Tabitha Potts with some products from Mimimyne

By Louise Hale

21 June 2010

A budding entrepreneur is flying the flag for Stepney after securing her place in a national competition that rewards brilliant business ideas with free trading space at local markets.

Tabitha Potts, 39, was shortlisted to the semi-finals after her business www.mimimyne.com – an ethical online store for families who want to grow up green, wowed the judges.

Tabitha noticed a lack of online stores selling eco-friendly organic baby clothes so decided to set up her own.

Now she has won ten days free trading at Old Spitalfields Market as part of the competition Make Your Mark in the Markets, in which she was one of 71 shortlisted traders in the UK.

“This competition is a fantastic opportunity for me and the business, and could help propel it to the next level,” she said.

Tabitha’s success puts her in with a chance of winning the overall prize of six months’ free trading, and the support needed to set up their business.

During trading, she will be visited by the competition judges who will assess all aspects of the business.

Eric Graham, manager for Old Spitalfields Market, said: “Tabitha demonstrated that she has what it takes to turn an idea into reality.”

With the help and support from East London Small Business Centre, Tabitha won a start-up loan from Deutsche Bank to build her website.

Mimimyne has also been nominated for several business awards, including the Thames Gateway Business Awards, the Archant Enviromental Award 2009 and Women on their Way 2010 and will soon feature as a British Library Business and IP Centre success story.

Read the article in East End Life

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I was recently sent a press release by the Just So Festival, and as this sounds like a great family and eco friendly event of the kind I’d love to go to, I’m happy to pass on the info to Mimimyne’s blog readers! Sadly I don’t think Mimimyne will be able to exhibit at this one but will definitely be interested in appearing at this event in the future.

Kids enjoying themselves at the Just So Festival

This summer sees the launch of the first ever camping festival devoted entirely to families.

The ‘Just So Festival’ is the dream child of two couples who’ve spent years visiting traditional festivals with their children and finding much of the entertainment to be off-limits… so they’ve set up a camping weekend in 65 acres of unspoilt Staffordshire woodland where everything – from traditional fairground to artificial beach, from gypsy bands to top name authors – is aimed at giving children and their parents a fantastic and magical experience.

Highlights from the programme will include a visit from the Royal Armories team with their ‘Never Mind the Pollocks’ action-art event, Parkour training sessions from some of the UK’s top free-runners, following the Fairy Queen trail with the Fairyland Trust, and one of our favourites, a party with the Moomins.

According to festival director Rowan Hoban, “families will be able to go on this amazing journey of the imagination, participating in a medley of art, craft, music and theatre within a beautiful natural landscape”.

The experience of families going along to the Just So Festival will be a far cry from your average festival. Camping is in small woodland glades, where families can request to be sited near friends. There will be an bedtime noise curfew (though the local rabbits and hedgehogs may not comply), and a large and comfy nappy changing area with changing mats and wipes laid on. The loos will, of course, be lovely.

The Just So Festival will take place from 20th-22nd August and will play host to up to 3,000 people. Tickets are now on sale.

Just So Festival Community Interest Company is a not-for-profit organisation.

For more information visit the website at Just So Festival

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Pint and Half Pint T Shirts for Dad and baby are great eco friendly gifts for Father’s Day! Please don’t forget to get your orders in by Wednesday 16th June at the very latest for these extremely popular Father’s Day presents which are currently flying out the door here at Mimimyne.

You might want to take note of the fact that Twisted Twee’s perennially popular Pint and Half Pint T shirts are now available in Mint Choc Chip – yum! The Pint T shirt for Dad is in tasty chocolate with mint lettering and the Half Pint T shirt for Baby is in refreshing mint with chocolate lettering in 100% organic cotton, suitable for a boy or girl. These gorgeous T shirts are perfect for a trip to the pub, park or just hanging around at home for Dad and Baby and both are printed in organic inks in the UK (the Baby T shirt is also 100% organic cotton). Also a great gift for a new dad and baby!

Half Pint T Shirt Set in Mint Choc Chip

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TABITHA Potts is a budding East End entrepreneur who has won 10 days free trading in London’s Old Spitalfields Market to test her business ideas for real.

The 39-year-old won the 10 days in a national enterprise contest after setting up her own ‘ethical’ online business for families who want their kids to ‘grow up green.’

She noticed a lack of suppliers on the Worldwide Web selling eco-friendly organic baby clothes.

“I can’t wait to get going,” she said, just as she set up her stall in Spitalfields Market today. “Markets are great test grounds for people like me to get real feedback from the public.”

Read the rest of the original article here

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