Today Nicole is chatting to Lucy Hitchcock founder of not just one business, but two, service business Sassy Digital and pandemic born business Partner in Wine. In 2021 Lucy posted a viral video on TikTok, racking up half a million views in 12 hours and saw an item in her store selling every two minutes. Sales increased by 1,700 percent in a single day, which turned into sustained five-digit revenue every month. She's on Start Scale Succeed to tell the story of how that happened and the journey that took her there.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Lucy, who was 23 years old at the time, resigned from her job and started working with small businesses to improve their digital marketing, branding, and website design as well as e-commerce strategies. As a result, she has helped countless small businesses in boosting their online sales.
• In the midst of the worldwide pandemic, Lucy came up with the idea of producing an insulated wine bottle and tumbler. This idea was sparked by her disappointment with a lukewarm glass of wine while enjoying time with her closest friend in the park. The aim was to help herself and other wine enthusiasts enjoy a socially distanced drink in the park more comfortably.
• During March 2021, Lucy shared her journey on TikTok, resulting in a viral video that hit 500,000 views within 12 hours and triggered a sale every two minutes. This led to a 1,700% surge in sales in a single day, which was sustained in the following months, generating five-figure revenue each month. Partner in Wine had generated £30,000 in 2020. By the end of 2021, this number had skyrocketed to over 8 times the initial figure.
• One of Lucy’s key pieces of advice is that using someone else's expertees allows the job to be done in a fraction of the time it would have taken you to do. This also means that in a product business, the product can get to market quicker and start generating revenue for you quicker.

BEST MOMENTS

‘I get my positivity from both of my parents, they say not to worry about things that haven't happened yet’

‘What do you do when you’re super busy? You start another business of course’

‘I would account the success of the business to being in the right place and the right time’

‘If you don’t love your idea then don’t do it as a business’

EPISODE RESOURCE

Viral Video

Partner in Wine

Sassy Digital

ABOUT THE GUEST

Lucy Hitchcock is an entrepreneur, marketeer and Founder of Sassy Digital and Partner in Wine.

After leaving her job at 23 years old to work with small businesses on their digital marketing, branding and website and e-commerce design, she’s since helped hundreds of small businesses make more sales online.

During the global pandemic, after a disappointingly warm glass of wine in the park with her best friend, Lucy decided to create an insulated wine bottle and tumbler to help her and so many other wine lovers enjoy a socially distanced drink in the park.

Since starting the business, and using her marketing expertise to grow a large social media following and most importantly sales, in just 16 months Partner in Wine has quickly become Sassy Digital’s best case study.

In March 2021, Lucy shared her story on TikTok, leading to a viral video which racked up half a million views in 12 hours and saw an item selling every two minutes. Sales increased by 1,700 percent in a single day, which turned into sustained five-digit revenue every month.

In 2020, after five months of launching, Partner in Wine had turned over £30,000. By the end of 2021, this figure was over 8 times that.

Lucy and her businesses have been profiled by the BBC News, Mail Online, Business Insider, The Sun, Daily Express, and was featured in TikTok’s Year on TikTok 2021 list. She has since worked with a number of brands on partnerships including Waitrose, SAGE for business, Royal Mail for Business, Aldi, and Adobe.

ABOUT THE HOST
Buying & retail expert Nicole Higgins spent the last 18 years 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. She now uses that experience and works as a consultant and coach for entrepreneurs and business owners, helping them start and scale their product businesses.
Join the Start Scale Succeed waitlist. How to start & scale a product business. A 12 Week programme:  thebuyerandretailcoach.com/startscalesucceedwaitlist

CONTACT METHOD
Book a call with me https://thebuyerandretailcoachltd.as.me/discoverycall
GET IN TOUCH HERE https://thebuyerandretailcoach.com/instagram/
Newsletter: https://thebuyerandretailcoach.com/newsletter-sign-up/

