Duygu Sefa is an entrepreneur, working mum and the founder of Babonbo, a marketplace that aims to make travelling with young children easier by offering high-quality rental items such as strollers, car seats, and cribs through local parents and businesses. It ensures that families can travel light without sacrificing comfort or safety for their children. Since Babonbo addresses a significant pain point for traveling families, it has been growing rapidly across Europe, positioning Duygu as a notable figure in the European startup scene.
Here, she shares some of the biggest challenges she faced while turning her idea into a successful business, all while being a full-time worker and a mum of two. She also offers tips for mums on how to overcome these challenges.
From Idea to Success: 10 Tips for Mums Balancing Kids, Entrepreneurship and a Full-Time Job
In 2016, I was the Country Head of Turkey at a multinational company where I had worked for six years. I decided to move from Istanbul to Milan to join my partner and start a family. In 2018, after returning from my first daughter’s maternity leave, I felt disconnected from work because my roles were downgraded. This was something I hadn’t expected after years of hard work and dedication to my job and the company. The resulting frustration and loss of motivation led to depression, which made me turn inward and ask myself many questions like: What do I want to do with the rest of my life while raising my child? What are my passions that I can relate to my job so I can enjoy doing it every day? What were the moments at work in the last eight years when I was most motivated and productive?
I realised I always sought out opportunities at work that allowed me to bring new ideas, create and develop things from scratch. Meanwhile, this new experience of being a mum exposed me to many difficulties and challenges that many parents face. I constantly thought about what kind of product or service could help solve these parental problems. I was full of ideas that I shared with my husband. One day, he asked me why I didn’t turn this unpleasant moment at work into an opportunity to spend some time studying my ideas. He encouraged me to focus on just one of the ideas and try to turn it into a business. Quitting my job right at the beginning of this journey wasn’t an option—I didn’t want to risk a financial crisis with a mortgage and daycare, to pay for an idea that I wasn’t even sure would work.
Figuring out my Work-Life balance
I worked on my idea, turned it into a startup company and got my first customers—all without quitting my job for about two years. Now, you’re probably wondering how it’s possible to build a new business while having a full-time job and a baby—actually two babies by the beginning of 2020. It’s possible, but I won’t say it’s easy! First of all, it requires a lot of sacrifices from your personal and family time. It takes dedication, resilience, and perseverance, in addition to supportive people around you. It’s a long and difficult road, but it’s so rewarding when your business starts to gain its first customers.
Here’s a list of what helped me during this time…
10 tips for mums considering starting their own businesses while working and raising a child.
1. A supportive partner is a must-have! My husband shared the duties of housework and childcare, from cooking to housework. He was very understanding and cooperative when I needed time alone on weekends or evenings while our baby was sleeping so I could work on my idea or attend pitching events, meet-ups, etc. I couldn’t have done this without his support.
2. Daycare with extended hours during the week helped me create some time for my project after work. I gave my full attention and time to my baby from the moment I picked her up from daycare, making the most of those few hours until bedtime. And I continued working many nights while everyone was asleep.
3. Going to work as early as possible while the office was still empty helped me finish tasks more quickly, allowing me to leave work earlier than usual.
4. I used all my social rights as a mum to take time off from my full-time job: I took extended maternity leave with reduced pay, and I worked shorter daily hours for breastfeeding until my child’s 12th month. I only did what my manager asked to keep earning a living. It was a sharp change in my approach to work, but it wasn’t my fault if my managers didn’t foresee losing one of their most motivated and loyal employees.
5. Not knowing how to turn my business idea into a startup, I made a small investment and enrolled in a 3-month Idea Stage Accelerator Programme that I attended after work. These programmes help you lay the foundation for the rest of your entrepreneurial journey. I learned how to validate a tech idea, identify the real customer problems my idea could potentially solve and understand how to find and speak to my target customer. After three months, I graduated from the programme and incorporated my company in the UK, even though neither I nor the product was ready to launch. I kept my company dormant until the product was market-ready, but knowing I had a company pushed me to move things forward. It was a good trick that worked for me.
