A MUM who was struggling to pay for childcare has revealed how local parents are now desperate to work for her after her side-hustle made £200k in the first year.
Mum-of-four Hayley Hanigan’s business is so successful her husband Tom was able to quit his job and become a stay-at-home dad creating a much better work life balance for the family.
Whilst on maternity leave, in January 2022 Hayley, 37, from Bromley, purchased five buggies and set up a baby equipment loaning business a month before returning to her full-time job.
The idea came to her when she became sick of lugging her kids’ things on holiday.
Hayley Says: “I started Tiny Explorers just before heading back to my full time job with Unilever.
“We loan baby equipment such as tiny travel prams like the Babyzen YoYo, travel cots, car seats, even toy bundles to parents going on holiday in the UK or abroad.
“The idea came from personal experience- I have four young children and I didn’t want to have to take all their things with me when we went on holiday.
“There was too much to carry and it took ages to pack.
“I wanted to rent what I needed for the time we were away and not buy items that would be wasted when we got home.
“I started from scratch – I purchased five babyzen pushchairs to rent out and used my IT experience to build a website and the business grew very quickly from there.
“In our first year we took around 200k, this year month on month we are achieving around four times more than 2022.”
Tiny Explorers now boasts an array of celebrity clients including Lauren Pope, Mollie King and Ashley James.
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“We have clients from all walks of life and quite a few celebrities using us,” Hayley says.
“I don’t usually know a celebrity is using us until they tag us in an online post, which is always lovely.
“I never expected we’d be so successful – it’s wonderful.”
Hayley’s success meant husband Tom could leave the job he hated that allowed for no work life balance.
She says: “My husband had been so unhappy running his marketing and print business I told him to sell it and just enjoy life.
“The financial aim for me was to earn enough to cover our childcare costs and we achieved that in our first month alone.
“Before I set up the business, we never saw Tom.
“He missed the kids’ school events, parents evenings etc. Now he’s studying psychology to become an addiction therapist, looks after the children and we do the kids’ bathtime together.”
Hayley, who is mum to Orlaith, nine, Neave, seven, Henry, four and Max, two, now employs local mums who can work flexible hours.
“I have so many mum friends who had to give up jobs they loved because they couldn’t afford the childcare or get the flexibility they needed,” says Hayley.
“Our office is open 24:7 so they can come literally anytime of the day that suits them and work as many hours as they wish and I also support remote working.
‘My business has an ethos of helping parents, sustainability and flexibility is at the core of everything of we do.
“There is a cost-of living crisis and I love that the business helps families save money.
“Hiring items can be ten times cheaper, you can hire a babyzen for seven days for £40 instead of buying one for around £400.”
Hayley still works full time in IT for Unilever so she employs a team of local mums who are in charge of the day to day running of Tiny Explorers.
“I work on the business in the evenings once the kids are asleep – I do the marketing, respond to urgent emails and look at ways to grow the business,” she adds.
Hayley’s daughter Orlaith, nine, has autism and ADHD so she also hires equipment including specialist buggies to assist parents with disabled children.
The business savvy mum wants to help other mums starting businesses and had this advice for people looking to follow in her footsteps.
“As a parent what do you struggle with, what is missing in the market?” she says.
“Where’s the gap that you can fill? My business idea came about because I thought: I don’t want to buy a babyzen, I want to hire one.
“There is nothing scary about running a business.
“People think that it’s too much effort or they can’t do the accounts but it’s not as hard as you think, especially with so many mums out there supporting each other.
“Just go for it- there’s nothing to lose. And don’t be scared to ask for help – there’s lots of good advice and support out there.”