Do you want to launch a beauty brand in the UK? Or perhaps you already have one and are looking to grow that business? This week's episode of Start Scale Succeed is a recording of a live webinar Nicole hosted with four beauty experts where they spoke about brand identity, PR, pitching to retailers, customer reviews and testimonials and how they can help you with your business, and so much more. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Brand identity goes beyond just your logo, just because you have a product and a logo it doesn't make a brand. Brand ID is about crafting a DNA that goes beyond the here and now and leaves a lasting impression on your customer even after purchase.
• You can build a relationship between your brand and your customer by using social listening, being authentic with your content, promoting your founder story to let people connect with your story. Passion, purpose, and honesty are all things that can drive a community.
• The relationships between brands and consumers have changed in many ways. People are now more likely to share their love and promote a brand they align with, with no incentive from the brands’ side. Consumers are now also much more intelligent when it comes to buying from brands, they pick up on the ethics and social presence in a way which was never considered before.
• The Three C’s for social growth are valuable content, connection, and consistency. You need to be aware of how your brand and message are getting out there and if they are actually being understood when they’re seen.
• When using product testers for the first time, send them to a wide range of people so you can find out who really loves the product and connects with it. This can be very useful for beauty brands because people's needs are often different, and you can build a niche around the feedback.
• Margin percentages can vary from between 40/45 percent for indie boutiques to 60 percent in the larger retailers. Look at what they’re offering you for that percentage and get another set of eyes and ears to help you decide if that works for you.

BEST MOMENTS

‘Disproportionate passion builds a brand, the killer of a brand is indifference’

‘Indie brands drive communities, bigger brands drive fan bases’

‘Think of your PR as your brand storyteller’

‘Consumers are driven by information, education, and emotion’

EPISODE RESOURCES

Wendy Slattery

www.poweredxbeautybuddy.com

www.instagram.com/thebeautybuddyapp

Jacqui Ripley

www.instagram.com/jacquiripley

Faye Speedie

https://beautybulb.co.uk/

www.instagram.com/beautybulb

Linda Land

www.musecomms.co.uk

www.instagram.com@muse_communications

ABOUT THE HOST
Buying & retail expert Nicole Higgins spent the last 18 years 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. She now uses that experience and works as a consultant and coach for entrepreneurs and business owners, helping them start and scale their product businesses.
Join the Start Scale Succeed waitlist. How to start & scale a product business. A 12 Week programme:  thebuyerandretailcoach.com/startscalesucceedwaitlist

CONTACT METHOD
Book a call with me https://thebuyerandretailcoachltd.as.me/discoverycall
GET IN TOUCH HERE https://thebuyerandretailcoach.com/instagram/
Newsletter: https://thebuyerandretailcoach.com/newsletter-sign-up/

Today Nicole is joined by Laura Nolan Horgan, founder of LNH EDIT. This is a bit of a 360 podcast as Nicole chatted with Laura just as she launched her brand in Episode 9, now they catch up 2 years on. They’ll be discussing how the business has grown in that time, Laura’s biggest successes so far, as well as keeping a positive mentality as a business owner. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• LNH EDIT is a creative collection of fashion and homeware. Laura believes that every home and every person should surround themselves with little things that make them happy, so that’s why she started LNH EDIT two years ago. 
• Not everyone’s business plan works out exactly as they had hoped for. Laura has had to bring in additional support to fill in the gaps in her skill set earlier than she had planned for. Right now she has brought in someone else to run her Instagram page to get the most out of it. She also brought in help packing orders as it was taking up too much of her time. 
• Laura initially wanted to be an online focused business with occasional pop up stores. In the time since she was last on the podcast she has opened a HQ for LNH EDIT which is the business hub as well as a showroom. This space can be used for easy cost effective pop ups which she also invites other people to be involved with. 
• Laura thinks that setting up the HQ cottage is her biggest achievement so far and can see how much it’s helped her business keep up with orders and having everything under one roof. 
• LNH EDIT launch their seasonal products well in advance, the Christmas items go live before Halloween. This means that the items have longer to sell and Laura is left with less stock left over. 
• Remember that you own your email lists, if the social media you use went out of business tomorrow, you’d lose your connection to your customers. But if you properly grow your email lists you have direct communication to them without a third party being involved. 

