 When Cecilia Thorfinn, Managing Director MummyMug BV, came to the Netherlands in 2007, she had just left a successful career as an international diplomat in Brussels, where she had lived for ten years. She relocated for family reasons and had to start over again professionally. But luckily, she had one unusal asset in her luggage: the idea to design the MummyMug; a smart and stylish coffee mug with a self-closing of lid.
Read Cecilia's fantastic story about bringing the MummyMug to the market.
As the name indicates, the MummyMug mug is primarily intended for parents of young children who want to minimize the risk of spills and scalds from hot drinks, and thus enjoy a safe coffee break also when their kids are around. Because of their thin skin, small children quickly suffer severe scalds from beverages even at quite moderate temperatures. Every parent realises this, but because tea and coffee are part of our daily lives at home, many children accidentally suffer scalds. In fact, in the Netherlands alone, there are over 10,000 accidents every year in which children get burned by hot drinks accidentally tipping over. As many as over 500 of these children require major treatment in the form of skin grafts.
Today, almost three years later, the MummyMug has become a reality. Cecilia has developed the idea into a viable, patented product concept together with a growing network of business partners in the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany. As in most startup ventures of this kind, it has been a long and winding road. But now, the MummyMug is a few months from launch on several European markets and has already aroused considerable interest, including an honorable nomination as finalist in an Innovation Award competition at an international exhibition for children's products in Germany a couple of months ago. 'I wanted to start my own business because I so strongly believed in my product idea', says Cecilia. 'And want to make something of it before someone else is quicker! I believe that the best thing about having my own business is the privilege to get pursue my dream, freely manage my time and meet a range of interesting people. Everyday feels like a tremendous learning opportunity: in my case, I have learned more about about design, tooling, plastics, marketing, financing, patents, investors, the internet and social media than I every thought I would. And not least, I've learned a about myself: as every entrepreneur has to grow with the task every day to cope with the challenge of moving forward."
MummyMug BV so far only employs Cecilia, but she anticipates a carefully managed expansion when MummyMug is in full production. She is currently negotiating with a large German company for global distribution. By partnering up with a strong player in the market, she hopes to reach parents in both Europe and eventually the USA and Australia, and spread the message about how much safer and more enjoyable family life becomes a MummyMug. The marketing strategy is heavily focused on social media and reaching out to mothers who surf the internet for information, community and insight. "We don't just want to tell mothers about the MummyMug on Facebook" says Cecilia. "We want to really tap into what is happening right now in social media and literally build a brand in the blogosphere. The MummyMug is for mothers, and I am not a big corporate player: I am simply one of them. That has a tremendous power that I want to tap into as much as I can."
Last but not least, Cecilia has just closed a deal with a Swedish injection moulding company, GePe Biwex AB based in Gotene, for the manufacturing. She is thus particularly proud that the MummyMug will be launched in the market as a truly Swedish safety solution.
www.mummymug.com Contact person: Cecilia Thorfinn
Managing Director MummyMug BV
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