A day in the life of an Enterprise Nation member: Becky Gilbert, Rumpuspuss

Becky Gilbert is the founder of Rumpuspuss, beautifully illustrated personalised jigsaws for children where their name helps to solve the puzzle. The Enterprise Nation member shares insights into her typical day.

My alarm goes off…

At 6.30 when my husband gets up for work. It's nice to have a bit of time to put the kettle on and get breakfast ready before the kids get up at 7am, ravenous.

My morning rituals are...

A bit chaotic as we have two small children. We get them breakfasted (porridge/cereal and fruit), teeth brushed and dressed, then they are allowed to watch something on their tablets while we finish getting ready. My husband normally leaves for work at 8am, so I then have to get the kids out of the door, drop one to nursery then one at school.

My morning commute is…

I work from home so we walk to nursery, walk to school, then back home for 9am for a quick cup of coffee then settle down to work.

My typical day…

I work three days a week on my business. The other two days I get to hang out with my daughter, though only until September when she starts school.  
 
Every work day can be different, and I try to prioritise the three things that will have the biggest impact on my business. I am a born procrastinator and over-researcher, so I need to be quite strict with myself.  
 
Some days I don't see or speak to another person, and just try to keep my head down and power through my jobs. Other, more exciting, days involve getting out and about to either meet with people or go to a local laser cutters to cut my jigsaws.

I try to walk everywhere so that I can call it exercise. I work until around 5pm when it is time to go and get the children, before starting the bath/bed/dinner nightly routine.

My responsibilities are…

I am the only person working on my business, and as yet don't have the resources to outsource anything so my responsibilities are: all of them!

I try to balance out the more boring admin jobs with the more fun things. For example, I might do my book keeping in the morning when my brain is freshest, and then let myself play around with my kid's toys to get photos for social media in the afternoon.

My most memorable moment is…

My favourite moment so far has been making my first sale to someone that I didn't know. I had only recently done a soft launch to people that I had some connection with, and had brilliant feedback. Then suddenly I received a new order… it was a wonderful feeling. I happened to be on a night out with a load of friends for my husband's birthday, so it was perfect timing to as I already had a drink to celebrate with.

Why I love my business…

My favourite bit is making the jigsaws. I print and cut each myself on demand. I get to see some brilliant children's names, and since each puzzle is different I enjoy seeing how each one looks. I love that I now have an outlet for creativity. My previous role didn't allow for much creativity at all, so I'm really having fun with it.  
 
I love the project management side of things too. I love building things from scratch, problem solving, balancing it all, and then the satisfaction when you solve a problem and it all works out.  
 
It has also been fantastic to be able to be around for the children. There are lots of school events that I have been able to go to, costumes to make, or even just poorly kids in need of a day on the sofa. I have been able to meet all of those needs.  
 
The business community is fantastic too. I am really enjoying getting to meet other people with small businesses - it is fascinating learning what skills people have and the ideas that they have come up with. I love hearing about it, and seeing how this small community supports each other.

The most challenging task is…

Despite being usually good with numbers (I have a BSc, MSc and PhD all in maths and statistics) I really struggle with the book keeping. I don't know why, but I am like a rabbit in the headlights when it comes to basic accounts. It is quite ridiculous, so I am determined to make myself understand it all!  
 
Also, balancing everything. Whilst it is great being flexible for the children, last week I managed 1.5 days of work in a whole week. Don't even mention school holidays!!

After work …

I pick the kids up, let them have a bit of down time and then it is into bath and bed routines. I am currently reading the first Harry Potter to my eldest, so am really enjoying bedtime at the moment. Once they are in bed, then it is dinner for us then usually a bit more work or watch something before collapsing into bed ready for the next day.

When I was growing up, I wanted to be…

I never really knew. At one point I wanted to be a vet, but was too squeamish. Then I wanted to be a forensic psychologist (after watching Cracker) but hadn't taken the right GCSEs to be able to do so. I just bumbled around really, following whatever opportunities came my way, became an epidemiologist for 13 years and now here I find myself!

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