BEST MOMENTS

‘We were up until 1am in our kitchen fulfilling orders so we had to bring in help’ 

‘It’s nice being a smaller business because you can pivot when you need to’

‘People want new all the time, I’m always looking to what’s next’

‘Our email marketing is bigger than Instagram now’

EPISODE RESOURCES

www.lnhedit.com

www.instagram.com/lauranolanhorgan

www.instagram.com/lnh_edit

ABOUT THE HOST
Buying & retail expert Nicole Higgins spent the last 18 years 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. She now uses that experience and works as a consultant and coach for entrepreneurs and business owners, helping them start and scale their product businesses.
Join the Start Scale Succeed waitlist. How to start & scale a product business. A 12 Week programme:  thebuyerandretailcoach.com/startscalesucceedwaitlist

CONTACT METHOD
Book a call with me https://thebuyerandretailcoachltd.as.me/discoverycall
GET IN TOUCH HERE https://thebuyerandretailcoach.com/instagram/
Newsletter: https://thebuyerandretailcoach.com/newsletter-sign-up/

Return guest Roo Davies, The Mojo Coach, joins Nicole today on Start Scale Succeed to discuss imposter syndrome. They’ll be talking about what imposter syndrome is, how it can show up, how it can sabotage you and your business, and most importantly what you can do about it. Find out what the 5 types of imposter syndrome are, how to spot them, and how to move away from them towards having a killer mindset. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• There are 5 types of imposter syndrome, first is The Perfectionist - “Perfectionism” is often listed as a key indicator of imposter syndrome, so it’s common that people who experience one also experience the other. Perfectionists typically set very high expectations for themselves and that even if they meet 99% of those goals, a small loss will feel like a large failure. When mistakes happen, perfectionists question their core competence, which can easily translate to feelings of imposter syndrome.
• The Natural Genius - The “natural genius” has been top of the class for as long as they can remember, and in their school days, success came relatively easily. As they grow and mature, however, they are bound to encounter scenarios where achievement doesn’t present itself as second nature, and hard work or struggle is required for their desired results. As they aren’t used to this, natural geniuses tend to suffer from imposter syndrome, feeling that the struggle to meet their goals is a sign that they lack ability and aren’t “good enough.”
• The Expert - If you’re an “expert” type, you probably prefer to spend time researching and gathering as much information as possible before you start a new project. You like to come into something new from a position of knowledge and expertise, and you probably regularly spend time looking for ways to improve your skill set or undergo extra training. However, this drive to become an “expert” can trigger imposter syndrome, holding you back from applying for jobs if you don’t meet all the criteria in the description, or preventing you from speaking up in a seminar because you’re afraid that your answer won’t be perfectly informed.
• The Superhero - “Superheroes” push themselves to work harder than everyone around them to prove that they’re not imposters. Their expectations for themselves are higher than their expectations of others, and they feel a sometimes overwhelming need to succeed in every element of their life – at work and at home. Their feelings of imposter syndrome will be triggered when one of these areas is not as strong as another. Working harder than others to prove your worthiness, or to cover up feelings of being an imposter, can quickly lead to burnout, and be detrimental to your mental health.
• The Soloist - These kinds of “imposters” struggle to reach out when they need assistance, as they feel getting help with a task invalidates their contribution or shows that their own skillset is in some way lacking. Knowing when to ask for help is a vital skill, not only in work but in life too. Asking for help is never a weakness – in fact, knowing ourselves well enough to understand when help is required can be one of our greatest strengths. It’s far more efficient, after all, to ask for help with a task than it is to spend twice as long struggling through by ourselves.
• The most useful thing of quieting your imposter syndrome voice is to be aware of it. People focus on the outcome, the fear itself, but you need to be thinking about what is causing those thoughts. What is causing that negative mental chatter? Start small with baby steps, it doesn’t need to be within your business, you can learn to tackle these things in everyday life first. 

BEST MOMENTS

‘Perfectionism and procrastination are best friends’ 

‘Imposter syndrome affects over 70% of us in our lifetime’ 

‘You can do anything, but you can’t do everything’

‘How are you sabotaging yourself? What opportunities are you missing out on?’

EPISODE RESOURCES

www.instagram.com/roodavies_themojocoach 

www.themojocoach.com

Imposter Syndrome Is Real – Here’s How to Kick it the Curb - The Mojo Coach

ABOUT THE GUEST 

Roo Davies is the go-to coach in the UK if you want to find your Passion, Positivity & Purpose. If you’re looking to rediscover your mojo, build your confidence and make things happen, she's your gal! 

