My Start-Up Story: Wanting a Better Work-Life Balance Led to Starting My Business

by | Oct 13, 2022 | Start-Up Stories | 0 comments

My Start-Up Story Wanting a Better Work-Life Balance Led to Starting My Business - By Becky Preece
I like to juggle. A lot. I feel most alive when I’ve got lots of plates spinning, ideas whizzing around in my head, and list upon list of things to do – from ‘life admin’ to things to organise for our house renovation to business to-dos and ideas.

I always wanted to run my own business, but it took a significant life event to force me to take the leap

In 2017 I seemingly had it all. The London flat to renovate, a job I loved at a city law firm, newly married and expecting a baby girl. All of that changed when our daughter was born with a severe genetic condition. Our lives became about surviving – both for her and for us.

After 4 long months in NICU she came home. I had become a nurse-mum overnight and thought about lots of business ideas as an escape from the reality of looking after a medically complex baby.

After 9 months at home (peppered with hospital stays in between), she died suddenly, taking away life as we knew it.

In 2017 I seemingly had it all. The London flat to renovate, a job I loved at a city law firm, newly married and expecting a baby girl. All of that changed when our daughter was born with a severe genetic condition. Our lives became about surviving – both for her and for us.

After 4 long months in NICU she came home. I had become a nurse-mum overnight and thought about lots of business ideas as an escape from the reality of looking after a medically complex baby.

After 9 months at home (peppered with hospital stays in between), she died suddenly, taking away life as we knew it.

In the aftermath of tragedy, people often do extreme things and consider making
significant life changes. I realised a few things, but they all came down to the fact that life is short (very short in some cases) and we really do have to make the best of it.
Having been catapulted into a life I could never have imagined, I felt both broken and unbelievably strong at the same time. I felt comforted by returning to the same home, the same job and the same people, but I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone, and I yearned for change.
When Eliza’s twin siblings were born 15 months later, I wanted to work towards a better work-life balance. That was what gave me the push to finally launch the two small businesses I’d been planning for 3 years.
As many parents of baby twins will tell you, the early days are a cycle of eat-sleep-change repeat. 

Most of the ‘Eliza & Ted’ set up was done in the middle of the night whilst feeding a twin or two

From setting up the website, to researching and emailing potential suppliers, to putting together costings, setting up a business bank account.
I was determined that Eliza & ted would be different to other gift box businesses, and was designed to cater to people like me, who would sit on the train to work each morning and suddenly remember a friend or family member’s birthday, madly looking for a small business that had a quick turnaround time.
I wanted to sell high-quality products from other small mum-run businesses, not mass-produced stuff imported from abroad.

The first couple of years were tough – from all-nighters packing Christmas orders with
breaks in between to feed the twins, to the huge January dip in sales and frustration of
not feeling connected to my target audience.

Our focus for the future involves getting our gift boxes to corporates – from new starter gifts, to team Christmas gifts, to ‘well done you got the job’ gifts, to ‘happy new home’ gifts.

We also continue to refine our ranges for teachers and gifts for special occasions throughout the year.

Becky Preece

Becky Preece has 2 year old twins and an 8 week old baby. From her home in Kent she runs gift box business ‘Eliza & Ted‘, selling fabulous gifts from UK small businesses, along with ‘Eliza & Ted Baby’, the home of bright coloured, super soft organic baby muslins and swaddles. A percentage of profits are donated to the neonatal unit at St Thomas’ Hospital, in memory of Becky’s eldest daughter, Eliza.

You can check out her websites here:

Eliza and Ted and Eliza and Ted Baby

 

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