Sam Hobson - Optic Interview

Business Name?
Optic

Business Product?
Casual Clothing, Custom Clothing, Custom printing. Also Rider Management, Event management.

Who is your market?
Extreme sports athletes and fans.

How long has your business been established?
about 12 months

Do you have a website? If so who was the web design company?
We do currently have one under construction,www.opticltd.com. We have done the design and a friend is coding it for us!

Any unexpected expenditures?
Yeah, travel and expenses on events cost quite a lot. printer ink! costs a fortune. Mis-printed jobs and mistakes can be quite costly too.

What percentage gets spent on overheads?
Its difficult to say as i work from home and we haven't done our 1st year end accounts but id say about 25%


Do you sell directly to consumers or business users?
We sell both to trade and directly to consumers. Bulk to trade and stockists is good to generate steady turnover to enable us to get into the VAT threshold. Selling directly to consumers is cool for us at the moment as the profit margin is a lot bigger!

Can you give me a guide on what the profit margins are? ie. selling directly to a consumer and to a business user?
Typically, for example a T-Shirt will cost us £1.20 + vat. Printed they cost us £1.71. We sell those to trade customers for £9 and they Retail at £15 so the margin is 40% to trade.

How have you funded the set up of your business?
I got a job in a pub and worked for ages and didn't go out!

How do you publicise your product?
We Advertise by sponsoring riders and events with the clothing. Mainly our target market is Mostly males between ages 12-25. Kids love cool new clothing and stickers and anything they can get for free so we have tons of stickers to give away. We also use facebook which is super handy for getting at loads of people for free and relatively easily!

Which publicising method attributed your business the most?
Organising events and sponsoring pro riders!

How have Art & Craft Fairs/Trade shows attributed your product?
We haven't done any trade shows, we take stalls to major events to sell from and in november we will have a stand at the Dirtbike Show which is part trade part consumer so im yet to see how that goes!

What do you expect to happen in the next 12 months?
We will launch the website and gain some more structure to the business. More events and more coverage, magazine advertising and we have just set up a race team, we are working with some more industry companies to provide support packages for racers.

In what ways have you used google to advertise your product?
we aint!

How has your business been involved in fundraising?
We have given some free stuff to some charity events as prizes and some signed shirts by one of our pro riders to a charity auction.

Like you I would like to set up my own business but in Stationary, do you have any advice on setting up your own business?
Id say, put 200% into it or it wont get off the ground! get up early and stay up late! Try and use every possible contact you can to give yourself the upper hand on the competition. Try and be individual and different and give people a cast iron reason to buy your product over the others. Also be organised, once the paperwork gets out of hand its a big job to get everything sorted out again and it does nothing for your morale! make sure you stay motivated and try to work with other people if you work at home, its so easy to get lazy and not be productive! Also let people know what you're doing, you will be surprised how keen people will be to help out in any way possible, spreading the word or anything they can do. Also just go for it, there's never a good time these days so just get it done, i gave myself no other options so i had to make money or i had none!

Summary: Optic are a new business, I've found it relevant to speak to them because they are more fresh and going through the early stages to business set up which is what I will be doing next year. They have clear and good business strategies to optimise the best advertising for the company.

Cez Brown - Livid Thorn Interview

Business Name?
Livid Thorn Clothing

Business Product?
Printed clothing and accessories

Who is your market?
Target audience is predominantly both genders ages 15-23

What is your actual market?
Usually people who like alternative music

How long has your business been established?
Around 5 years

Do you have a website? If so who was the web designer?
Yes, natalie wood

Any unexpected expenditures?
Not really, we keep within budgets well and do a lot of research

What percentage gets spent on overheads?
No idea sorry, usually nat's job!

Do you sell directly to consumers or business users?
We have done in the past

Can you give me a guide on what the profit margins are? ie. selling directly to a consumer and to a business user?
Not allowed to say! Though generally what you would expect typically from a business

How have you funded the set up of your business?
We started it with £25 each and built it from there

How do you publicise your product?
Social networking, newsetters

Which publicising method attributed your business the most?
Myspace when they used to promo us on the homepage

How have Art & Craft Fairs/Trade shows attributed your product?
Creates new awareness to people who we would maybe not find online, also gives opportunity to actually see the products

What do you expect to happen in the next 12 months?
A lot has changed this year and we are discussing new lines, but we're so busy we don't know!

In what ways have you used google to advertise your product?
Tried adwords once, also optimise the site for better search results

How has your business been involved in fundraising?
Worked for a whie with peta2

Like you I would like to set up my own business but in Stationary, do you have any key advice on setting up your own business?
A LOT of research and trying to find suppliers. Be very determined and set yourself clear goals to achieve. Dont expect to do really well all at once, it takes a long time. Getting an accountant was one of the best things we ever did as it actually saves you a lot of money in the long run. Keep ALL receipts too!

