for me to be a success. If I have a child that’s looking up to me, I’m going to be more motivated to do well in business and to be successful because I’ll have responsibilities. Our families did everything they could for us. They juggled and did a fantastic job.”
“We meet a lot of mumpreneurs,” Finnan says, “and it’s very inspiring. Because you want a business and you want a family as well.”
That emphasis on family is what makes the baby business slightly recession-proof, they hope. “Even though we’re in a recession, people are incredibly generous about their children. They won’t say we’re not buying a proper car seat for the child, or their winter clothes,” Finnan says.
On a more practical level, being pregnant has meant Shaw can road-test the attractiveness of what’s available at the show. “I would want to go to this show. I’d want to try things. I’m in that bubble at the moment.”
The Pregnancy Baby Fair is at the RDS, Dublin 4, next Saturday and Sunday. Tickets cost €10, children under 12 free. See www.pregnancyandbabyfair.ie
