It never ceases to amaze me where business ideas come from. Anna Gibson became a stay-at-home Mum after a career in the city as a solicitor. When her second son was born, she tried to find a matching micro-scooter for him as her first son had enjoyed his scooter so much. The shop was out of stock, so she called the distributor direct and told them she could sell heaps of them. And he suggested she did just that.
According to a recent article in the Times, Anna now sells 120,000 scooters a year and is expected to turnover £4.3m this year.
One day in 2004, Anna was unable to contact her local distributor, so she called the Swiss head office direct. They told her they were looking for a new UK distributor, so she partnered with another Mum - and the deal was done, providing they sold 8000 units in their first year.
As Mums themselves, they knew the market - which is critical. They knew where they would go to buy such items, and they approached those retailers. And, as a result of that knowledge and their network of Mum's who were happy with the product, they sold 30,000 units in two years; far exceeding the targets set by the manufacturer.
It's a great success story - and the pair did all of this whilst juggling kids (six in total I think). Their knowledge and passion were the key - as they are to many great businesses.
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