Summary: I've known of Livid Thorn since there establishment. There market is very similar to mine. Social networking sites have really helped publise their company.

Natasha Clayton - Rebel Rocks Interview

Rebel Rocks started in July 2010 by Natasha Clayton, she sells handmade jewellery & accessories with some custom orders and gift boxes. She works at home. Natasha currently sells her work through an online shop on Facebook, payments are made via Paypal. This was an emailed interview.

Business Name?
Rebel Rocks (London)

What inspires your product design?Tattoos, Rockabilly, sweets, music.

Where did your business idea come from?
To be honest I came up with the idea because I was so bored with my full time office job, fed up with working for someone else and making them rich! lol, and always being skint! I wanted to make extra money by doing something fun. I still have the boring office job, for now!

Who is your target audience?
Mostly young women around the 18-30 age group. It is a very social age group and I thought that they would be more likely to spend money on fashion jewellery than any other age groupor sex. I have tried not to appeal to one type of person though (eg. just scene kids etc) as figured that would narrow my audience.

What is your actual target audience?
As well as 18-30 year old women, I have also received orders from older people and as well as customised jewellery to fit children, so I am pleased that it is appealing to a wider audience.

Any unexpected expenditures?
Not yet! I pretty much had planned for everything I would need to pay out for, tools, materials, packaging, advertising. No nasty surprises yet! I have purchased my domain names for mywebsite however haven't set the site up yet. I'm currently learning Photoshop then want to go onto Illustrator/Web Design so I'm hoping I can save money by setting it up myself.

Are your profits what you expected?
To be honest I really didn't know what to expect, I hoped to at least break even to start off with, however sales are better than I expected, especially considering how new the business is. I wanted to start selling my items at low prices to start with, so as to attract more customers and make my name known, so although I am making a profit its not huge right now.

Have you received any funding?
Nope. I pay for everything myself.
How do you publise your product?
At the moment I publicise on social networking sites - Facebook and MySpace. These sites are used by such a wide range of people I thought it would be a good place to start advertising. It is also free, so that helps! Also by word of mouth, if people are happy with my product I'm hoping that they will spread the word!
I own my domain names and will be setting up my website in due course.

What do you expect to happen in the next 12 months?
I have no idea what to expect. I have always believed that if you don't expect too much then you will never be disappointed. Of course I'm hoping that my business will become more well known and popular, and make a bigger profit. Within the next 12 months I am hoping tostart designing and printing my own clothing - t-shirts, vests and hoodies for women and women, and t-shirts and vests for babies.

Did/Have you considered an online shop/a retail shop?
When the website is set up customers will be able to buy online. I love the idea of having my own shop. But I don't think that will be happening any time soon!

How have Art & Craft Fairs retributed your product?As my business is so new I have not sold my products at any fairs or markets yet. I am hoping that I will be able to do this next year.

What percentage gets spent on overheads?
I work from home, in my spare time, so no shop or office to pay out for. Pretty much everything I sell at the moment is made my hand so the biggest expenditure at the moment is my time.

Are you an independent seller?
Yes.
Do you sell through commissions/distributors?
No.

What is your price range?
At the moment my cheapest product is £1 and the most expensive is £11.

Crown Earrings £2.50, Cherry Necklace £3.50, Cupcake Necklace £6.00, gift box £1.50

Has your business been involved in fundraising?
Not yet but I would be willing to get involved with this kind of thing once by business is more well known.

How long have you had your own business set up?
I made my first items in June 2010 and set the Facebook and MySpace up in July 2010.

Like you I would like to set up my own business but in Stationary, do you have any advice on setting up your own business?
Make a list of everything you need to get started: materials, tools and equipment, packaging, advertising... and how much it will all cost. Is there anyone that can help you out advertising wise? Do lots of research online to see what other products are out there and try to make yours unique. Also research materials suppliers as there are millions and you can usually find the same items much cheaper if you look around. Think about how much it will cost you to make an item, how much of your time it will take to make it, and what you will sell it for. Go with your own ideas, thats what will make your product 'you'. Good luck! :)

An extract from Rebel Rocks bio on their site -
Inspired by: Kitsch, Tattoos, Graffiti, Junk, Trash, Kids, Punk, Emo, Rock, Kawaii, Pin-up girls, Rockabilly, Cupcakes, Vintage, Disney, Dolly, Hair, Cute, Movies, Art, Sweets, Snowboarding, Motocross, Surfing, Indie, Music, Anime, Scene.