Roo is a pretty unique coach as she wears a few hats… Life Coach, Business Coach, Leadership Coach, Strengths Coach and a Mentor. Whatever hat she’s wearing she helps her clients thrive in their personal, professional and business life. Roo is a qualified behavioural change coach, holds a PG Cert in Coaching and is accredited with the Institute of Leadership & Management and the Association for Coaching.

ABOUT THE HOST
Buying & retail expert Nicole Higgins spent the last 18 years 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. She now uses that experience and works as a consultant and coach for entrepreneurs and business owners, helping them start and scale their product businesses.
Join the Start Scale Succeed waitlist. How to start & scale a product business. A 12 Week programme:  thebuyerandretailcoach.com/startscalesucceedwaitlist

CONTACT METHOD
Book a call with me https://thebuyerandretailcoachltd.as.me/discoverycall
GET IN TOUCH HERE https://thebuyerandretailcoach.com/instagram/
Newsletter: https://thebuyerandretailcoach.com/newsletter-sign-up/

Today on Start Scale Succeed, Nicole is talking to Martin Durrant, mental resilience and wellbeing advocate and the founder of Out of The Grey. They’ll be chatting and giving you advice on building resilience, managing stress, and coping strategies. You’ll also get to hear Martin’s incredible story of fighting off illness all while keeping a positive mindset.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• In 2014 after 8 years of things going wrong with his body, Martin was finally diagnosed with MS. He felt this was a relief because he finally knew what was wrong with him and through finding the charity Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis, he was able to change his life for the better, not just with his health but also his diet and mental wellbeing.
• In 2021 Martin was told he had a brain tumour and because of its location, although it was operable, after surgery he’d be paralysed on his left-hand side. Martin had to learn to eat, walk, and talk again.
• Martin is actually grateful that he had MS, because if it wasn’t for this and his yearly brain scans, he would never have known about the tumour and lived to tell his story.
• When he was on the ward recovering from his surgery, Martin was the cheerleader, cheering up and keeping his fellow patients spirits high. From this experience he decided that’s what he wanted to do for a living.
• Mental resilience is the ability to bounce back and not dwell on a situation. If something bad happens, it’s okay to feel sad, resilience is the ability to get back out of that state after an appropriate amount of time.
• You can have depression and have good mental resilience, that resilience allows you to identify your feelings and actually gives you the ability to seek help easier and faster.
• Create an environment where you are looking after yourself first and foremost. Diet, exercise, having a positive mental attitude, these things do actually improve your mental health. Even if it’s just a 15 minute walk or fitting some meditation into your day.
• If you give acts of kindness, it releases serotonin into your brain and makes you feel good. It doesn’t have to be a huge action, even small ones can have a big impact.

BEST MOMENTS

‘You should be your biggest fan, not your biggest critic’

‘7 - 11 breathing is my number one trick’

‘I’ve never been a victim, I’ve never let my mindset be that’

‘Be kind to yourself, trust yourself, you’ve got the abilities’

‘I was more worried about not being able to drive than having a brain tumour’

EPISODE RESOURCES

Overcoming MS

Martin on LinkedIn

ABOUT THE HOST
Buying & retail expert Nicole Higgins spent the last 18 years 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. She now uses that experience and works as a consultant and coach for entrepreneurs and business owners, helping them start and scale their product businesses.
Join the Start Scale Succeed waitlist. How to start & scale a product business. A 12 Week programme:  thebuyerandretailcoach.com/startscalesucceedwaitlist

CONTACT METHOD
Book a call with me https://thebuyerandretailcoachltd.as.me/discoverycall
GET IN TOUCH HERE https://thebuyerandretailcoach.com/instagram/
Newsletter: https://thebuyerandretailcoach.com/newsletter-sign-up/

Today's episode of Start Scale Succeed  is a recording of an instagram with Louisa Tidy, the founder of Floragy, a natural skincare brand founded in 2019. Louisa started the company looking to rebalance her life after an exhausting retail career travelling and working too many hours. After a few years of testing and developing formulas, she launched Floragy with the ethos that ‘less is more’ keeping their ingredients to a minimum and using only key botanicals.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Louisa suffered from dry skin but as she got older she found she needed extra protection during the colder months. After some extensive research and experimenting, Louisa created recipes for skincare products which her skin reacted well to and she preferred over her usual products. 
• As a smaller brand you don’t have the buying power to source the products and work with suppliers that fit into your standards and ethics at a price you can afford. 
• Etsy charges a percentage of your total sales but one of the advantages to using it is that there are no contracts between you and the website so you’re free to sell elsewhere too. 
• The biggest challenge Louisa has faced is not knowing where to spend money. Does she spend more on the website or on photography, what is going to give her the best return for her investment. 
• Make sure you have confidence in what you’re doing, your product, and your service. Don’t be tempted to get lost in what your competitors are doing, if you’re getting good feedback then keep focused on your brand ideals. 

