Five questions for… Gill Hayward and Kellie Forbes of YUUworld

YUU designs and produces a range of unique activity backpacks for kids. A YUU bag is a world away from a regular backpack, cleverly combining a fun portable entertainment station with a durable, premium quality backpack with pockets galore.

What's been your greatest achievement so far?

It's hard to narrow down to one as the business develops and grows, we focus on a new goal each step of the way. When we launched, we set ourselves the target of selling our first container of stock in four months, but we sold out in seven weeks. Last Christmas, we sold a YUUbag every 12 minutes in the weeks running up to the big day.

What has been your biggest challenge?

Resourcing the business, both in financial and people terms. We have huge ambitions and lots of new product ideas, but ensuring working capital and managing the day-to-day operations alongside new product development is a challenge. One of our most exciting ventures is looking to address this. We have just launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to support bringing to market the world's first GPS tracker bag, the YUUgo.

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What are your plans for hitting your targets this year?

We are focusing on increasing sales in the UK and abroad. We've been primarily an online business to date, but we will have UK high-street distribution this year alongside our debut on a major shopping channel. Internationally, we have appointed a distributor to drive YUU forward abroad.

What's the one piece of advice you'd give fellow entrepreneurs?

Listen to your customers. Since launch, our customers have been the driving force behind our product development. The YUUgo is directly inspired by a conversation with a trade customer about blending tech with active play.