If you want to discover how to make £11m, Sara’s got it licked!
Meet the mum who’s earned a fortune from DIY envelopes
IT’S TOUGH enough to set up and run a business from scratch — but imagine doing it while raising a family. It is one of the most inspiring trends of our age, and the Mail is asking you to nominate mothers who have created firms for our first ever Mumpreneur Of The Year Award, in association with NatWest everywoman Awards. Here, TESSA CUNNINGHAM meets Sara Davies, who is steering her thriving craft products business while raising her 18-month-old son.
Creeping out of bed at 3am, Sara Davies gently kissed her sleeping baby goodbye. it would be another five days before she would see her little boy again. Sara had flown back from a business meeting in germany the previous morning. now she was jetting off to America for yet more work.
The closest 18-month-old Oliver would come to his mother would be seeing her on a shopping channel, selling her vast range of gadgets for hobbyists.
‘My husband put Oliver in front of the TV but he was much more interested in watching peppa pig,’ says Sara, 31, who lives in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, with husband Simon, 37, and Oliver.
‘it’s much harder for him than it is for me. As soon as it starts affecting him, i know i can cut back. That’s the beauty of being your own boss.
‘Of course, juggling a career and a baby is tough but, as it’s my business, i pick and choose. i am really lucky.’
Sara is the founder of Crafter’s Companion, and now turns over a whopping £11.1 million a year from her offices in Coundon, County Durham.
She was just 21 when she had her lightbulb moment, while studying at York University. As part of her business degree course, she spent a year working for a small company supplying products to the craft industry.
‘All the other students were going to flash firms in London, but i’m a real homebody and was determined to stay in the north-east,’ she says.
‘i was dating Simon — we had met at 15 and didn’t want to be apart for a year. My tutors were furious when i chose this small company with eight employees, but it was my smartest move because i got involved in every aspect of the business. The experience was invaluable.’
Most important of all, Sara identified a gap in the market. She says: ‘i’ve always been creative — i baked, knitted and crocheted with my mum and grandma. But i never made cards and i had no idea the market was so massive.
‘The major gripe i heard was from people who made beautiful cards but couldn’t find envelopes to fit them. i realised that if i could provide a product that would make envelopes in any size and out of any paper, i could hit the jackpot.
‘it was so simple, but simple ideas are usually the best.’
Sara spent months poring over designs and making prototypes with her father, Frank, an engineer. Finally, she was ready to take her design, christened the enveloper, to a local joiner who agreed to make a small batch from MDF.
When she heard that a TV shopping channel was devoting part of its programme to card making, Sara begged for the chance to demonstrate her product.
She refused to be fazed, despite having no money to pay upfront for her product.
‘i can talk for england,’ she says. ‘They could tell how passionate i was so they agreed to let me on. My next stumbling block was that i had no money to bulk order.
‘i told my joiner that i would be paid in 45 days and i’d pay him in 46 days. he agreed. it’s a myth that you need thousands of pounds to start a business.
‘We sold 8,000 on the launch airing. My enveloper was one of the most talked about products they’d ever had. That was October 2005. By Christmas, i had sold 30,000 — my poor joiner barely slept. i couldn’t believe it.’
each enveloper retailed at £14.99, giving Sara a profit of around £3.50. After running her business from her bedroom while studying, Sara graduated in 2006 with a first-class degree.
She instantly poured all her energy into making Crafter’s Companion a success, turning over £500,000 in the first year alone. But the enveloper’s popularity almost torpedoed the business in 2007, when giant stationery company helix launched a rival product.
‘Basically, they ripped it off,’ she says. ‘i’d patented the enveloper but they tried to wriggle around that. i had to go to court. ‘it was a nightmare. i was way out of my comfort zone and absolutely petrified. i stood to lose up to £250,000 on legal costs. it would have destroyed the business. i came home every single day in tears.’
Mercifully, Sara won and helix withdrew their product. But it convinced her and Simon — who had married in September 2007 — to make changes.
‘Simon loved his job, but he could see i needed him,’ she says. ‘i couldn’t carry on alone, so he quit and joined me. he took over all the financial stuff i hated and i concentrated on the things i enjoy: marketing and product development.’ Then she adds: ‘ Our big dream was to have a family. There was no way i was going to have a baby and hand him over to a nanny. i was convinced that if i got the business on a firm footing while i was young, i could afford to take my foot off the pedal.
‘i had Mum’s example. When she was expecting me, she and Dad opened a shop selling wallpaper. it meant Mum could work the hours she wanted.
‘She was always there to take me to school and grandma picked me up. Mum still runs the business and loves it.’
When Oliver was born in november 2013, Sara took three months’ maternity leave before returning to work three days a week.
her business turned over £11.1 million last year. ‘i have a fantastic team of 60,’ she says. ‘i trust them implicitly. When i’m working, my mum and dad and Simon’s parents look after Oliver. he is spoilt rotten.
‘it’s tough. i have an office in Florida and travel regularly to the States. i’ve been on 54 planes already this year.
‘But i move heaven and earth to spend time with Oliver. Last Tuesday, i was on a 6am flight to germany. i had to be in America on Thursday. instead of flying there directly, i flew back home first thing on Wednesday morning just so that i could go to the park with Oliver.
‘My feet were only on the ground for 18 hours, but it was worth it. i’ve vowed to travel less as Oliver grows older, and we definitely want another baby when he starts sleeping through the night. But if i stayed home fulltime the business would suffer and that wouldn’t be fair to my staff.
‘As a working mum i value flexibility, so that’s what i try to offer my staff. it pays dividends. Working mums have so much to offer.’