Interview: Yorkshire mumpreneur on building a successful eBay business

This country is seeing an emerging powerful economic group in the form of British mumpreneurs, as they add billions to the UK economy and support thousands of jobs, new research from online marketplace eBay reveals.

Businesses set up and run by mums as sole-proprietors are garnering lots of success, generating £7.2bn for the UK economy in 2014, and supporting 204,600 jobs last year alone.

These business cover a range of sectors, including health and care services e.g. care homes and medical practices run by mums - contributing £1.4bn to the economy each year, professional, scientific & technical services e.g. legal services, management consultancy, advertising plus jobs that are involved in technical research and R&D, which contribute £1.1bn to the economy each year.

Furthermore, arts, entertainment, recreation e.g. running museums and galleries, cinemas, entertainment venues, bingo halls, generate £900m to the economy, and retail e.g. jobs in bricks and mortar shops, market stalls, online retail, rake in £650m.

The eBay commissioned study, conducted by independent economists Development Economics, also reveals that the value of the mum-economy is increasing each year, and is set to increase even further in the future. The number of jobs supported by mum-run businesses has grown 23% since 2011, and their value to the economy has increased 30% over this period.

After these findings were published, Bdaily wanted to showcase a successful mumpreneur in the Yorkshire region, and therefore we recently spoke with mother of 4 Julia Rockett, who started selling online in 2013 after feeling the burden of high childcare costs.

Julia, who runs Boho Mama Boutique on eBay, found that she wasn’t making enough money to cover the costs of childcare, so she started selling maternity clothes online. Now Julia is successfully operates on eBay around the kids’ schedule.

Julia first told Bdaily that she had been “selling on eBay since 2003 just as a private seller, selling my own things on.” Then she explained, “I had the idea of turning it into a business when I went back to work after having my fourth baby, I realized it just wasn’t viable to hold down a job and have four children! So I decided to take the plunge and start a proper business selling online.”

“With four children, the childcare costs outweigh going to work, so when you are at home selling online, you don’t have those outgoings.”

eBay initially become a source of income for Julia shortly after her pregnancies. “After having each child I would sell on my own maternity clothes, and always be surprised at how much they would go for on eBay. So I had the idea that if I could just buy more secondhand maternity clothes and just keep selling them, I could start a business,” she said. “In 2013 I started buying stock to sell on, rather than selling my own clothes”

Boho Mama Boutique was then born, and “a few months later, Jay (partner) does web designing in his spare time, therefore he created the brand logo,” she added.

Now, Julia’s business sells all kinds of women’s clothes and fashion accessories. So what does she look for to sell online? Julia said: “Anything and everything really, depending on what i can get my hands on. Any ladies fashion with a boho, hippy feel and seasonal items.

Julia doesn’t just use eBay for selling items either, she also buys her stock through the website as well. “I’ve mostly found wholesalers through eBay itself, she explained. “I make contacts with wholesalers and then buy direct. It’s something that happened organically, buying through eBay and making contacts that way.

“So everything is done through Ebay.”

In the latest tax year, Boho Mama Boutique generated £21,250.

By 2025, it is believed that the ‘mum-economy’ will add an extra £2bn and 13,000 jobs to UK plc.