SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY
PROFILE 4: DR ZIGS
As the Small Business Saturday campaign prepares to mark its ten-year anniversary on December 3, SME Magazine is profiling some of the 100 small businesses in this year’s SmallBiz100 line-up. As Michelle Ovens CBE, Director of Small Business Saturday UK, says: “The fantastic small businesses featured in this year’s SmallBiz100 sum up the extraordinary contribution that small firms make to our economy and local areas.”
Paola Dyboski-Bryant, the face behind Dr Zigs, introduces us to the company
Dr Zigs is a specialist bubble company. We manufacture the best bubble toys in the world in North Wales, within sight of Snowdon, and sell these across the world.
When did you set the company up and what was the thinking behind it?
Dr Zigs was set up nearly 12 years ago at my kitchen table, because my son Ziggy, then a toddler, loved bubbles so much. All I could find was cheap, made in China plastic bubble tubs. I saw a gap in the market to create a bubble toy fit for the 21st century. So I worked creating something that was sustainable – good for people and for the planet. Today we sell to 22 countries worldwide.
What products do you produce?
The best ever bubble mix and bubble toys. So toys that make HUGE giant bubbles, and loads of bubbles, and bubble foam, and bubble paint, and bubbles for the Bath, and the Beach, and Sensory Bubbles, and even Bubbles for Pets!
What do you enjoy the most about being your own boss?
Everything! I love the creativity, I love the flexibility. I run my business mostly on the road from my 2005 Hymer whilst homeschooling my 13 year old. I have a project called Bubbles Not Bombs so we send Bubbles out to kids in need, to refugee camps, to hospices, care-homes etc and working independently helps me be really reactive and proactive with this project and therefore have quite a good impact for small company.
What advice would you give someone thinking about setting up their own business?
Do it!! If you have something you love doing just go for it. I started my business with £20 at my kitchen table. It is hard work, and you need a touch of stubbornness to get you through, but do it! Bring your values and your voice to the world.
What do you think about Small Business Saturday and how does it help you?
Small Business Saturday is a great community of supportive individuals, information, advice, it’s like having your very own fan club and resource network on tap!
Sum up your business in three words
Eco, ethical, FUN
or Best Bubbles EVER
