YUMMIKEYS, a company that makes stainless steel teething toys for babies, was set up in 2017 after Elspeth Fawcett quit her job as a chartered accountant. She realised her children loved to play with her car keys and spotted a gap in the market for a safe alternative.

Name: Elspeth Fawcett

Age: 35

Position: Founder

WHAT’S YOUR BUSINESS CALLED?

Yummikeys

WHERE IS IT BASED?

Aberlady, East Lothian

WHY DID YOU SET UP THE BUSINESS?

I HAVE three children who [as babies] were all absolutely obsessed with my house keys. I got toy keys but they didn’t like them. I gave my son my keys on a stressful day but we lost them. They were our last set and we had to pay hundreds of pounds for more.

Eighteen months later we launched the business.

I have always been an all-rounder and didn’t know what I wanted to do.

I was a chartered accountant but always wanted to do something else. The business is quite small – a woman helps for a few hours a week and so does my sister. My sister has a psychology degree and has young children.

We used £10,000 of our own savings and haven’t got any investment so far.

We are quite active on social media – Facebook and Instagram primarily – and we do paid adverts in there. Lots of people give us good reviews and we get lots of customers through word of mouth.

We feature in baby magazines as well.

We have to risk assess the keys and we have a baby safety consultant who works with all the bigger brands and fortunately works small ones too.

We also have to undergo CE testing, which is European safety testing on the composition of the product – it checks there is no lead and tests for small parts. It costs thousands and we have to renew this periodically.

WHAT IS YOUR TARGET MARKET?

MUMS who want a toy for their baby that lasts forever.

They want to have less toys in their baby’s life but the toys are good quality.

We also appeal to people finding a gift.

The product is plastic free so good for the environment. Stainless steel as a material is already made out of 70% recycled stainless steel in its raw form. People want less throwaway things and they can pass it onto more children and then cousins and other family members.

HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM COMPETING BUSINESSES?

WE do have competitors like Sophie the Giraffe but they are different to us. They are all made out of plastic and all look similar. Yummikeys look like something babies shouldn’t have. They have a more personal touch. The customer can be involved more as we aren’t a faceless large company. We sell 20-30 products a day so we know customers and remember who buys from us.

IS SCOTLAND A GOOD PLACE FOR THIS TYPE OF BUSINESS?

IT is fantastic. I have been amazed by the local support in Edinburgh. There’s support from the Government too.

People in Scotland buy our products and sell them to people they know in Australia so people are very supportive.

WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT RUNNING THE BUSINESS?

MEETING new people like customers and other small businesses. It isn’t like being an accountant where I kept myself to myself.

People send in photos of their babies, saying the product saved them from breastfeeding pain. I put all the pictures up in the office which makes it all worth it when you’re having a bad day.

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE IN RUNNING THE BUSINESS?

JUGGLING everything. I have a one-year-old, a three-year-old and a five-year-old. It is about getting the balance right and not working every night. It is hard to let myself switch off because when it is your own business there is no limit.

WHERE DO YOU HOPE THE BUSINESS WILL BE IN 10 YEARS’ TIME?

I WANT to see it being sold globally. We have signed some distribution agreements in Australia and Europe. We also hope to have some new products by then. There are a lot of independent Scottish suppliers like Kidly who stock us and we have a couple of smaller stockists in the UK as well. People like to buy from a Scottish company and know who they are buying from.