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Channel 4 Money - Case Study: Rob and Ouvrielle Holmes

2005

If you've got a head for a business and a great idea, starting up a company can make you a millionaire much faster than saving and investing. After Rob and Ouvrielle Holmes from Devon had their first son, Sam, in 1996, they stumbled upon a fantastic business idea.

 Like many babies, Sam was struggling to sleep and was kicking off his blankets in the night. "My Austrian sister-in-law recommended a baby sleeping-bag," Ouvrielle explains. "She sent us one and the baby slept for 14 hours straight - our lives changed and we never looked back."

Baby sleeping-bags are essentially wearable blankets, and although they're commonly used in many parts of Europe they were virtually unheard of in the UK. "Rob and I decided it was a great business idea and decided to set up a company."

The couple worked with the Foundation for the Study of Infant Death to design their own Grobag. "We launched in September 2000 at a trade fair in London and sold 1,000 bags in three hours," Ouvrielle says.

The company - Gro Group - started with four staff and a £45,000 bank loan and achieved a turnover of £1 million in its first year, £3 million in its second, and hit £6 million in 2004. It now sells via its website bumpto3.com, mail order and in a range of department stores and independent baby retailers. Ouvrielle says the secret to business success is a good idea and the ability to bring it to fruition. "It's all about having an idea and the confidence to do it. As I once read: if the mind can conceive it, and you can believe it, you will achieve it."