Victoria and I had talked about wanting to run our own business for a while, it was Easter 2016 that the idea for Jim Jamz was formed, maybe we were high on sugar from all of the chocolate eggs we'd consumed but before we knew it we had various lists written up. lists with design ideas, lists with branding ideas, lists with the finances (gulp!) lists,lists and more lists!
Jim Jamz is a small British business specialising in unique gifting for children aged 0-5 years, we're proud to design, manufacture and package the original pyjamas in a jar! It took us just over a year from the chocolate fueled lists to being ready to launch the range. We both have children, so the challenge was fitting work around raising our brood! My daughter is the youngest of the gang, I managed to fit work in during her nap times, sometimes this worked and other times not! There were days when I'd have just sat down with a cup of tea, fired up the laptop and then she'd wake up.
I found it best to set myself work tasks to be completed in a week, rather than in a day, as it could become overwhelming thinking that I had to finish my list by the end of that day. I also found I got twice as much done in the daytime and evenings so I called the grandparents in!
Victoria has three children between the age of 3 and 12 years, so she really has her hands full. There are times when I have woken up to an email she had sent in the early hours of the morning! We try to meet up as much as possible, I'm located in London, and Victoria lives in Warwichshire, so its not always possible; Whats's app is our best friend! We also communicate a lot through emails and phone calls.
Working as a duo allows us to pass work back and forth and support one another in times of related crisis's, like a poorly child or having to plan costumes for world book day!
If it does every feel to much, we remind one another of the reason we're doing this is so that we can be flexible with our working hours, we are our own boss so we're lucky enough to be able to take time out to see our children do the egg and spoon race at sports day or watch them in their school play, we really do have the best of both worlds!
www.jimjamzkids.com