As mothers, we are always being told we can ‘have it all’ – a fabulous family life, a thriving career, and of course that ever-elusive ‘me-time’. But when you’re spending the majority of your waking life in a haze of sleep deprivation, dressed mainly in yesterday’s milk-stained clothes, just how do you find the time or the energy to develop your own business??

Helen Wooldridge and Polly Marsh managed to do just that when in 2006 they launched Cuddledry, the unique baby apron towel that they took to the Dragons’ Den and have since turned into a thriving business.

The inspiration for the Cuddledry came one evening over a glass of wine, when Helen and Polly, old university friends, were watching their husbands struggle to bath their babies. “We watched them both juggling slippery babies in one hand,” explains Polly, “and tiny baby towels in the other, and felt there really should be a better solution.”

Helen and Polly are thrilled that they have managed to take what is a very simple idea and turn it into a sound business, with no previous experience whatsoever. "We find it funny when people refer to us as 'inventors',” laughs Helen, “we didn't use a professional designer when we were researching the Cuddledry idea. We sat on my lounge floor cutting up old sheets and testing out designs with teddy bears as 'babies'!"
They are proud of the fact that it doesn't take a rocket scientist to come up with a good idea, and they are constantly advising and encouraging other women to go for it with business ideas, however simple.

Before their eureka moment, their lives were very different. Polly used to be in the army and worked as a bomb disposal expert, while Helen worked in International Aid and spent time in relief camps in Afghanistan, before taking on a demanding marketing management role. Looking back a few years, both women say they would have laughed if someone had said they would be running a fast-growing business selling baby towels - but what they are doing really is an inspiration for parents who want to get an idea going or to work flexibly around family.

Helen and Polly knew that they wanted to work for themselves, and having children was the catalyst to change their lives and set up their own business. With six young children between them though, it was never going to be easy. “The biggest challenge we faced in order to get the business started was working out how we were going to give the company the commitment and time it needed to succeed, but without our children having to go into full time childcare,” explains Helen. “Opportunities do not always come along at the best time in one’s life. Such was the case with Cuddledry, but as well as being an obstacle, our children are also our inspiration to succeed. Realising this was only going to work around them, we made a plan for the two of us to start the company and to work together as one, allowing us to share the tasks at hand whilst having time to be good parents.”

A well considered business plan set out clear targets and a timescale for each step, ensuring that they achieved their goals. They selectively outsourced everything they had little or no expertise in, allowing them to focus on the things they were good at. “We were realistic about our own strengths,” says Polly, “and divided the roles and responsibilities between us accordingly. We have a unique business plan in that we actively seek to employ home based personnel. We have discovered that like us, there are many parents who are no longer able or wish to work full time in high powered roles due to family commitments. Many of these people have given up very senior roles and are highly qualified, intelligent people, but are unable to find a part time or flexible job to suit their abilities. They need a role to be flexible and usually home based, in order to continue their careers at the same level. Many part time or flexible roles on offer are at a much reduced level of seniority or responsibility. We do not believe this has to be the case and offer flexible part time roles where each person is absolutely the head of their own department within an expanding successful company.”  

In doing this, Helen and Polly have challenged the assumption that a ‘lifestyle’ or home business cannot be a highly profitable business and attractive investment or acquisition. Since their launch in October 2006, they have grown into a team of ten full and part time staff, plus additional people who work on a consultancy basis, one being in Hong Kong, which they feel is the ultimate triumph in home-working – it doesn’t just mean homes in the UK, they can be anywhere! With such a forward-thinking attitude as this it is hardly surprising that Cuddledry won the prestigious award for Remote Employer of the Year in 2009.

They have also used the business - which now sells a whole range of towels and other products for babies and tots - to raise money for the Child Accident Prevention Trust and or BLISS, the premature baby charity.

Helen and Polly are honest about the highs and lows of starting up in business and dealing with it around family life as it grows. "We've made lots of mistakes," admits Polly, "but we've also received invaluable advice from others who know much more than us, and we're very happy to share our experiences and help if we can."

Over the last four years they have managed to simultaneously grow a successful business, whilst raising a young family, and helped enable the rest of the Cuddledry team to do the same. It may have been a steep learning curve, but Helen and Polly's story is an inspiring one of friendship, family and turning a mad idea into a serious business.