BEST MOMENTS
‘There’s always more we can do to work with local suppliers’
‘Putting your brand out there is like putting yourself out there personally’
‘I’m not as much of a risk taker as I’d like to think’ 

EPISODE RESOURCES
Floragy Skincare

ABOUT THE GUEST
"I was exhausted after a full on career travelling and working too many hours and wanted to take some time to rebalance my life. I’d always suffered from dry skin but as I’ve got older I’ve found I need extra protection during the colder months. After some extensive research and experimenting I created a few recipes for skincare products which my skin reacted well to, and I preferred over my usual products. I noticed how expensive natural skincare could be to buy and wanted to create a range of products which were accessible to everyone while maintaining a natural ingredient list which was easy to understand."

ABOUT THE HOST
Buying & retail expert Nicole Higgins spent the last 18 years 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. She now uses that experience and works as a consultant and coach for entrepreneurs and business owners, helping them start and scale their product businesses.
Join the Start Scale Succeed waitlist. How to start & scale a product business. A 12 Week programme:  thebuyerandretailcoach.com/startscalesucceedwaitlist

CONTACT METHOD
Book a call with me https://thebuyerandretailcoachltd.as.me/discoverycall
GET IN TOUCH HERE https://thebuyerandretailcoach.com/instagram/
Newsletter: https://thebuyerandretailcoach.com/newsletter-sign-up/

Today’s episode is centred around giving you advice on growing your business with ChatGPT. To do that Nicole is joined on Start Scale Succeed by founder of Mother Cuppa Tea, Candice Mason. If you’re new to AI, then this is the perfect place to start as we’ll be discussing what ChatGPT is, what it can do for your business, how to use it, and what its limitations are. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• When Candice launched Mother Cuppa Tea she was aware that she had to build an audience through a pre-launch strategy. This led her to doing the social media marketing including the planning, captioning, editing. She had help from two other people writing blogs and writing content for the website. That is a lot of hours of work for three people to do, which could have been reduced with AI.
• ChatGPT is a website powered by artificial intelligence that can write content for you on almost any subject for any format you need. It is popular above other similar services because you can add a tone or style to the pieces it creates. 
• Candice personally likes to use Jasper, rather than ChatGPT because it suits her needs and personal style. There are so many companies doing AI generated content now, even Canva. 
• You can use services like ChatGPT to generate keywords for you and do research into your potential audience in the pre-launch phase of your business. You can literally go on there and type ‘what do people who like herbal tea also like’ and it will give you information you can use. 
• You can spend anywhere from £25 to £300 for someone to write a blog for you, but by using AI and then editing in her own personality, Candice publishes two blog posts a week taking a fraction of the time at no cost. 
• Google Search Console is a free service offered by Google that helps you monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot your site's presence in Google Search results.

BEST MOMENTS

‘I knew nothing about keywords before I started this business’

‘Even though it is creating a lot of the content, I’m going back and adding in my own personality’

‘I’m using this to give Google as much information as possible to boost my rankings’

‘Don’t be scared of AI, it’s not going away it’s just getting better’

EPISODE RESOURCES

Mother Cuppa Tea

https://www.instagram.com/mother_cuppatea/

AI links 

https://www.jasper.ai/

https://chatgpt.com/#/

https://www.canva.com/magic-write/

https://answerthepublic.com/

https://search.google.com/search-console/about

ABOUT THE GUEST 

“I am Candice, founder of Mother Cuppa - and yes, it’s an intentional play on words! I am mother to a stroppy but adorable teen and wife to James, a husband who has yet to fully learn how to turn the washing machine on and whose idea of cooking dinner is re-heating something I made the night before! 

Like many of you I seem to be in a state of semi-midlife crisis, when children are growing, hormones are changing and yet the pace of life appears to get busier. 

