Mother-Daughter Duo Invest £1k Into Gift Company Which Is Now Huge Success
- Mum and daughter Belinda and Jamie launched a gift company from home
- The online business snowballed and they grew a solid customer base
- Despite obstacles such as COVID they have gone from strength to strength
- Now they have an online presence, a physical store and steady revenue
It can be tough to walk away from a job that doesn’t feel right and launch a business that may or may not work out. However, one mother-daughter duo has proven that, with hard work and dedication, it’s possible to achieve success.
Mum Belinda Hickling, 56, joined forces with daughter Jamie Hickling, 32, to launch a t-shirt printing business in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Flox Creative has now gone from strength to strength, operating both online and from a physical store.
Mum of one Jamie told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: ‘I've had experience working for an online t-shirt company before and really enjoyed my time there. There was a lot I was keen to change and experiment with and I didn't feel like there was much room for me to grow there. Most importantly I wanted to move closer to my home town to settle down and start a family.
‘The idea of starting my own business came about when my mum, Belinda, was also looking to move on from her teaching job. We decided it was a perfect time to create something for ourselves! Belinda had previous experience of helping to run a business with her mum so we were pretty confident in what we were doing.
‘We used my prior knowledge as a base to get up and running. Once we started to build our stock up I was able to look at different print methods to invest time and money in so we could expand our range.
‘I purposely set up the business with the made up name of Flox Creative because I never wanted it to be just a t-shirt business. I didn't want to limit ourselves with our name so left it open ended.
‘Once we decided to bite the bullet and go for it we both invested £500 each. This was enough to get a commercial vinyl cutter, a laptop, a heat press, a printer and some stock such as vinyl, some tote bags and so on, along with our packaging.
‘We started relatively small. We could have started smaller by using sticker vinyl which would eliminate the use of a heat press and by purchasing a hobby vinyl cutter, but we ideally wanted to invest in equipment that we knew would last for years.
‘We've really re-invested when we needed to and did a lot of research into affordable ways to expand the business. We went to print fares and looked at projects that needed a relatively small investment that would work well with our shop. I think our sash maker was the first thing we invested in after our heat press and vinyl cutter.
‘After that we started doing sublimation products, then we bought a badge machine and - as silly as it might sound - a cheap laminator has added a load of other new ideas and projects for us too!’
Both Jamie and Belinda walked away from 9-5 jobs to launch the company. ‘I quit a similar job to do this. I really wanted to have a go at doing it myself and I had so many ideas that I was raring to go! My mum quit her job as a nursery teacher to get on board with me. I'd have never set up on my own so I'm really grateful to her for leaving her first passion.
‘She now helps with childcare as well as the business and has her own grandchild to look after which she absolutely loves! It's the biggest perk of the job for both of us - being able to spend more time with my daughter than we could if we both had a normal 9-5.’
The pair were fortunate to experience success from an early stage. ‘It really didn't take long for business to build up. Our first sale was on Etsy and it slowly started to snowball. Within two months we were making enough money to cover both mine and my mum's wages and re-invest in stock - which is all we needed at the time.
‘The important thing is that we didn't invest in anything until we knew we had the money for it and that our previous investment had been paid off - no matter how small. We've never been out of our depth which has been super important to us. We'd much rather be slow and steady than set ourselves up for a massive fall.’
At first, the working premises were a little crowded. ‘We worked in my Grandma's spare room for our first year so we were lucky that we had somewhere to work from off the bat. It was tiny and we were on top of each other! After our first Christmas we decided we needed to invest in premises. The business was doing well and we knew we had something good.
‘We took on a storage unit and had it fitted with electrics so we could work from it. After a year we expanded into a second storage unit. Another year later I was itching for something else to keep me interested and a new shop unit had come up to rent. We took a look around, arranged a price and it wasn't far off what we were paying at our storage unit so we decided to get it!
‘Most of the shop at the back is taken up with stock, work areas, our two cutters and two heat presses. We then have a fairly small shop at the front - just enough to have some nice in-store and window displays, which is one of my favourite things to do!’
The pair have since taken on one full time employee, and seasonal workers come in when demand picks up. ‘Apart from us we also employ our friend Leoni. I've been friends with her since nursery and when we realised we needed a helping hand we turned to our friends first! We do the same at Christmas if we need a little boost with getting orders out. We ask those we know to see if they need a bit of extra income.’
Flox Creative struggled when the pandemic hit. ‘A huge obstacle we had to overcome, like many businesses, was COVID. It wasn't long after we'd got our shop on the high street that COVID hit and we were unable to open. We closed both our shop and online sales as we had one member of staff who had a young child they had to home school and we have family members that we were trying to protect as they are vulnerable.
