Running a business and being a parent are, in some ways, quite similar. Both are demanding responsibilities that require you to be organised and make decisions on behalf of others – although hopefully one of them involves less crying and tantrums than the other.
Doing both at the same time, however, can be tricky. Juggling the demands of being an entrepreneur and a parent requires teamwork and balance. Existing business owners might question if they have the time, energy or money to become a parent. Likewise, new parents might not think they have the capacity to start or buy their own business.
But it definitely can be done, and in this article BusinessesForSale.com speaks to some people who made it happen. They found ways to balance the demands of their children, their employees and their bottom line, all at the same time.
Starting the Party
Kerry Craddock set up Party Bag World in 2011 alongside her husband. The couple were looking to start a business which they could share equally, and would fit flexibly around their young children. In the end it was their children who provided the spark of inspiration.
“We knew what sorts of things kids love to get from a party bag, because our kids would come home from friends’ parties and be excited to show off what they’d got,” says Kerry. “But having bought some myself, they would drive me nuts - you have to buy 20 of everything when you’ve only got 16 kids coming.”
The idea behind Party Bag World was to pre-fill the bags with exactly what the parents wanted, and only provide high-quality items like toys, sweets and games. It proved a successful one, and the business grew at a rapid rate.
"Party Bag World is a great example of a flexible e-commerce business that can be run alongside typical parenting duties"
Party Bag World started out operating from the Craddock garage but, says Kerry: “once we started selling on Amazon and eBay, it really blew up. We had to rent a small warehouse nearby after the first year, and then one year after that we had to move to a bigger warehouse and hire staff to help us pack.”
The business benefited from free word-of-mouth marketing as more and more children took the party bags home to their own parents, who would then become customers. “People found us,” says Kerry. “It was quite surreal. One day we got a phone call from McDonalds, after one of the kids must have had a birthday party there, and they’d seen the bags. They put in an order for thousands.” Kerry and her husband seized the opportunity to expand the business, branching out to provide party bags to hen-dos as well as themed events at hotels and other venues.
Selling the Business
Party Bag World is a great example of a flexible e-commerce business that can be run alongside typical parenting duties. E-commerce businesses are less tied to physical location, don’t necessarily require regular working hours to manage shipping and packing, and are also highly scalable – both as they grow and as they shrink.
“At its peak, Party Bag World was turning over about £200,000,” says Kerry. “But after eight years of running it, and once our kids had gotten a bit older, we decided to downsize and slowly wind up the business. We never thought about selling, until our accountant said we should consider it – that’s how we found BusinessesForSale.com.”
Kerry created a listing and put Party Bag World up for sale in 2019. “Within a few days we had 30 enquiries,” she says. “A handful of those turned into phone calls, and one of those calls turned into a sale. The buyer wanted something they could run from home, and they could see the growth potential. It couldn’t have been a more perfect sell, really.”
There were more benefits to selling the business as opposed to closing it, besides the obvious financial return. “We were pleased to sell the business to a family that also had young children,” says Kerry. “We had the flexibility around our kids when we were running it, and it was nice knowing that Party Bag World could provide that option to a new family.”
So what advice would Kerry give to any parents who were thinking about becoming entrepreneurs, or vice versa? “Be really adaptable and open to changes. We never thought we’d go down the wholesale route, but when the opportunity came we took it. You just have to have faith in yourself and make it happen. Also – listen to your accountant!”
Counting the Beans
Gareth Palmer is the Founder of Vanilla Bean, a catering and events company based in South West London. The company was set up after Gareth returned to the UK from a ten-year period working as a chef on the F1 circuit, cooking for the drivers and teams at tracks around the world. Looking for a bit more stability as he planned to start a family, Gareth founded Vanilla Bean in 2008.
“I started out working from my kitchen, with a shed in the back garden that was my office. We were doing small events and dinner parties for ten people or so,” says Gareth. “The demand for good quality cuisine was there, and as more and more business came in we eventually moved to a new premises and a new kitchen.”
Eight years on from its foundation, Vanilla Bean shifted from being purely a catering company to a company that hosts creative events which put food at the forefront. “We’re a food-centric business,” says Gareth. “People are emotionally attached to the food, and then we’ll bring in the marquees, DJs, bands, lighting - everything around that.”
The shift to a business that ran events, rather than just catering for them, brought with it a shift to more uneven working hours. “Our clients don’t have Monday lunchtime events, unfortunately,” says Gareth. So how did he and his partner juggle this with the demands of parenthood? “It’s a lot of communication, working as a team. We plan our week ahead together on Sunday, which is our day off from work. There’s school drop offs and other things to figure out – you need a very supportive partner, which I do have.”
"If you have a growth mindset, no matter what energy you put into a business, it will want to take more."
Gareth says the key is to try and find balance, without putting your own wellbeing to the side: “Running a business is demanding, it’s relentless. If you have a growth mindset, no matter what energy you put into a business, it will want to take more. Sometimes you have to put your own physical and mental health first. In the end, that will pay dividends.”
So what is Gareth’s ideal day off? “Cycling with friends, and family time. My downtime is family time – it reminds me why I do what I do, and who it’s for.”