This year we celebrate 30 years of Early Years Resources. From a catalogue on two sides of A4, to thirty years and thousands of products later, we are very proud to have reached this point.
To mark this incredible milestone, I sat down with EYR’s founder Payman Mostaan, to find out what this achievement means to him and what makes Early Years resources the company it is today.
The beginnings of Early Years Resources
“I brought in a product from the United States, took it round to nurseries, and I asked whether they liked it or not,” says Payman. “They asked “What else do you sell?”, so I said, “What else do you need?”. That’s how Early Years Resources was born, accidentally!
They asked “What else do you sell?”, so I said, “What else do you need?”
At the time, Payman had launched Early Years resources with little knowledge of the products used in educational settings. “It used to take me over a year to find a supplier for a particular product. It was very slow,” he says. For over a year, he researched, found the products which nurseries and childminders required. In 1992 he presented the first catalogue on two sides of A4 paper.
The first product was a reusable colour cloth, a plastic sheet that has an outline of the product which can be coloured in. A dry cloth is then used to wipe the colours off so they can be coloured in again. One sample of the Kids Colour Cloth remains in stock, almost a relic of 30 years ago.
A Jack-of-all-trades
In the early days without the help of the internet, Payman searched for suppliers in the Yellow Pages. Constantly learning on the job, he found that in the beginning he had to become a Jack-of-all-trades. “I had to learn how to put catalogue pages together, how to do photography, how to write copy. I experimented with many different ways of advertising, selection of products. Some products worked, some didn’t”. With these solid foundations, built by learning and researching constantly, Early Years Resources became the strong company that we are today.
Payman is proud to be celebrating 30 years of Early Years Resources. Having faced recessions, a financial crash, cutbacks from the government within the field of education, “we have been through an awful lot over the years, it makes us very proud that we have got to this point”.
Success for EYR in 2021
In 2021 we launched the Mini Tuff Tray Paper Pad. We also won our third Teach Early Years Award for our EYR Spider House, and were nominated for two GESS Awards.
We grew our team in 2021, dedicating a whole office to marketing and introduced even more expertise. In 2022 we are aiming to do what we already have been doing but better.
Don’t give up, and be prepared to work very hard.
When it comes to advice for businesses, it is clear to Payman what the most important things are. “Research, research and more research”, he says. “Don’t give up, and be prepared to work very hard. If it was easy everybody would be doing it. It is hard work, it’s not for everyone and there’s no shame in that. Some people can do it, some people can’t. But research is the key to it, knowing what you’re doing. That’s it.”
Proud to be celebrating 30 Years of Early Years Resources
Looking back over 30 years of Early Years Resources, several moments stand out as favourites for Payman. Exhibiting in Nuremberg for the first time in 2006, moving to a large warehouse in Trafford Park, and creating products for our own-developed range are only a few examples. However, one thing surpasses anything else:
“Increasing the number of people within teams and creating a sense of community. Anything which involves anybody else. We all share the same moments, I’d like to think that in the years to come we’ll carry on with that tradition.”
In 30 years, Early Years Resources has gone from strength to strength. With a rapidly growing team and new products being developed every month, we’re very excited to see what the future holds!
