Do your research
You can wobble on the precipice of starting a business for some time, says Katy Davies, founder of Ecojiko, a plastic-free online store. It’s important to use that time to research your market, product range and target audience. “There’s a lot of work that goes on before you launch. It’s mainly about trying to find the right product. I got lots of different samples from all over the world,” she says. CBI Insights has found 35% of startups fail because they haven’t found a market need, focusing on a problem that’s interesting to solve instead. Once you think you have the right product, start small, adds Davies. “Just buy 100 of one item to test it. We started with our zero-waste kitchen starter kit and it grew from there.”
Put yourself out there
Caroline Bee says she was “shaking like a leaf” the first time she approached a stockist about her beeswax food wrap brand, Bee Retro. “But you’ve got to be proactive and have faith that people will love what you do. And the ones that don’t, don’t matter.” Founders should also be open to evolving their target audience, she adds. Originally she was approaching craft shops but has found high-end food shops make much more sense. And there have been surprises, too. “We’re in the Eden Project, Paignton zoo, Newquay airport. It’s not always [who] you think it’s going to be when you start out.”
