playHOORAY! The online community supporting parents to play with their children

Enterprise Nation member Claire Russell is the entrepreneur behind playHOORAY!, a business and online community that inspires play between parents and their children. She shares her story.

Explain how you secured funding for your business.

I am a self funded business. I began by working on my husbands laptop in the evenings and on his rickety old printer and made my first set of playPROMPTS. They sold so I printed and made more. Every time I received an order I had the funds to buy the paper and ink etc for the next packs!

As I made a little bit of money I bought a second hand laptop and continued to print at home until I was finally able to afford a local printers to print my activity cards for me. Everything I have done has paid for the next step.

How did you come up with your idea?

It was a totally natural process. I had left my profession as an early years specialist when I had my baby. I was sharing the activities I was doing with him on social media and they became popular.

I decided to make a pack of activity cards called playPROMPTS to see if anyone would be interested and they were! I have since gone on to sell over 10,000 with 20 varieties in the range catering for all ages and themes of play as well as launch community groups, a podcast, a free app and hope one day to host events.

What start-up challenges have you faced?

Oooh lots! One of the hardest is learning to do EVERYTHING yourself. Learning through books and blog posts and then having a go. It all takes far longer than you think it will!

I still have so much to learn. I have overcome them with determination, asking for help from others and passion for my work.

What has been your biggest achievement so far?

My biggest achievement is helping others. I know it sounds cheesy but that is the main reason I am here working so hard.

I am here to support and inspire parents and carers to play with their babies and young children at home. I broadcast live every weekday at 10am on Instagram and Facebook. I share super easy activities hat parents can copy at home using items from around the house.

My inbox is overflowing with pictures and messages from parents I've helped and inspired and that is honestly the best thing ever.

What is your next big business goal?

I aim to continue growing my community offering more specialised advice and support. I would love to take on help as I currently do everything myself but would love to do it better!

I want to continue flying the flag for the importance of play and reach a much wider audience. There are still so many parents out there with babies at home wondering what they are going to do with them because let's face it, there are only so many times you can go to the park!

Oh, and I would like playPROMPTS to become a houseful name.

What do you think will be your biggest challenge?

I am starting to scale up but I am the face of my brand and business.

My biggest challenge is delegating as I would love some help to grow but want to make sure I invest in the right people to grow my team! This is also a big deal for me as I will need to find wages etc which will need funding.

How has Enterprise Nation helped your business?

I attended the Festival of Female Entrepreneurs in Bristol and loved it! I am still super keen to work with Bev James, one of the speakers, and have already contacted her.

I also attended an event in London with loads of different talks and two of the speakers, Simon and Laurie, both gave me fantastic advice regarding supporting my community and catering to their needs which has been invaluable.

I have also met so many other small business local in Bristol which has been a massive help. One in particular I meet with for coffee and we share stories and tips. It's so nice to meet someone who 'gets it'

Which other entrepreneurs inspire you and why?

I adore Eleanor Bowmer, I wonderful artist who works her socks off yet shows how you can showcase your talents in a variety of ways.

And Joe Wickes. I know it's a common one but it's so interesting to follow his journey and see how hard work and determination can get you places.

His creative ways of building a community and merchandise is very very clever and inspires me daily. I would love to be the play equivalent to his fitness coaching.

What are your three tips for business success?

Keep going. Yes, you will have bad days but it will pass and it makes the good days feel even better

There's room for everyone. There's only one of you so do it your way!

It's always worth a try; what have you got to lose?! If I hadn't tried my activity cards to see if anyone was interested, this amazing journey and business would never have grown!

Anything else you would like to share?

When I first started I contacted five women on Instagram who I thought were all running successful businesses and they all took the time to reply to me.

One of them shared the quote "what if I fall, oh my darling but what if you fly?" And it has stuck with me ever since. I have it on my office wall and whenever I have a big decision to make or don't know what to do I look at it and think, well let's try because it might just fly!

We're proud to have people like Claire as members of Enterprise Nation. Join Enterprise Nation today and become part of an amazing community of small business owners.