Bernard Walsh - Hot Irishman
This company has gone from being about 40pc to 90pc export-based in five years.
ENTREPRENEURS
Liza Crotty
ClapHandies
Liza Crotty, founder of ClapHandies, a company that provides a range of courses to parents, warns against having unrealistic expectations when you are starting your own business from home.
“You need to have realistic expectations of both the financial implications and demands on your time. In the early years I worked around the clock to get the business off the ground and you lose the security of your monthly income,” she says.
Crotty set up ClapHandies in 2007, and said she approached the business from the “outside in”.
“I looked at what I wanted to get out of the business. I needed a job that would be flexible and a good fit for the new me, a mum. While I was exploring the world of motherhood, I noticed there was little on offer in the way of activities and support for new parents.”
After four months of workshops with over 40 families, she launched ClapHandies PlayLabs, running baby and toddler play classes in Sandymount. Today, the firm runs 20 PlayLab classes a week across Dublin, as well as baby massage courses, pregnancy yoga and paediatric first-aid courses nationwide.
Work-life balance
Crotty says she’s achieved a good work-life balance, of perhaps a different kind.
“Working from home can be hard as you have two conflicting roles to play: the attentive mum with lots of time to do jigsaws and trips to the park and the managing director of a real, live business that needs constant attention and passion for it to succeed.”
Read about other mumtrepreneurs Martina Delaney of Handybaby.com, Joanne O'Sullvan of Buy4baby.ie and Darina Loakman of Iamawahm.com.
