Bernard Walsh - Hot Irishman
This company has gone from being about 40pc to 90pc export-based in five years.
ENTREPRENEURS
Joanne O’Sullivan
Buy4baby.ie
Joanne O’Sullivan found the inspiration for her business, Buy4baby.ie, when she was weaning her second child.
With a background in public relations and working online, O’Sullivan found herself on maternity leave and dreading the thoughts of peeling, boiling, steaming and blending vegetables.
One night when walking with a former colleague, Rebecca Browne, she relayed her dread and the following day, Browne presented her with a Beaba Babycook, which had been given to her by a friend who lived in Paris. O’Sullivan says the gift changed her life.
“The amount of time it saved was incredible, and it was simple and easy to use. I rang Rebecca up and asked her why didn’t every mum In Ireland have one of these, and the idea for Buy4baby.ie was born,” she says.
When the pair set up the website, they decided to look for other products that made parents’ lives easier and were available around the world but not in Ireland.
Launching in a recession
The company was officially launched in July 2009 in the midst of the recession but it’s gone from strength to strength in a short space of time, says O’Sullivan.
“The recession really pushed us to do it. We really believed in the Babycook, and knew anybody who saw it working would want it.
“Advertising prices also came down, and people wanted good news stories and to promote businesses that had launched.”
Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report
O’Sullivan and Browne are perhaps going against the trend in the current environment, if the latest figures from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) are anything to go by.
According to the GEM report for Ireland, the gap between those men and women becoming entrepreneurs has widened again. In 2007, 10.5pc of men were involved in entrepreneurial activity compared to just 5.9pc of women.
Just 5.4pc of all women were established entrepreneurs in 2008, while male entrepreneurs represent 12.7pc of their gender.
Don't be deterred
O’Sullivan says women shouldn’t be deterred from starting their own businesses.
“It was this time last year the brainchild came about and it was blood, sweat and literally tears up until now to get the website running. It was a case of the elves and the shoemaker – all the magic happens at night when the kids are in bed.
“But, the success of this will allow us to dictate our own hours and be at home and care for our children, which is hugely important to us.”
O’Sullivan says prospective mumtrepreneurs should expect to put in the same amount of hours, or possibly more, as when they were working in an office.
Read about other mumtrepreneurs Liza Crotty of ClapHandies, Martina Delaney of HandyBaby.com and Darina Loakman of Iamawahm.com.