I wanted to use my knowledge from training as a tea sommelier and my interest in plant power to help other women, just like me and to establish something for myself, that inspires me, fits with my values and that I 100% believe in!”

ABOUT THE HOST
Buying & retail expert Nicole Higgins spent the last 18 years 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. She now uses that experience and works as a consultant and coach for entrepreneurs and business owners, helping them start and scale their product businesses.
Join the Start Scale Succeed waitlist. How to start & scale a product business. A 12 Week programme:  thebuyerandretailcoach.com/startscalesucceedwaitlist

CONTACT METHOD
Book a call with me https://thebuyerandretailcoachltd.as.me/discoverycall
GET IN TOUCH HERE https://thebuyerandretailcoach.com/instagram/
Newsletter: https://thebuyerandretailcoach.com/newsletter-sign-up/

Today, host Nicole is joined by Nicole Giordano, founder of StartUp FASHION, an online community and business resource helping independent startup fashion designers around the world to take action, make progress, and reach their entrepreneurial goals. Nicole Giordano is on Start Scale Succeed this week to talk all about your pre-launch content strategy.  

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• One of Nicole Giordano’s top tips for your pre-launch strategy is to embrace the idea that you have to start the marketing process way before you have anything to sell. She sees people with their heads down in product development and then wondering why their launch failed. 
• Any content strategy has to begin with a very clear understanding of your ideal customer. Really zoom in on the word ‘ideal’ because this is where you decide who to serve with your product and who your content should be greed towards. 
• Get clear on your pre-launch goals and develop content specifically for achieving those goals. The three goals Nicole develops with her clients are racing people, converting people, and finally nurturing people. 
• One of the most effective ways Nicole has seen recently of business owners actually getting potential customers to sign up to their mailing list pre-launch is to create a quiz. Make sure the title is clear and that you’re actually making a quiz that they care about. 
• Ask yourself these questions about your ideal customer and then use that information to make content for them. What do they value, how do they spend their time, what do they care about, etc. 
• Six months before your product launches you should be out there building a community. There is no such thing as too soon and if you’re waiting until 3 months before launch you might have waited too long. 

BEST MOMENTS

‘When you launch they should feel like they know you and you know them’

‘Give them a reason to be on your mailing list’ 

‘Ask yourself what is the brand I’m building’

‘Your superpower in the the pre-launch phase is that you’re not trying to sell them anything’

‘You don’t have to post every day, just bring them on the journey’

EPISODE RESOURCES
https://startupfashion.com/
StartUp FASHION® • Nicole, Fashion Business Coach (@startupfashion) • Instagram photos and videos

ABOUT THE GUEST
Hey, I’m Nicole. I’m the founder of StartUp FASHION. I began this business because I wanted to create a place for designers who cared more about building a business than creating a fashion label. And by that I mean, those designers who have entrepreneurial dreams and the determination to bring them to life.

ABOUT THE HOST
Buying & retail expert Nicole Higgins spent the last 18 years 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. She now uses that experience and works as a consultant and coach for entrepreneurs and business owners, helping them start and scale their product businesses.
Join the Start Scale Succeed waitlist. How to start & scale a product business. A 12 Week programme:  thebuyerandretailcoach.com/startscalesucceedwaitlist

CONTACT METHOD
Book a call with me https://thebuyerandretailcoachltd.as.me/discoverycall
GET IN TOUCH HERE https://thebuyerandretailcoach.com/instagram/
Newsletter: https://thebuyerandretailcoach.com/newsletter-sign-up/

Are you planning on selling your product business in the future? Do you want to have a better understanding of how it could be valued, what you should have in place, and what you need to know? If so you’re in luck because today Nicole is joined by Mark Fitzgerald Cooke, MD of Intelligent Business Partners, a UK based company who act as a broker for businesses that want to buy and sell companies from startups to multi million pound brands. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The top things Mark looks at when valuing a business are turnover, gross and net profit, and the ownership structure. The reason that last point is so important is because the more valuable an owner is to the business, the less valuable that business is. 
• As a business owner looking to sell, you should make sure your business can run without you by having the right key staff in place. If you are the one doing a large part of the work, then whoever buys your business will have to replace you, making it a riskier investment. 
• The value of the brand has to stand on its own and not be attached to you as an individual when you’re looking to sell your business. In cases where this does happen, there may be a period of time that the owner stays with the business after the sale. 
• Before selling your business you need to make sure the following are addressed. Firstly your mindset, take a step back because it will be a huge change in your life. Secondly, make sure you know your finances, get them in order before looking to sell. Thirdly, look at your contracts, make sure your staff, HR, compliance, GDPR, client contracts, etc are all secure and up to date. 
• Broadly speaking you’re looking at a timescale of six to eighteen months for your business to sell. This can obviously vary depending on industry, size of business, etc. 

