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Back in 2007, Solvej Biddle, 37, gave up her high flying career in the City as one of the UK's leading advertising lawyers to develop her idea of the Cot Canopy, a product she thought of four years earlier when she had her first child.
For many of us, the idea of giving up the security of a well-paid city job to take a step into the unknown would be too daunting to contemplate, but Solvej is now 2 1/2 years into her new career, with one product launched and selling well, another just launched to immediate Award acclaim and two more with patents pending…
The journey has had many up and downs and has been a huge learning curve for Solvej, but now she’s enjoying a new career in manufacturing and retailing, and also finding time to mentor other would be mumpreneurs who want to take the plunge, providing a wealth of first hand help, inspiration and advice.
Like many good products, the Cot Canopy was born out of need. Solvej originally had the idea for it in 2003 when she took her first child, Andrea-Anna, away as a baby. Solvej comments: “Having established a good sleep routine for Andrea-Anna, while away I spent many hours rigging up black out contraptions so my daughter could sleep well in the dark in her travel cot and not wake everyone up at 5am when dawn broke! When James was born two years later the scenario of room-sharing with his sister confirmed to me what was needed. A Cot Canopy would allow me to put James to bed in his own darkened environment, but still read Andrea Anna her story at bedtime without disturbing him.”
After many discussions with parents, carers and nursery owners, in April 2007 Solvej took the plunge, left her job and devoted her time to bringing the concept to market.
The Highs and Lows....
Knowing where to start for Solvej proved the biggest hurdle. “I never managed to find any source that could really guide me through the process of bringing a product to market. Being a lawyer helped in some ways, for example, understanding intellectual property rights in general, but I had no idea at all about retail and manufacturing.”
“The challenges have been many.... sourcing suppliers and manufacturers proved a total minefield at first and trying to finance the venture in this current market has been very hard. However, perseverance and hard work have brought me though and a firm belief that all obstacles can be overcome.”
“One of the greatest lessons I have learned is not to be afraid to ask for advice! This is the most important message I now give to others who ask me how to do this. You need to build a network of people with relevant experience to whom you can go for advice - this is an essential and invaluable resource.”
“I work harder now than I ever have. My family and husband Tim have been totally supportive, especially when I have had to spend time in China visiting the factory or exhibiting at trade shows – but they know the end goal of running a successful business will be worth it for all of us.”
However, the rewards have outweighed all the long hours and hard graft. “There have been many highs on the journey,” says Solvej, ”from seeing the first sample made, to the positive reaction and enthusiasm for the product from retailers, all of the amazing awards which the product has won and receiving the Special Recognition Award from the British Female Inventors & Innovators Network makes it all worthwhile.”
"I have always been a person who sees things through and although there have been some very difficult times in the process of getting the Cot Canopy to market, I believe that if you have a good product, which has a market, you just need to get the two together to make a successful business - a simple mantra with a lot of hard work behind the scenes!”
“I am now taking the Cot Canopy to the worldwide market, launching the ProtectiShade to consumers in the New Year and continuing to develop the other products in the range as well as hopefully inspiring others to take the plunge!”
The product story so far…
The Content&Calm Cot Canopy is a lightweight portable canopy that fits over all standard cots and travel cots to provide the darkness and consistent environment that helps babies and toddlers to sleep well, even when the lights are on, or the sun is streaming through the window.
The Content&Calm ProtectiShade is a unique portable canopy that fits over all standard car seats (from Group 0 to Group 2) that provides shade from the sun from all angles (and also allows a child to sleep on the move.)
Two further products are patent pending and plan to launch next year.
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