Hannah Saunders has gone from the RAF to starting her own children’s skin care brand ‘Toddle’, and recently receiving funding from Steven Bartlett & Deborah Meadon . After finding that there wasn’t anything on the market suitable for under 3 with chapped lips, she decided to start her own business to solve that problem. Hannah joins Nicole on this week’s Start Scale Succeed to tell not just her business journey, but her personal journey too.

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Hannah took the transferable skills she learned in the RAF such as project management and the confidence to undertake difficult tasks and put those into her new business venture.
• Hannah doesn't have any expertise in running a product business but thinks that as a consumer you should be able to reverse engineer that into a product people would want to buy.
• The most difficult part of getting your product business off the ground is the initial finances. It’s hard to get someone to believe in you from the start.
• If you have a big social following, you might have a chance of succeeding through the Kickstarter route. If you don’t have the initial following, then private investment is much more likely to work out for you.
• Hannah brings in consultants to do the high stakes jobs that she admits she would not be able to do herself. For example she gets support for pitching to large retailers and also with her Amazon store.
• Hannah tries to get new products on the shelves as quickly as possible so if they don’t sell, then she hasn't invested a lot of time and money in the development stage.

 

BEST MOMENTS 

‘Anyone can do this if you keep going’

‘Screaming at a wall doesn't help because it doesn’t talk back’

‘If you really want growth in your business, then pay good people to do what matters’

‘If you’re going to fail, fail fast’

 

VALUABLE RESOURCES

 

www.thebuyerandretailcoach.com

www.instagram.com/thebuyerandretailcoach

www.toddlebornwild.com

www.instagram.com/toddlebornwild

 

ABOUT THE HOST

 

Buying & retail expert Nicole Higgins spent the last 18 years working for companies such as Primark, M&S, Debenhams and Asda, sourcing & developing products from all over the world, building strategies for blue chip businesses, and increasing bottom line sales and profit, adding over £40 million in incremental business to the bottom line.

Nicole now uses that experience and works as a consultant and coach for entrepreneurs and small to medium sized business owners, helping them start and scale their product businesses as The Buyer And Retail Coach (TM)

Join the Start Scale Succeed waitlist. How to start & scale a product business. A 12 Week programme: thebuyerandretailcoach.com/startscalesucceedwaitlist

 

CONTACT METHOD

 

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Email [email protected]

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Book a call with me https://thebuyerandretailcoachltd.as.me/discoverycall