inside FEATURES


gets its teeth into global business


I


t was on maternity leave that Jodine had a light bulb moment and joined the ranks of the ‘parentpreneur’ with the launch of Gummee Glove. The idea for Gummee Glove first came about when


Jodine noticed that Jimmy, her ten-week-old first born was gnawing at his hands. Jimmy had started teething very early but his motor skills were not developed enough to hold onto a teething toy. By chance, while changing his nappy, Jodine saw


Jimmy happily nibbling on a sock that was covering his hand to stop him scratching his face. Jodine searched online for a teething


mitten to buy but no such product existed. However, she uncovered hundreds of other parents asking for advice and recommendations for teething mittens on parenting forums. This was Jodine’s opportunity! She realised she had her business idea and after commissioning an intellectual property search, decided to make the world’s first teething mitten. Jodine didn’t have any funds to invest so


Gummee


Jodine Boothby (pictured) always knew she had an entrepreneurial streak. Over the years she had embarked on many small business ventures but the reality of needing to pay the bills had kept her confined most of her working life to a job on a factory floor making the traditional Cornish pasties of her home county.


of parents and grandparents trying to buy the product. This gave her the confidence to move forward with her plans and give the factory the green light to start work on the first order.


Cutting Teeth In May 2012, while pregnant with her


‘Through DIT we attended


many international baby shows that gave us exposure’


she sold her jewellery, borrowed from friends and mocked up the original designs and drawings herself. After getting in touch with an innovation company and being advised that it would cost £50,000 to get the product to launch stage, Jodine took matters into her own hands and after 12 solid hours of internet research one night found a respected Chinese manufacturer willing to make samples for £130. Jodine’s experience of working in a factory proved


invaluable. It meant she knew all the right questions to ask, understood the process and also how to get the best out of her supplier. To test the market, Jodine took her prototype to a local baby show and was overwhelmed by the number


22 insight JULY/AUGUST 2017


second child, Jodine held her official launch at a national trade show in Birmingham. It went well and Jodine continued to attend national baby shows throughout the next year driving awareness of her product, receiving direct orders and securing wholesale interest nationally and


internationally. Recognising the


importance of marketing and public relations, Jodine taught herself the basics from books and


invested a lot of time in social media, building industry contacts and securing mutually beneficial partnerships. By 2013, Jodine had started to think more


about international expansion and it was while she was researching which global baby shows to attend that she discovered the Department for International Trade (DIT) website and the support they offered to businesses of all sizes.


Remedy for Success With funding support from DIT, Gummee Glove attended the world’s largest international baby product trade show in Las Vegas.


MADE IN THE SOUTH WEST


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36