Legal Career

Osborne Clarke, Corporate Solicitor, Bristol

New Career(s)

Starting a business

Career Change Story

I have become a potty salesman.

I had an idea for a child's potty that could be emptied without making a mess everywhere.

I had always wanted to set up my own business and so set about applying for a patent (with the help of some patent attorneys).

The initial examination of the patent was positive.

About 3 months later my firm offered all lawyers voluntary redundancy.

The fact that I could get paid for 9 months to see where I could get to with my potty idea was too good an opportunity to miss.

I took voluntary redundancy and set about developing my product.

As a safety net, I also made preparation to set up a legal recruitment consultancy and launched a website called Professional Bristol.

Although the Pourty potty was well received by retailers and we quickly got listings online with Tesco, Boots, Amazon and Mothercare, you have to sell a lot of potties to make a living.

After the end of my first year out, I became the Group Legal Office for Mulberry Group on a part-time basis.

This helped pay the bills as the potty business grew.

The role at Mulberry grew and so did my potty business and after 1 year I had to take the decision to focus full-time on potties.

Now in our third year, we are finally making a small profit and are busy developing new products and expanding our sales overseas.

The Pourty potty is the best-selling potty online in the UK and is doing well in stores with Boots, John Lewis and Kiddicare.

It is also listed online in the US with Walmart, Amazon and Babies R Us.