A bump on the head gave Trudie Long and Sharon Faulkner the idea for their business.

The head belonged to Sharon's baby Faith and the bump happened in a supermarket.

"She was sitting in the baby seat of a shopping trolley," says Sharon, "when she flopped forward and banged her head on the trolley's metal handle."

Trudie and Sharon decided to design a product to prevent this type of accident. They came up with the Bumpas: a robust, fabric covered tube that fits around the handle of a shopping trolley.

Starting out

Excited by their idea, the friends thought they could turn it into a profitable business.

Lots of them had horror stories of their kids breaking their teeth on the bar

Trudie Long

But would people buy it? They asked shoppers for their views.

"Lots of them had horror stories of their kids breaking their teeth on the bar," says Trudie. "The response to the Bumpas was really encouraging."

Spurred on, they made a prototype. And, once they'd checked the design conformed to baby equipment safety rules, they were ready to think about setting-up a business.

With help from their local business adviser, they wrote a business plan looking at how much money they'd need to get started, what each Bumpas would cost to make, and how and where they'd sell it.

They also had to do a cash flow forecast.

Fleshing it out

Their business was cheap to start up.

They were working from home, using free samples from an inner tube manufacturer and sewing the covers themselves.

Bumpas is hoping to do a deal with Mothercare and J Sainsbury

And as both women were full-time mums, they weren't giving up an income and needing another one immediately.

Trudie and Sharon also had to decide how to structure their business.

They considered starting a partnership, but if they had, each partner would be responsible for any debts that the other incurred.

Instead they opted to register as a private limited company where neither of them is personally liable.

Bumpas Systems Ltd was born and Trudie and Sharon are now hoping the likes of J Sainsbury and Mothercare will want to stock their product.

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Student Guide

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Trudie and Sharon came up with their idea when the baby bumped its head.

How do other businesses begin?

It's often when someone spots a gap in the market or a new way of doing things. Just think about some of the famous names out there.

How did they begin?

EasyJet - the low cost airline.

Carphone Warehouse - selling mobile phones.

Dyson - making vacuum cleaners.

These businesses all got past the first hurdle of coming up with an idea.

How were they different from the competition?

What did they have to do to get going?

Turning an idea into reality takes planning - it doesn't just happen!

Let's go back to Trudie and Sharon: make a list of all the things they had to think about before they set up their business.

Try some of these questions and see if you can answer them from the Bumpas story:

What's the product?

Is it safe?

Will people buy it?

What price will they pay?

How will we make it?

What much will it cost to make?

How will we let people know it's for sale?

Will it make a profit?

How do we make the business legal?
The answers to all these questions go into a business plan.

Whenever anyone is setting up a business - or developing a business, this plan is the blueprint for development.

If Trudie and Sharon plan to expand Bumpas, they may have to borrow money from the bank.

Any bank will want to know that the loan will be repaid, so they will want all the low down on the business.

What's in a plan?

Most banks help customers to prepare a business plan by providing them with a guide containing the questions that they have to answer.

The questions you answered about Bumpas are just the sort of information a bank will be looking for: but in more detail.

The bank will want to know:

All about the product or service that you are going to sell

How many you think you will be able to sell

Why people will buy the product or service

How much competition you face

How you will be marketing the product or service

Who will work in the business

What resources you will need

How much profit you will make in the first 6 or 12 months

All about your plans for the future of the business

How much money you will put in

How much you want the bank to lend

If you are a sole trader, partnership or a company
While you are learning about business, you will cover all these aspects.

You could build up a plan for a business that you would like to run.

If you are brimming with ideas - have a look at the Big Zipper Challenge. You might be a winner!

If you want to check on any of the terms we have used here you should take a look in our special education section Jargon Buster.