Birthday Ideas & Advice

Starting your own business can be one of the most daunting things you can do. It takes courage and vision, bucket loads of hard work, cart loads of determination and a pinch of good luck, all of that and you’re still only half way there. No one prepares you for what it’s really going to take and I’m not going to try to either. What I am going to do is begin to share my story and my experience of starting my own business. By reading this series of articles you can begin to understand the trials and tribulations you’re considering facing when you contemplate starting your business from funding and premises in this first article to problems, suppliers, customer care and more later on! So, as the saying goes, let’s start at the very beginning……..

In the beginning….

In early 2005 I decided to leave university and launch my own company Inthepaper. I didn’t find it a hugely difficult decision because I’d always wanted to do my own thing, run my own business and be my own boss. I guess up until that point I’d assumed it was something that everyone wanted but that some people just did and others didn’t. I’d never taken the time to understand that some people genuinely don’t want to run their own business and that it is something that touches only a few.

First Steps

I had my ‘idea’ as it was at the time, basically a concept for a product that no one seemed to be offering at the time and that was it. That was all I had. I knew my product would be hugely popular as birthday gifts or anniversary gifts so I started looking around other websites offering these. The first few steps are the hardest because you don’t really know where or how to start. It’s so easy to give up before you even start at this point. I so often hear people say ‘I just wouldn’t know where to start’ and this is the first hurdle to overcome. I got round this in a few ways; firstly I talked. I talked to everyone who would listen about my idea and my plans for a business, some people just offered encouragement but the odd one had some gems to offer and even the odd contact to share. One thing I garnered from one such conversation was that there was a lot of free advice and help out there for business start ups. Call me naïve but this hadn’t occurred to me. So I immediately began contacting organisations such as Businesslink, Access for Business, the local council etc and found out what was out there in terms of advice and funding.

Funding

This brings me to my next hurdle; funding. Yes, it’s a biggie and one I get asked about all the time. The fact is that if you are going to start your own business you are going to have to put a lot of money into it both at start up and once its up and running. I was lucky to have the support of family and friends and my own savings to get me started, add this to the grant I was hugely pleased to get from Businesslink and I was set. Many are not so lucky in terms of start up funding. A lot of people I have spoken to over the years have had to beg and borrow to get the business going – the basic message in all the success stories has been determination. You can make things happen, you just have to keep trying.

If you are going to approach banks make sure you are completely prepared before hand. This is a bit like Dragons Den in as much as – you need to know your figures. Be careful not to book an appointment with your bank manager and go along asking for £20,000 without a precise plan and idea of where it’s going. Particularly in this economic climate you need to show you will succeed and that you have some security to offer just in case.

Something that worked well for me was taking advantage of the free help and advice made available through government programs. At first these meetings can feel like a waste of time, talking about business plans and projections when all you want to do is go out and make things happen. I was patient and it paid off. Several business advisors that I met during these embryonic stages are still working with me today. Significantly these advisors are very up to date with what government funding is available and many will walk you through application. Whenever I am considering a new project I always consult my business advisor – I had no idea how well spent this time would actually be.

Premises

Having talked to many colleagues and friends who have started their own businesses, we all seem to enjoy looking back at our hunt for premises. This is such a big thing in your mind when you are starting a business, you have a vision of exactly what you want but finding it and affording it are completely different things.

Obviously the nature of your business may well dictate the sort of premises you’re looking for. Mine didn’t. I knew early on that In the paper was going to be an online business for birthday gifts etc which I could basically run from anywhere. Having a relative in the property market helped here and he was kind enough to show me a few local offices. I took a small office in a rural village about 30 minutes from my home. Looking back there were a lot of things I didn’t consider when taking this office that later became problems.

Firstly, space. I took a small office because it was all that was available and all I could afford but it wasn’t long before I didn’t have enough space for stock.

Secondly, I didn’t consider expansion at all. While I dreamed of running a successful business with a dozen or more staff I didn’t hold this in my head when I was looking for premises. I took the ‘I’ll be chuffed to have that problem to deal with’ attitude – guess what, I wasn’t! When I’d expanded to 4 staff and no space to produce orders I realised I should have thought about it a bit more. At this point I got so lucky and a company moved from a large office on the floor below me. I was more thoughtful this time and considered further expansion. The landlord informed me that there were 2 offices adjoining mine that I could expand into in the future and that the side of my new office had a plaster board wall which could be removed for stock storage in the future if I needed it. A few weeks later I had too much space and only had to move down a flight of stairs.

