From retail to own toy company

What work were you doing previously?

I was a retail buyer for a diverse range of retailers including Boots, Disney, and Dixons.

What are you doing now?

I have a small toy company specialising in knitted and crochet toys.

We sell to retailers, museums, and consumers.

Why did you change?

While in many respects I loved the job, I was expected to work 12 hours a day, and drop everything as and when the business required it.

There was only so long I could do this before my enthusiasm and creativity became swamped and tinged with resentment.

Then, my boss and mentor left. He allowed me to work from home some days, which was very rare in the company.

I knew it was time to create the working environment I needed, rather than try to change the company’s ethos to suit my requirements.

How did you go about making the shift?

I met my business partner Liz when we both worked at Disney.

She’d moved on to another company and after a couple of years, decided to leave corporate life. She had a detailed and authoritative knowledge of soft toys, safety requirements and suppliers, wanted to set up on her own, but was uncomfortable with selling.

I was happy to sell, but didn’t want to go into business on my own, so we made a good pair.

I took voluntary redundancy which meant I had savings, but also had to immediately start generating income from the business.

In hindsight this wasn’t a good decision. I could’ve done a lot more work on setting up the company while still salaried.

What didn’t go well? What wrong turns did you take?

Initially we just sold our products to the same sort of retailers we had bought for, like Next, New Look and Harrods.

The turnover was healthy. However when the recession hit, our largest customers asked for additional discounts and longer payment terms which we couldn’t give. We lost 75% of our turnover and very nearly went bust.

Now we sell to independent retailers, personalisation companies, tourist destinations, garden centres etc. If one sector is having a tough time another will be doing well, so the risk is evened out.

How did you handle your finances to make your shift possible?

I racked up a lot of personal debt, much of it on credit cards. This was not ideal. I was to do it again I would have done more work on setting up the company whilst I still had a salary coming in.

I was used to a certain lifestyle and didn’t adapt quickly enough to the change in my circumstances.

In the end I moved my kids to a shared bedroom and sacrificed our sitting room to take in two lodgers to pay the bills.

What help did you get?

Our greatest resource is other companies selling in to the same retailers.

They should be competitors but we found our warehouse, accounts / sales computer system and printers by asking them whom they used.

We also had a very friendly bank manager. As long as we kept him updated on what we were up to, he was very understanding about our cash flow.

Are you happy you made the change?

Yes, I’ve learnt so much, and still have to acquire new skills even now in order to keep our company relevant. I’ve met people and visited places I would never have been to if I was still in a large company.

What would you advise others to do in the same situation?

When things get tough it’s tempting to throw everything at the problem, but if you don’t give yourself a break you can burn out.

Keep your work-life balance. Make sure you all know your job roles and keep to them. If you work on your own, prioritise what you need to do and concentrate on that.

If you’re setting up a product-based company, consult Trading Standards about the testing requirements they look for in your product. It’s quicker and cheaper than asking a test house.