Editor’s note: This article was first published in June 2014. Ideas 2 (a GPS bracelet or pendant that alerts parents by text message) and 9 (a babysitting app) are described as not yet existing as of 2014; both kinds of product are now on the market.
The children’s market is extremely attractive. It is often said that any company that wins a baby as a customer will get at least 5 years of spending from that customer. Until now, the most profitable products in this kind of business have been clothing and accessories, above all clothing, because little ones grow fast and their clothes become useless within months.
There are some ideas that I don’t think anyone has come up with yet, such as adjustable shoes or trainers that can be made bigger as the child grows, low-cost nappies, or an invention or product that replaces the nappy altogether. But I don’t think ideas like these are easy to develop, so below we set out some ideas that entrepreneurs have already turned into profitable businesses today, while others we simply challenge you to carry out.
1. Temporary tattoos in case a child gets lost.
The business of the company Tottoos is selling made-to-order transparent stickers with a message and a phone number to call if a child gets lost. The standard message reads: “I’m lost, please call 6xxxxx”.
2. An alarm and tracker in case a child is lost or abducted.
As far as I know, no company has yet taken advantage of the boom in technology and mobile apps to design a small device in the form of a bracelet or pendant that alerts parents by text message if their child leaves an area they have marked out. In an abduction, the first minutes and hours are crucial for preventing possible irreparable harm.
3. Clothes to tell twins apart.
Snug Attack sells a collection of clothing for children, and its range for identical and fraternal twins stands out. Parents like to dress their children the same, so with these clothes we can at least tell them apart, since only a symbol or letter changes on each garment.
4. A simple product that changes a child’s bath time.
This simple but practical invention (seen on Fancy.com) keeps shampoo from running into a baby’s eyes while you wash them.
5. Locker and wardrobe linings.
This was a hit invented by Sarah Buckel, a young girl entrepreneur with a flair for style who wanted to decorate the insides of wardrobes and lockers herself, and found a way to do it with magnetic linings instead of adhesive ones. After her sales success, she diversified her business into all kinds of magnetic decorations for children and teenagers. We wrote about her in our article on 5 ideas patented by children.
6. The pillow soft toy.
Jennifer Telfer invented Pillow Pets, the first soft toys that work as a pillow. They are also pillows that turn into soft toys. This entrepreneur built a 100-million-dollar market with the idea.
7. The baby mop.
Since babies are going to crawl around anyway, they might as well clean the floor while they’re at it. That is how the idea for Baby Mop was born: basically, clothing with fringes or “mops” that pick up dirt. A bit cruel? Maybe, but it’s also funny.
8. Organic food for babies and children.
People are increasingly aware of how important healthy eating is for our children. That is why an organic baby food business can be very profitable today if we know how to pitch it properly in our neighbourhood or city. That is how Big Dipper was born: a woman entrepreneur left her job to give shape to this idea, which today is expanding across the United States.
9. An app for babysitters.
In the same way that apps like Uber have revolutionised the taxi market, why not build an app that shows the available babysitters on screen? Of course, when it comes to children, parents would not leave their kids with just anyone, so there would have to be extremely tight control over the candidates allowed to sign up for the app. As far as I know, this idea has not been invented yet.
10. Low-cost shops with all kinds of children’s products.
Products for newborns tend to be expensive, so more and more parents look for second-hand products online. An online shop that covers these needs at a low price would be in quite high demand today, especially for baby clothes.
You can read our article with 11 micro-business ideas, which included selling personalised clothes and trainers, as well as handmade woollen goods.
Further reading
- TweetPee: a device that tells parents when their child has wet themselves
- 5 business ideas that are barely exploited
- 7 business ideas related to pets
- 29 ideas for making money from home or online
Featured image: Kolforn, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
