I turned £250 into a £10 MILLION yearly turnover thanks to my maternity leave side hustle & now I've quit my HR job
Jess Munday says her company grew so quickly that she didn't need to go back to work after having her first child, and she's now able to take her family of five on lavish holidays thanks to her profits.
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Jess and her husband Jake, both 36, launched their business, Custom Neon, back in May 2018, before it quickly took off.
The company is now a global manufacturer and retailer of custom-designed LED neon lights and signs around the world.
The business idea came to Jess, a former HR professional, during her maternity leave with her first child, Jagger, and was inspired by a personal need.
She says: "My husband and I were decorating our son's nursery and we wanted a neon sign, but we found it really hard to find one.
"We eventually found one, but the process was slow and difficult."
She continued: "At the same time we were planning our wedding and thought we could get some signs for our day, so we put two and two together and started chatting, and one thing led to another."
With an initial investment of just £250, they bought several signs for their wedding, including 'All you need is love,' 'Better together,' a big love heart, and 'Eat, drink, dance.'
Jess says: "We took lots of photos of them at the wedding and just started re-sharing those on Instagram, to promote hiring out and selling the signs to people."
The response was immediate, she says: "I did that when my son was a couple of months old and it went off from there.
"We had lots of people who were really interested in the products and wanted custom signs, and there was a huge demand for it."
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What started as an event hire company quickly grew into something much bigger.
She says: "We didn't even have a website and people were trying to order through our Instagram page. It all happened in the first year of my son's life while I was sitting on the couch."
The business grew rapidly, and Jess had to make a tough decision.
She recalls: "I was due to go back to work in January 2019, and I didn't go back because by that point we had gotten so big that we needed to hire a small team to help us."
Jess and Jake, from Melbourne, Australia, were working 12-hour days, shipping packages from their garage to customers all over the world.
The business has not only survived but thrived, growing to a global operation with 32 staff members across the UK, the US, and Australia.
The company now brings in around £10million every year in sales.
'I work around the kids'
Jess is a mum to three children - Jagger, seven, Indy, five, and Isla, two - and the family has been able to enjoy lavish holidays as a direct result of their hard work.
She said: "We spent years working long hours, but the hard work has paid off, allowing us to enjoy a more flexible lifestyle now.
"I work the equivalent of four days a week, but now I've got more flexibility with start and finish times, so I can work around the kids.
'Holidays have been a priority to us. Now we are able to take those opportunities more and more.
'We would always go on holidays, but back then we would be working on our holidays, but now we can switch off and enjoy our family time together.
'We've taken our kids to Disneyland and Fiji. By the time my son was two, he had been to five different countries.'
Jess is now able to spend more time with her children and prioritise them over working long hours.
She adds: "I'm lucky now that I can be more flexible with my work so I can take time out for the kids.
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"But don't get me wrong, it's difficult to ever switch off. My kids will come to the office with me - they are very much used to that.
"I barely had maternity leave with my last child, but that's because I was more confident in what I was doing.
"The business is a passion of mine, so I want to work hard for it, and I enjoy it as well.
"My day involves school/kindergarten drop off and then I head to work at 9am.
"Followed by meetings most of the day with a little bit of time at my desk.
"Then I go to school pick up sometimes dance soccer or jujitsu for the kids and then back home for dinner.
"After the bedtime routine I tend to open my laptop for another one to two hours of work at night.
"It's a busy schedule and on good weeks it flows well but sometimes it's just a last minute dinner thrown together or leaving the house a mess and I've learned that, that's what comes with the balance of it all.
"When my youngest was 0-6 months she came to the office with me two days a week."
And now, the biggest news for Custom Neon since it started is the launch of a new product range called Custom Illuminated Signage.
"We're branching out to not just offer LED neon, we're offering all different types of LED custom signage," she said.
This new line of products, which includes illuminated signs for storefronts and businesses, aims to provide an affordable e-commerce solution that fills a significant gap in the market.
The new line is set to go live on August 18th.
'I haven't missed out'
Jess is open about the challenges of balancing business ownership with motherhood.
"It is always a juggle... it requires hard, hard work," she admits.
She emphasises the importance of a strong support system, as well as a good relationship.
"I've really prioritised having a couple of days with the kids at home when they're young," she said, even if it means working late into the evening after they're in bed.
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Reflecting on her journey, Jess feels immense pride.
She says: "I genuinely feel like I haven't missed out on anything, like, as a mother."
She is also grateful for the opportunity to leave her corporate background in HR for a role where she can continuously learn and grow in different areas of the business.
Jess says: "It's just so wonderful to be able to learn so much.
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