6. I participated in the Mommypreneurs programme, organised by Politecnico di Milano, which aimed to strengthen the skills of inactive women, those on maternity leave, or those caring for children, by equipping them with digital and entrepreneurship skills. This programme helped me network with women who had similar struggles and gave me the opportunity to work with some of them, strengthening my local network in the startup ecosystem of Milan. I won the final competition that all the women with ideas participated in, and I got the opportunity to join a Startup Accelerator programme. These programmes helped me make new connections that widened the circle of people who could potentially help me along the way.
7. I completely revamped my LinkedIn network, unfollowing my previous connections in the automotive industry and following founders, investors, successful women entrepreneurs etc, in the startup ecosystem to learn new things and stay up-to-date with daily feeds.
8. I asked for help from everyone I could, from friends to family. My biggest supporters in the early stages, until I secured my first investment, were my family. My first website was developed by my husband’s cousin and the first providers on the website were onboarded by my aunt. Mums know very well that having toddlers in daycare often means they’re sick at home frequently. During those times when I couldn’t work, the business continued to grow. It was slow, but that was okay.
9. Start small, even if you have a big idea with global potential. This means validating your idea in your local community while spending the minimum amount of personal savings until you find your first customers, demonstrate that your idea solves a real problem, and attract your first investor. I started Babonbo in Milan. I became the first provider on my website by purchasing a few baby items in addition to the ones I used for my kids. I talked about it on Facebook parent groups and asked my friends to share it in WhatsApp mums’ groups. I did my own little PR campaign and showed other parents that they could earn extra income just like I did. This helped onboard other parents around Italy, who began renting out their items and earning money. But the key point is that you shouldn’t be scared to start without significant personal savings to invest if you want to create an online business. There are always hacks to spend less and grow big.
10. Last but not least, find co-workers who can become potential co-founders once you’re sure you can trust them. They should have the skills you lack that can help build and grow the company. For instance, if you want to build a digital business and lack the skills to develop technology, look for people with those skill sets. Don’t rush to call them your co-founder. Instead, propose paying them with equity equal to the value of their work. This will give you enough time to get to know each other before agreeing to become co-founders.
I know all this might sound easier said than done. I’ve been through it all. It’s not easy to find a healthy balance for everyone in the family while raising kids, dedicating time to yourself, your partner, and your business. That’s why it’s important to accept that you’ll have a “mum pace” for doing everything. This, of course, means taking longer to develop things, and that’s fine. Today, having raised a substantial investment that allowed me to build a team I can rely on, I have a better balance in my life while growing my company. But before this, shifting my mindset from “I have to be perfect in everything I do” to “I do my best to be the best mum, wife and CEO I can be” also helped me stay mentally and physically healthy during difficult times.
In conclusion, starting your own business is tough, but when you’re truly passionate about what you’re doing, you end up enjoying every second of it. Every day my team and I make a huge positive impact on hundreds of families lives by creating side income opportunities, especially for mums, while helping families travel safely, lightly, and comfortably with their babies. Even with the daily challenges of running a startup, working on something so meaningful keeps my spirits up—even after work, when I’m dealing with the usual parenting challenges.
About Babonbo:
Babonbo is an innovative baby gear rental company designed to simplify travelling for families with young children by offering high-quality rental items such as strollers, car seats, travel cots, high chairs, and more.
Through a peer-to-peer marketplace, Babonbo connects families in need of baby equipment with local parents and businesses who rent out their items. This community-driven approach allows Babonbo to provide a wide range of baby gear while promoting sustainability by encouraging the reuse of existing items.
Operating across Europe and at several top destinations in other continents, Babonbo ensures that families can travel light, avoiding the hassle of carrying bulky gear, without compromising on the comfort and safety of their little ones. To discover more visit Babonbo.
If you want to join 500+ parents that rent out baby equipment, contact info@babonbo.com or create your own provider account.
This article was written for our September 2024 Newsletter. Sign up here and receive our monthly updates, stories and resources from fellow families who have built a life abroad, straight to your inbox.
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