Tatum Billson, a South African baby stroller business and brand builder  — Lionesses of Africa

What inspired you to start your company?

After my two-year journey, myself and my husband (then boyfriend), fell pregnant with our first born, Kai. Facing the worries of new parents-to-be, naturally we wanted the best for our child, but the best comes at a price. We were in search for a stroller, and soon realized that financially this was going to be a setback, as strollers or travel systems that we had viewed at the time were priced between R12000-R25000. Now whereas having a travel system is not the start and end of life as we know it, it was an important part of practically improving day-to-day life with baby and being mobile is what gives parents their sanity, so we needed to get one.

I started browsing the internet abroad and came across a few sites that offered suppliers of travel systems. After enquiring and doing the necessary admin, I soon realized that we were able to bring in a sample with a few changes of our choice for a fee. Seeing as we were in the market to buy one, I allocated our small budget to purchasing the sample. Two weeks later it arrived… After using the stroller for a couple of days in public, putting it through its paces and turning a few heads, I said to my husband ‘I can sell this’. Naturally being entrepreneurs, we agreed to give it a try and placed a minimum order of 50. Our 50 were sold on pre-order before they landed. It’s been an emotional crazy journey since then and three years later we’ve sold over 2000 NulaBugs… Since then our range has expanded to over 7 different strollers (including a twin stroller), we now also do nursery furniture, rocking chairs as well as 360-degree rotation car seats and accessories.

Why should anyone use your service or product?

We offer an incredible product at an even better price.

Tell us a little about your team

Our team is what has made NOOLA what it is today! they are like-minded, hardworking individuals who will always go out their way to assist.

Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And, do you come from an entrepreneurial background?

I do, my parents and uncles are all self-employed which is a start. I always used to help during school holidays with admin for pocket money which allowed me to be in the heart of where customers queries and feedback ended up. I studied at the incredible FEDISA school of fashion where I did my BA degree in fashion design with a diploma in business marketing which helped with learning how to deal with crazy pressure as well as understanding fabrics and manufacturing which assisted massively when I had to deal with my suppliers.