As this month sees Small Business Saturday, part of a campaign which highlights small business success, Rosanna Greenstreet takes a closer look at some local entrepreneurs...
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Liz Viney, 54, lives in Surbiton. A keen gardener, she set up The Little Hanging Garden Company after she was made redundant.
"I was at a total loss when I was made redundant from my job in adult social care at the end of last year. I struggled to find work and had to sign up at the job centre. In the first three months I spiralled into a black hole. It was while I was at my lowest ebb that I happened to be looking for a birthday present and found what was described as a ‘living wreath’. I loved the idea of having something different from a standard hanging basket that you could plant up and hang either in or outdoors. But all the stockists were in America and I could not find a similar supplier in England. I couldn’t even find a supplier of the frames to make one up myself. So I convinced my husband Chris, who is a painter and decorator, to make me a frame and after many prototypes we got it right.
“The first frame I made contained herbs and got a positive response from everyone I showed. Feeling inspired, I mentioned my idea to my job centre work coach who immediately made me an appointment to see a government business start-up advisor, who said, ‘Excellent idea, go for it.’ I had to keep in close contact with a business mentor and I signed up to do a ‘Develop your Enterprise’ course at Richmond College which teaches you about starting a small business. I had to do a business plan and was awarded a small start-up loan of £2,500 and The Little Hanging Garden Company was born. Since then I have not looked back.
“I make living wreaths which are priced from £35, kokedama from £10 and terrariums from £5.50 and I sell at local markets (I am doing Christmas fairs in Ham Dec 2, Richmond Dec 3 and Wimbledon Dec 10). People can also email liz.viney@btinternet.com or contact me via Facebook: facebook.com/The-Little-Hanging-Garden-Company."
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Caroline Jones
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Caroline Jones
Kathryn Baldrey-Chourio, 37, lives in Kingston. A former teacher, she established Nana’s Manners which makes children’s cutlery.
"I taught in a primary school in Kingston when the coalition brought in free school lunches. Suddenly we had a room of four and five year olds eating with knives and forks and it was chaos. We had to restructure our timetable so teachers and extra staff could help the children. I thought, ‘This is mad, I wouldn’t give kids a fountain pen when they are learning to write, why would you give them a straight knife and fork and expect them to know how to hold it?’ So I designed some cutlery and made it out of modelling clay. My husband and I found an agency that could digitalise my dodgy clay models and then we applied for the patent. Neither of us has a background in product design, we learnt it all as we went along.
“Last year, we did some crowdfunding which we used as a market research tool, and then we started the manufacturing process. In April 2017, we applied for Dragon’s Den on a whim and, to our astonishment, they phoned us two days later and asked us to come to the BBC in London. We only got our first batch of stock in May so at that point we only had two samples!
“Dragon’s Den was scary, there’s a lot of waiting around which only adds to your anticipation. Our appearance was edited down to about 10 minutes but we were there for almost two hours answering questions. In the end the dragons were all really nice, Peter Jones and Deborah Meaden were the first to opt out, but Touker [Suleyman] offered us all of the money [£50,000] for a third of the business. The knife and fork is our launch product and now, with Touker on board, we plan to grow into a brand which makes products to help children become confident and independent.”
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Julia Kelly, 47, lives in Teddington. A former knitwear designer, she founded Meemoobaby which makes the Meelight.
"When I breastfed my children at night, I struggled to see what I was doing without waking up my husband. I had an old fashioned portable light that I rested in the crook of my arm, but I kept thinking that it would be so much better if I could attach a light to my clothing. After I had my third daughter, I told my brother Steve, who is an electronic engineer, about my idea for the Meelight and asked if we could do it. He said, ‘That’s easy, of course we can!’ It hasn’t been easy, developing any electronic product is not for the faint-hearted. We used a London company for the three dimensional design but it’s impossible to make an electronic product in this country in terms of cost, so everyone makes in China.
“The Meelight costs £44.99. It’s small but there is a lot of engineering and design inside to make the light gentle so you don’t completely wake up baby or yourself. Some nightlights on the market are bright white light and bad for sleep, just as screens are. My girls are now 15, 13 and 10, and my eldest has a Meelight to give a gentle glow at night. Even though the primary function is for breastfeeding there are other uses. We’ve had people saying, ‘My child is diabetic and I have to be up at night to check their blood sugar and until now I have been using my phone torch.’
“We launched just over a year ago and we have a UK distributor called Cheeky Rascals who sell direct to the public on their website but also to retailers. Month on month sales are increasing and we have wonderful feedback from customers saying the Meelight has changed their lives. It’s been a long journey, there have been rollercoaster ups and downs. I never thought I could work so hard and juggle three children, I never thought I had it in me!”
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