‘We were lucky in the fact we were able to claim furlough, but it was hard not being able to make money for ourselves. We've never relied on handouts or bank loans or grants. Everything we've purchased for the business has been earned in sales; we've re-invested a lot to build our business up.
‘We always have money put away for future payments in case anything happens to either of us but we wouldn't have got through COVID without the furlough and the grants we were able to claim.
‘It was an incredibly frustrating time for us as we'd just started a new exciting venture. Luckily we did manage to get back on our feet and I think it has made people more supportive of local businesses when and where they can.
‘There's no doubt COVID has set us back a year, as we couldn't open our doors for months and then there were odd periods where we could accept orders, but not have people inside the shop. Customers would have to contact us online and pay for their items, then collect them from a collection point at the door.
‘We'd have as much stock as possible in the windows and we'd get elderly people walking up asking if they could pay for something in the window, with the money in their hand. We had to turn them away because they didn't have cards and they couldn't order online. It was heartbreaking - never did I think we would be turning customers away! It's odd to think about now!
‘As things have got back to normal we're definitely getting more customers in. Hen and stag parties are a big thing for us in the summer - which of course weren't happening before! Not forgetting that as other businesses reopen we've sold more workwear, we've had dance clubs and football clubs needing their kits personalising…none of this was happening during COVID so we lost out on a massive part of our sales.
‘We are now living in a cost of living crisis and we know how much of a struggle it has been for small businesses, as well as large companies. It's becoming increasingly hard to keep everything at a great price. Everything has skyrocketed recently - the price of stock, cost of materials to make our designs, postage costs and our standing order on our electric is through the roof too.
‘That being said, we’re lucky that we haven't seen much of a change to our business during this time. Our Etsy store has grown year on year with last year being our best yet. This year we're still doing well.
‘This is how we would expect sales to go - I know people are being more careful this year with their money but we have a good price point and we always try to keep things affordable.
‘In-store our sales have grown year on year which is great. There's nothing better than word of mouth and we often get people come in saying that someone's recommended us.
‘We've always tried to keep our prices competitive as we know that purse strings are tight. For our in-store customers we pass on our postage savings, giving them a better deal than they would find online.
‘We try to work to budgets too, so if someone has a price in mind we'll try and offer them something in that price range that they wouldn't be able to get elsewhere.
As with any business, keeping track of finances is important - and Jamie is grateful that Belinda is good with the company funds. ‘My mum goes through our finances with a fine tooth comb! She knows exactly what's going in and out and exactly how much each product makes to the penny. We've even had moments where she's had to correct our accountant! This is why I knew she'd be perfect for setting up my business. She's meticulous to a T and helps keep me focused and on track when I find things a bit overwhelming.’
The pair have come a long way since they first started. ‘We're both so proud of what we have here - never in a million years did I think we'd have our own shop. I love seeing my daughter toddling around in here like she owns the place!
‘I often feel like people think that what we do is easy because we have managed to make it a success, but we're actually both really hard working. We both have different strengths and we recognise them and make it work.’
Jamie shared her advice for those looking to start their own business. ‘Take calculated risks and start as small as you can to gauge whether it's going to work. If it doesn't work out, how much are you going to lose?
‘Think about your market too. Our area of business is incredibly saturated but we've managed to make it work by finding niches and gaps in the market. It does get harder as the years go by as other sellers and big companies jump on ideas but the more years that go by the more repeat custom we've had and the more well-known we've become.
‘A lot of businesses fail because they don't get themselves online. A lot of physical stores are struggling at the moment; you only have to look at your local high street to see the vacant properties. I know a lot of locals didn't think we'd still be here but they didn't realise we were already doing well online.
‘TikTok is a fab way to start at the moment. We've just started going live on there and are slowly building up an audience. I've seen businesses blow up there and it's a great way to get seen organically.
‘We often get told that someone they know does what we do. It's not surprising - you can start a vinyl business with just a cutter and some sticker vinyl. You don't even need to buy any products to put it on.
‘It's not something that bothers us - we really believe there's enough room for everybody. Just because we print our own t-shirts and mugs doesn't mean to say that I never buy a t-shirt or mug from anywhere else!’
Tom Church, Co-Founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, said: ‘Jamie and Belinda are truly inspirational - they turned an idea into a thriving online store and a popular physical shop. Despite their saturated niche they have managed to make a name for themselves, which is a testament to their hard work and dedication.’
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