BEST MOMENTS

‘They will want to know the finances before they even meet the owner’

‘97% of people will never buy or sell a business and most will only do it once’

‘Remember that you can only sell what you can evidence’

‘One individual doesn't scale’ 

‘The number one killer of deals is time’

EPISODE RESOURCES

Company website  https://www.intelligent.co.uk/

Email Mark [email protected]

Linked in https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-fitzgerald-cooke-a693662/

ABOUT THE HOST
Buying & retail expert Nicole Higgins spent the last 18 years 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. She now uses that experience and works as a consultant and coach for entrepreneurs and business owners, helping them start and scale their product businesses.
Join the Start Scale Succeed waitlist. How to start & scale a product business. A 12 Week programme:  thebuyerandretailcoach.com/startscalesucceedwaitlist

CONTACT METHOD
Book a call with me https://thebuyerandretailcoachltd.as.me/discoverycall
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Today Nicole is joined by Laura Chambers, founder of Laura Chambers Cashmere. The two are going to be discussing her brand, why she set it up, and all the background and advice she can give to help you when it comes to starting and scaling your business. Listen in to find out the best advice Laura has ever received and the challenges she faced in the fashion industry. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Laura Chambers Cashmere began when Laura started casually knitting for herself after she closed her womenswear boutique, Tulle, Dublin, back in 2008. Laura ordered some yarn and started making pieces for herself on her knitting machine, which was last used when Laura was studying for a BA in fashion in NCAD in Dublin. This grew to knitting for family and friends and in 2016 she decided to take it to the next level and Laura Chambers the brand was born.
• Laura uses the finest quality Scottish Cashmere from Todd & Duncan in all of her pieces. Todd and Duncan is a long-established mill that dates back to 1867 and they were among the first to start spinning fine cashmere fibre. The cashmere they use originates from mountain dwelling goats that have adapted to the extreme temperatures of the Gobi Desert.
• Colour is really important to Laura and to her customers so she picks the most flattering and vibrant colours she can find. She gets inspiration from themes like glam rock or colours she sees out in nature. Green sells really well especially in the Irish market. 
• Because Laura Chambers Cashmere knit locally, they can actually adjust things for their customers, giving them a more bespoke premium experience and maximising customer satisfaction. It’s about 50/50 made to order. 
• The best piece of business advice Laura ever received was to do the Sive O’Brien three step brand magic course. Her advice really helped Laura take her business to the next level through Identifying her ideal customers. 
• When it comes to influencers and gifting, you have to target the right people whose followers align with your brand. Just because someone has more followers that doesn’t mean it will generate more or even any sales. 

BEST MOMENTS

‘If you can hear the knitting machine then don’t come in’ 

‘I don’t over think the business side because I’ve been around long enough’

‘It’s a beautiful quality and I wouldn’t compromise on that at all’ 

‘You need to find out who your customer is, what she likes and what she wants’

‘Your business isn’t viable if you’re not selling’

EPISODE RESOURCES

https://www.laura-chambers.com/

Instagram laurachambers_cashmere 

SIVE OB Brand Marketing And Communications Consultant

ABOUT LAURA CHAMBERS CASHMERE

“Laura Chambers - feel good cashmere, hand loomed in Dublin using the highest quality Scottish and Italian cashmere to elevate and colour your everyday.

With a focus on beautiful, relaxed knitwear designed in sublime cashmere, in  a spectrum  of colours with incredible depth and vibrancy that will lift your spirits and inject bold colour into your wardrobe.

Our designs are classic in shape with a casual but modern design aesthetic. Each garment is given a twist with unusual block colour combinations and small but individual details on cuffs or necklines. Because each piece is hand loomed and hand finished the feel of the finished garment is one that is not the same as a factory produced cashmere.”

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

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