75 / 116
SEPTEMBER 2018
/
Flight Time
/
75
Business Focus
One of the objectives in setting up
Couplepreneurs is to do just that. But why
are we witnessing the interest and growth
in couples creating a Life Brand together?
Let’s explore this a little more.
DESIGNING A LIFE THEY WANT AND
THE ROUTES TO EMBARKING ON THEIR
JOURNEY
We talk about the mobile economy
and being able to work where we want,
but couples that are embarking on the
journey of running a business together
are really thinking about designing the
life they want. This is also happening in a
myriad of ways. Some have fallen in to it
through an interest or passion that they
have wanted to turn into a business, while
others have had an idea and researched
it further to find there is indeed demand.
You only need to look at Tots to Travel
and how Wendy and Rob Shand (pictured
above) captured a marketplace. The
business is a niche travel company
specialising in holidays for families with
children under five. Wendy tells me how
the idea was born.
“The business started when we were
looking to go away on holiday to a villa
having had several holidays in hotels
with our tiny tots that hadn’t worked.
We ended up booking a property that
looked nice and then you start to wonder
how you get out there with all the kit and
paraphernalia that follows with a family
with small children.
“My parents very kindly offered to drive
out to France with it all. But once there,
it wasn’t what we needed and we then
had a horrendous experience when our
two-year old son fell into an unenclosed
swimming pool. We were very, very lucky
we realised he was there and were able to
pull him out.”
Wendy felt they had identified a
large market with nothing on the supply
side that catered for families’ needs.
But she also wondered, “Have I hit upon
something that’s a genuinely good idea
Two’s company
PATR I C I A BACON , BUS I NESS CONSULTANT
AND FOUNDER OF COUPLEPRENEURS ,
A NEW GLOBAL NETWORK FOR COUPLES
RUNN I NG BUS I NESSES TOGETHER , LOOKS
AT TH I S GROWI NG PHENOMENON
COUPLEPRENEURS – COUPLES WHO LIVE
together and run a business together – are
everywhere. It’s an economic segment
that is under-recognised and under-
represented. I intend changing that. You
only need to think of Go Ape, Eventbrite
and Micro Scooters – all run by couples
– to know that this isn’t new, but it’s a
movement that we are set to see more of.
This is very evident as I interview
more couples that live together and
run a business together in the UK and
increasingly around the world. Some are
just starting out, others are scaling and
running established businesses and many
are planning an exit strategy with some
already having exited.
With over a million couplepreneurs in
the UK alone, it’s time to start to really talk
about this growing phenomenon and
support that growth.