How it all began
Wendy Rumble
Saturday 26th September was set to be a brilliant day for purely selfish reasons. I was playing my first game of hockey for ages (as a one off...honest!) then I was dashing to the hairdressers for the treat of cut and highlights. And THEN (there is more? I hear you say) I was off into London to party with old friends for the night AND stay away too! All this with 2 small children (9 month and 3 year old) and the husband weary from his week at work.
My family
Maybe it was the excitement and energy that created the feeling of possibility. This morning was THE morning that I had the idea and started my business, runningbuggies.com.
Hang on. Rewind a bit. I had been a runner on and off during my twenties. I enjoyed running a few marathons, half’s and even had a crazy summer of triathlons. My brother lives in the States and is a pretty awesome runner (& Ironman). He has a BoB and thought nothing of popping out and running 20 miles with the stroller before we had even surfaced. Everyone seemed to have a running buggy over in Arlington.
When I had my first bubba 3 years ago I bought a second hand BoB on Ebay not knowing what other brands were an option. Since then so many people have asked me, “what are the running buggies options on the market and how do I know which is the right for me?” It was that key question that I realised on the 26th September didn’t have an obvious answer in the great world wide web. So I whatsapp’ed a friend who works in digital who told me in a few lines how to buy a domain whilst she breastfed her newborn. And I did it.
Since then I have frequently had doubts about whether the concept is commercially viable, whether I have the time to execute the concept and what all the possible issues might be. But I believe a few things that keep me strong.
· More people are running
· More people are running with their children
· There is no one place which compares running buggy key features from different manufacturers
· No one place to buy running buggies and receive the specialist expertise you need when making a purchase like this.
· There is nowhere to find local running routes suitable for buggies
So even if it means working every night when the kids are in bed and ignoring a dirty, messy house then so be it. Don’t let life get you down, get out and get that fresh air you all need. And you have have an idea, give it a go. If you don't you will never know!