Emily Wardman Interview

Emily Wardman's stall is very well presented, her products which are mainly hand printed motifs on a variety of products such bags, kitchen towels and hand stitched decorative replicas of owls, birds and dolls are being hung on string from brown pegs, while the placement of the products doesn't look over crowded and the colours are very fresh. Ideally situated as the second stall in from the front. Emily Wardman is an independent seller but is supported by friends and family who sit with her and knit products for her shop.

Your stall seems to be doing really well today?

Yeah we've had a constant stream of people.

Have you had many sales?

I've not done too bad, but I've not had as many as I'd of liked so far.

How long have you had your own business set up?

It's all relatively new, since I graduated this year from Uni.

Do you have your products on any other outlet?

Yes, I have an online store on folksy.com

Oh right, I've not heard of folksy.com, what is it?

It's the English version of Esty.com, a networking shop outlet. It's really good for showing you how many sales you've made, how many people are following your shops and it also has on the website a 'making' section so you can learn new crafts and a forum, so you can get involved in daily chats and discussions which has been really good for me building contacts.

Do you have to be computer literate to use it?

No it's really easy to use, with a step by step guide on how to set up your own shop with the paying system included. It's really straight forward.

How does the paying system work?

The paying system is Paypal and it runs along side the site. The buyer has a shopping cart and when they come to buy it is through Paypal.

Do you use this business solely as your income now or do you have another job?

Right now it is not possible as the business is new, but I would like it to take off so it is just my sole income.

Like you I would like to set up my own business but in Stationary, do you have any advice on setting up your own business?

My advice would be publisise your product as much as possible, promotions is really good. If you're going to go down the online route it is important to attend as many art & craft fairs as possible because as well as building contacts you are showing your products to the public and generating awareness.

You can find Emily Wardmans shop on www.folksy.com/edify. Looking at her shop I have noticed she has had only 1 sale, which suggests to me the craft fair was probably more successful. Looking at the site you can tell it's a really competitive market of similar products. There seems to be a lot of 'cutesy' designs that include cupcakes, birds and Russian Dolls. On a site of this scale having a similar theme of work through out it you can see why it might be hard for your product to sell when there are too many of the same styles on it.

The forum and 'making' session of the site though would be very useful for building contacts and learning new skills.

With my theme of work I can't see where I would fit in but it might be exciting to see if it develops new trends on the site, it might be what is needed.

Phoenix Trade Interview

Sue Summersgill is holding Phoenix Trade stall at the Vernon Park Art & Crafts Fair. They are situated at the end of the run of stalls as doesn't seem to be holding interest for very long. This could be because its stall is placed near the cafe and as the rain wasn't holding off for very long, people may have be more inclined to take cover for the indoors. The stall has a huge range of cards, but they all look too similar. It also has homemade cupcakes, which you would think would draw attention to the stall but with a cupcake stall being situated just a few stalls down I don't think they were selling too well.

Are you an independent stall holder?

I work as a Trader for Phoenix Trade an independent card publishing house, that sells work from multiple designers.

Do Phoenix Trade sell their work through outlets as well as through independent stalls?

No, Phoenix Trade only sell their cards through direct contact.

How many designers work for Phoenix Trade?

There are roughly 78 designers working for the team.

What are your most popular designs?

At Art & Craft fairs the cards with a more handmade style sell well. In this season (Autumn) our Christmas Card ranges sell well too.

How many designers work are on this stall today?

There are 25 designers work on this stall, ranging from 12-16 cards per collection.

Can anyone submit their work to Phoenix Trade?

Yes as long as they are presented well. We receive samples off designers and they get work through commission.

What is the price range?

£1.20 each or £1 each for 10+ cards.

Has Phoenix Trade ever got involved in fundraising?

Yes we have raised over £500,000 for charities since we have been established (for 14 years) through our exclusive christmas card range, to charities such as Cancer Research and Childrens Hospice UK.

Have you had much interest in your stall today?

Yes we've had a lot of interests and sales have been okay.

Do you have a website?

Yes you can find us on www.phoenix-trading.co.uk

Phoenix Trade are in the Top 10 Publishing Houses in the UK.

Cards are recyclable as they don't use any chlorine chemicals or other adhesives. Although printed on the back of every Phoenix Trade card says "paper from sustainable forest sources" Phoenix Trade say that this isn't entirely true as there isn't a sustainable forest source in either Europe or the States as legalisation is so tight.

Their cards are normally blank inside so that they can suit any occasion.

Interviews

Ideally I would like to interview people within the Stationary industry. I'm keen to talk about numbers, profit margins, overheads, publishers, card production, retailers, material suppliers, market strategies, cliental and tradeshow experiences as this is all very relevant towards developing my understanding in that market and setting up my own business is something I would like to achieve myself in the next year. As I would like to sell other products as well I see it as just as important to interview other businesses as any information is potentially going to help me further my knowledge.