Flexible childcare for flexible workers
Having problems with childcare? It’s one of the hazards of life as a working mum. A husband and wife team have been looking to find ways to make childcare more flexible, in keeping with modern working methods.
Shazia Mustafa used to work as a global brand research manager for Nokia, a job that required her to do a lot of travelling. When she was on maternity leave with her first child around two years ago she started thinking about how she would cope with a job with such a lot of travel. She got together with a friend who was thinking along the same lines and they tried to brainstorm business ideas. However, because they had to focus on their daughters’ needs they couldn’t find the time to think. They went for a walk in the park to see if the children would fall asleep. “We said it would be great if we could go somewhere and get some work done for a couple of hours and someone look after the children nearby without us having to commit to long-term childcare,” says Shazia. That was the germ of the idea for Third Door, a place where parents can work from and leave their child in the onsite nursery and pay only for what they use The two researched the idea and came across a similar business in the US which gave them confidence that the idea would work.
Shazia’s husband, who now helps run the business after Shazia's friend dropped out, was studying for an MBA at the time and was looking for a subject for his dissertation. Shazia persuaded him to do research the business idea and write it up as a business plan. “If it had legs, it would be good for all of us,” she said. Meanwhile she returned to work and, because of the recession, she was pleased there was a travel ban on in the company. Her husband finished his MBA and was awarded a distinction in February 2009. In March, a package of redundancies was announced at Shazia’s work and she took voluntary redundancy so she could work on the business. Her husband graduated in May and she left Nokia in June. At that point, she was four months’ pregnant with her second child. “I didn’t tell anyone at work,” she said, “because they would have thought I was leaving because of the baby, when the real reason was the business.”
Sleepless nights
She has been working on the business ever since, only taking around 10 days off when she had the baby. Luckily, the baby was a good sleeper, at least at first. As the business approaches its launch date in May, however, he has started to wake up every hour and Shazia admits she is very tired. She is keen not to delay the business as she thinks now is the right time to launch and says she is lucky to have relatives to help her out with childcare while she sets it up.
She has been working on the business ever since, only taking around 10 days off when she had the baby. Luckily, the baby was a good sleeper, at least at first. As the business approaches its launch date in May, however, he has started to wake up every hour and Shazia admits she is very tired. She is keen not to delay the business as she thinks now is the right time to launch and says she is lucky to have relatives to help her out with childcare while she sets it up.
She is passionate about the idea of providing business and childcare facilities for parents of pre-schoolers, whether they are freelancers, people working from home or people setting up their own businesses and hopes that Third Door will function not just as a work centre, but will also create a sense of community. The first Third Door centre will open in Wandsworth, but Shazia hopes that the idea will catch on and has plans to set up several Third Door sites in the next five years.
The idea is that the centre responds to the growth in flexible working by providing flexible childcare. The childcare is initially being contracted out to a company and parents will have to book their slots in advance. The nearer to the dates they book, for instance, if they can only give 24 or 48 hours notice, the more the childcare will cost as the childcare provider may have to bring in extra workers to keep to the child/carer ratios set by Ofsted.
“It’s a new model. There’s nothing else like it in the UK, according to our research,” says Shazia, adding that she knows a lot of mothers who work part time but end up paying full-time childcare because their hours are not regular. “The idea is that you can use the centre when you need it. It will help people working from home who want to avoid long commutes. The added bonus is they can stop work for lunch with their child and if they want to continue breastfeeding they can work and do that because their child will be right near them. I want to show that you can think big and start your own business and you can work and have time with your children.”
Shazia says she hopes the idea will be attractive to lots of dads who want to work flexibly as well. Her own husband, for instance, works from home.
Marketing
The centre will be launched officially in mid May and will open from 8.30-5.30pm. Shazia has spent the last weeks buying furnishings, hiring administrative staff and doing marketing, including leaflet drops. She has also been to lots of networking events and has got a lot of interest through Third Door’s website.
She says it is hard work, but not as stressful as commuting to and working away from home. “It’s about creating a sense of community. It’s such an interesting time with so many women setting up their own businesses and people being able to work anywhere. It’s the perfect time to set this up.”
She adds: “We will learn from the first Third Door and build on that, but it’s so much fun. I love learning and I am learning as well as applying that learning practically. I am a person who thrives on ideas. In a big company you usually get told ‘that’s a good idea, but…’ Now I can take my own decisions and follow my ideas. It’s hard work, but it’s very fulfilling.”
Competition
Third Door is launching a competition in which someone can win a prize worth £4000 to help them set up their own business or get better work life balance. It includes:
•Free Third Door membership
•30 hours of free workspace/childcare
•A business in a box package (including logo design, business cards and website)
•3 x 1 hour consultancy sessions – choose from marketing, legal, financial, PR, social media, technology, business management or life coaching advice
•A laptop
•A smartphone
To enter, just go to www.third-door.com and click the competition link.
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