Mumpreneur - That’s Yummy Mummy - The lifestyle website for mums.

The Haberman® Feeder is a special bottle system for babies that have difficultly feeding. This might be for a wide variety reasons, simply from colic or snuffles through to medical conditions such as cleft palate, heart or neurological problems. In recent years it even acquired a following amongst mums with healthy babies, after the Baby Whisperer recommended it as a tool to support breast feeding. The Anywayup® cup was the world’s first truly non-spill trainer cup – so, if you have young children, this is the technology that has saved your carpets! It has a simple slit valve which controls the flow of liquid out and allows air back into the cup.

What was your inspiration behind the two products?

Having successfully breast fed our twins for 9 months; I was devastated when our youngest child, Emily, was born with feeding problems, due to Stickler’s Syndrome. She couldn’t breast or bottle feed. Eventually, I improvised a method to get milk into her using a dummy and syringe, which allowed her the comfort of suckling and gave me the pleasure of being able to feed my baby without tubes up her nose. When she was two years old, I set to work developing my improvised seed of an idea, into a product to help other families….The Haberman® Feeder. Then when Emily was ten i had the idea for The Anywayup® cup. We were at a friend’s house and there was another mum there with a toddler. The toddler ran across the room with a conventional trainer cup full of Ribena and left a trail of sticky pink stains on the cream coloured carpet – a parent’s nightmare!

Conventional trainer cups turned upside down become watering cans. Children loved that and used to sprinkle juice everywhere. When my kids were small, I just got on with the mopping but ten years later I was able to look at the problem objectively. It suddenly occurred to me that what was needed was a cup that could seal by itself the moment it came out of the child’s mouth. A cup that a toddler could shake, rattle, roll or throw across the room and it still wouldn’t spill a drop.

How did you go about making your initial idea a reality?

I spent five years doing research. I spoke to nurses, consultants, university professors, speech therapists and mums. Eventually, I had enough knowledge to start work on the product. I developed the Haberman® Feeder from my kitchen table. My first working prototype teats were made from liquid rubber that I cast into plaster moulds and put in my airing cupboard to cure. Valves were simulated using flaps of sticky tape. It was all very low budget and Heath Robinson. These models proved the concept and I was able to take out a patent. Eventually however, I reached the point where proper manufactured components were needed, to make any progress. That meant spending money that I didn’t have. So, I wrote to over 100 organisations, telling them about Emily and what I was trying to do. Amazingly, they sent cheques! (I doubt that would happen today) I raised about £20k, which was a lot in the early 1980s, and it enabled me to manufacture the parts I needed. As it was a specialist, niche market product, companies in the nursery market were not interested in selling it. They only wanted products that would sell in massive quantities. I felt frustrated but totally committed to getting my product out. So I set up a one woman mail order company from home and supplied hospitals and parents directly.

What was your entrepreneurial high?

I started selling the Anywayup® cup, in 1996. It was tough. We needed big volume sales but the supermarkets wouldn’t deal with a one-product company. Determined to succeed, we took a chance. We filled an Anywayup® cup with juice, and placed it loose inside a large white box. Then, we posted it to the head buyer of Tesco, with a note that read, ‘If this reaches you as a soggy mess, then we have shot ourselves in the foot. BUT, if it reaches you without spilling, please call us!’

We stressed out for 4 days, waiting for a response. And then the phone rang… Our trusty Anywayup® cup hadn’t spilt a drop. We were in! That was my entrepreneurial high. Other supermarkets followed and within a year we were in all the major supermarket chains, we had sold half a million cups and the business was in profit.

How did you feel to see your design on the shelves in one of the UK’s largest supermarkets?

Mixed emotions: excitement, pride, terrified (OMG, suppose it goes wrong!)

What does the future hold for the Anywayup products?

Last year was difficult. My UK licensee for the Anywayup® cup was a victim of the recession and they went into administration. So the Anywayup® cup disappeared from the shelves. However, the future for Anywayup® is very exciting. I have spent the last few years developing a brand new range of products which will be launched this year by my own company, Haberman® Products Ltd. Included in the range is a terrific new cup and a revolutionary feeding bottle. We will, of course, be bringing back the original Anywayup® cups as well, in response to popular demand. The first of these products will be available from the end of March.

Any tips and advice for budding mumpreneurs out there looking to develop their own product?

Starting a business is going to be tough. It’s going to involve a lot of juggling and compromise. You will probably feel pretty stressed out. On the other hand, it will take you into the world of grownups again, provide stimulating balance to your life, be intellectually and, hopefully, financially rewarding.

Where can we find more info on the Anywayup products?

The Haberman® Products website is currently under construction but you can find up to date information on my own website http://www.mandyhaberman.com The Anywayup® cup will be available from the end of March.

Posted on:

9th February 12

Author

Posted by Jess Contomichalos

That's Yummy Mummy!