1. ‘My beauty range offers
luxurious organic products’
‘I recognised the potential
in online shopping’
NEw dIrEctIoNs
It’s never too late
‘My novel idea
transformed the
bag market’
to make £50k … or more! Emma Pritchard talks to four
women whose ideas have paid
off despite tough economic times
‘I traded
banking for
a business
in knitting’
142 woman&home A BrAnd new Attitude

2. NEw dIrEctIoNs
My organic candles and beauty Our website suits the economic
products have given me a business climate and we’re on target to
with a healthy profit margin double last year’s £6.3m turnover
Nicola Elliott, 33, was an associate editor before SopHiE corNiSH, 43, ran a floristry and events business
starting Neom, an organic candle and skincare company. She before starting online shopping site notonthehighstreet.com
lives in Harrogate with her husband and their son, aged two. with friend, Holly tucker (below left). She lives in london with
her husband and their two children, aged 13 and 11.
tHE idEa My sister worked for the Government’s environment
department and was always telling me how important it is to tHE idEa Holly was organising shopping fairs and wanted to
be green. But i wasn’t prepared to swap my luxurious beauty create an online market for small start-ups, so i agreed to help.
products for the unattractive organic versions. WHat HappENEd NExt we cobbled together £140,000
WHat HappENEd NExt i sold my car and used savings from savings, a bank loan, and donations from family and friends,
to raise £15,000 to get started. i had no experience of the beauty which covered market research, a web designer, a cheap
industry, so launched with a basic range of five candles – i only – albeit grim – office space, and two staff. we approached the
needed to buy wax, businesses Holly had been working with and 100 signed up.
After a year, my online knitting wicks, the fragrance WHErE WE arE NoW we list 1,500 businesses (we expect
and a glass container. BuSineSS in FiGureS to exceed 2,000 by the end of 2010), employ 35 staff and, two years
patterns and wool collection i did it alongside my lauNcHEd 2005 I can afford to treat myself and take after launch, drew our first salary, which has continued to increase.
are producing £55,000 in profit full-time job, until i got
my big break when
Start-up coStS £15,000
firSt yEar’S turNovEr £70,000 my family on holiday twice a year
tHE futurE in the recession, more people are setting
up small businesses and customers want to buy products with
KatariNa roSEN, 36, worked in the city at rBS before
Selfridges agreed to
take me on. it is still
currENt turNovEr £1.5m
currENt profit £400,000
by selling my range of bags added value. So,
despite the economic
launching millamia with her sister in 2009. She lives in london my biggest stockist. neomorganics.com climate, we’re on BuSineSS in FiGureS
with her husband and their children, aged three and 18 months. WHErE i am NoW Sally HurSt, 50, was a full-time mum when she launched target to double last lauNcHEd 2006
My candles are in 400 the old Bag company, which sells reusable bags. She lives in year’s £6.3m turnover. Start-up coStS £140,000
tHE idEa i started knitting when i was pregnant. My sister, shops and i also sell online. i started to make body products devon with her husband and has five children, aged 24 to nine. BiggESt firSt yEar’S turNovEr £130,000
Helena (above left), is a designer for a european fashion 18 months ago to meet customer demand and have around cHallENgE currENt turNovEr £14m
company, so we decided to design our own knitting patterns – 55 products as well as ten staff. i also got married, and we have tHE idEa i was sitting on a local beach with my children, Outsourcing our currENt profit £300,000
the perfect solution to my search for a more family friendly career. a two-year-old son and another baby on the way. surrounded by carrier bags, when i noticed a gap in the market. website management notonthehighstreet.com
WHat HappENEd NExt MillaMia sells pattern books tHE futurE we’re launching new products throughout So i went home and designed a practical and stylish canvas bag. was a mistake because
and the yarn to make the designs, so i scoured the internet and 2010 because i want neom to be a household name. we’re also WHat HappENEd NExt i ordered 6,000 bags based when we came to
visited craft shows, while Helena designed the collections. we experimenting with new ingredients such as macadamia nut oil. on my design, and after ten weeks of cold calling, i secured launch, the site wasn’t ready. it was the worst time of my
paid a professional to write the patterns and i test-knitted every BiggESt cHallENgE Keeping customers. Organic beauty 40 stockists. A year later, i launched a handbag and backpack, business life, but it did introduce us to our current web director.
yarn as well as cold calling shop managers to secure stockists. is a big business. we have to pioneer ingredients, while staying created a website and moved from my dining room to an office grEatESt acHiEvEmENt this year, we’re making
WHErE WE arE NoW we launched last October and luxurious and keeping the product 70 per cent certified or above. space. i had to work around my children, but i loved my career. the same amount in a day that we initially made in our first year!
were soon in eight shops, and our website went live six weeks grEatESt acHiEvEmENt Finding out that celebrities WHErE i am NoW My bags are stocked in 400 outlets BooSt your EarNiNgS Be clever with your budget
later. we don’t have an advertising budget, so rely on word such as Kylie Minogue use my candles. i get a buzz when i open and i’ve expanded to include purses, leather handbags and – don’t invest in outside help if you can do it yourself. w&h
of mouth. i pack the orders myself and enjoy being hands-on. a magazine and see my products on display in their homes. laptop cases. Five years after i started, i can treat the family to
tHE futurE we want to increase our stockist numbers and BooSt your EarNiNgS Keep it simple and, more a second holiday as well as donate some of my profit to charity.
we’re releasing two new collections as well as designing free importantly, try to do it better than everyone else. tHE futurE developing new bags and designs following
patterns for people who subscribe to our website. customer feedback on our online forum.
BiggESt cHallENgE Getting the samples made and BiggESt cHallENgE Gauging stock. i’ve secured some
photographed for the pattern books. we used test-knitters, but we big stockists and i’m worried i’m going to run out of stock!
underestimated how much yarn they needed. i had to negotiate grEatESt acHiEvEmENt i got a Startups Award in
pHotograpHS BAnGwALLOP StudiOS, indirA FLACK
a rush order with the mill so we didn’t miss our deadlines. 2007, was highly commended for Gift of the Year Award in 2008,
grEatESt acHiEvEmENt the website. we wanted it to won the South devon excellence Award in 2008 and recently
be like high-end sites such as net-a-porter.com. won the Barclays Bank Family Affair Award.
BooSt your EarNiNgS think outside the box. i was BooSt your
surprised to be EarNiNgS Join
approached by a local business BuSineSS in FiGureS
someone wanting BuSineSS in FiGureS network and lauNcHEd 2005
to do an internship lauNcHEd 2009 get advice from Start-up coStS £10,000
with us, but then Start-up coStS £50,000 organisations such firSt yEar’S turNovEr £80,000
i realised we’re a firSt yEar’S turNovEr £96,300 as the Federation currENt turNovEr £400,000
business in our own firSt yEar’S profit £55,750 of Small Businesses currENt profit £140,000
right, so why not? millamia.com (fsb.org.uk). theoldbagcompany.com
144 woman&home A BrAnd new Attitude