One thing to consider before taking on premises (and this really stung me!) – check out grants and funding before you sign! I applied for a grant and was approved only to be turned down after they found out I had an office. I didn’t realise that this was one of the criteria but there are a lot of grants available towards premises so it’s well worth looking into that before you start looking into buildings.

Location was something I didn’t have to massively consider. Because Inthepaper was going to be an online company I didn’t need a high street presence nor a city location. Being in such a rural village did (and does!) have its downsides but nothing major. You choice of premises depends so much on the type of business you are starting but do consider practical things like: proximity to a bank, broadband connections, neighbours, parking, mail collections etc.

Next

That concludes the first of my Business Start Up series. Still to come: problems, suppliers, customer care, recruiting, staff issues, expansion, credit crunch.

About the Author

Rebecca Philipson is an entrepreneur from the North East of England.

A little over seven years ago I approached a greeting card company about starting a line of greeting cards.  The planets must have been aligned right because the company agreed to give it a try…and it worked!  We sell hundreds of thousands of cards a year through out the world.  The images have also been used in gift books, printed on checks, used on calendars, posters, journals and even coffee mugs.  Through this experience I have learned a few things, which I now hope to pass on to you.

To Self-Publish or Not?

If you want to make any appreciable money I would rule out self-publishing.  Sure, you get to keep a much larger percentage of the money, but you have to ask yourself if want to sell photos or run a publishing company.  Without going into a lot of detail, just think of the logistics of printing, selling, delivering, invoicing, collecting, dealing with returns…hopefully you get the idea.  Just for a quick example, I was once on the phone with a photographer who was starting his own greeting card company.  He said he had to end the call because the printer had just delivered 250,000 greeting cards, and they were folded wrong!  Can you imagine? No thanks!  His greeting card company is no longer around.

Finding a Publisher

To find a publisher just go to where greeting cards are sold and see who is publishing what.  Your best chance to interest a publisher is to find one who carries the kind of work that you do.  A publisher who distributes vintage Black and White humor cards is not likely to be interested in your close up flower shots.

Too, you have a much better chance of catching a publishers interest if you present a series rather than just one or two images.  If I were looking for a publisher at this point I would mock-up a dozen cards, complete with inside text.  The cards would work together.  Some would be birthday cards and some would be for other holidays. Make it easy for a potential publisher to visualize what they would be selling.

Fee or Royalty?

If you believe in your images, take the royalty.  The first greeting card that I licensed to my publisher, a smiling cat with a canary feather in its mouth, had I accepted a flat fee, would have brought me around $800.00.  So far the royalties have come in at well over $5,000.00.

Research Your Publisher

Some card companies have good over seas distribution, others have none.  Some have their cards in mass-market retailers (Target, Walmart), others primarily distribute through small card shops.  Some have their own sales force while others rely on agents that represent a number of card companies.  Take the time to research the card company and make sure they are someone you want representing your work and you.  This will be a partnership with more give and take than you might expect.  It is a good idea to know your partner. 

While you are researching, check how the publisher likes work to be submitted.  It is a good bet that if you don’t take the time to pay attention to what they want, they might not take the time to pay attention to your work.

Negotiate Wisely

Before signing a contract make sure you under stand the terms.  They may want to have the right to negotiate any further licensing of your images.  Not a good idea.  Do they want worldwide rights?  If so, do they have worldwide distribution?  How quickly and how often do they pay?  Do they offer an advance, and how much? Try contacting one of their artists and see what they think of the publisher. Take the time to understand every aspect of the contract, and don’t make the mistake of thinking that they will be looking out for you. They may like you, but they won’t be looking out for you.

By the way, most royalties start at 5%.  I started at 5%, but as my work sold well and I became more valuable I was able to increase the percentage of my royalty.  When you negotiate you can try to trade off a higher advance against a lower royalty or visa versa.  Everything is on the table.  In my case I eventually granted exclusivity for a higher royalty and managed to get my logo on the back of the cards too.

Creativity and perseverance

Getty your own line of greeting cards is a long shot.  But it is possible.  Do your research and find the right publisher.  Prepare your submission meticulously and to their specifications.  Submissions to multiple companies at once are fine. Use creativity, common sense and exercise perseverance.  Oh yeah, and take the royalty.