Home Business Idea
Here's my interview with Mandy Allen, aged 35, from Yorkshire, the founder and creator of 'Daisy Diva' beauty company. She has recently been featured in Look magazine and in Vogue.
Actually no. My background was in Law. I was a Barristers clerk at the temple in London before I had my first child and decided to stop working just before Jessica was born so that I could be at home with her.
What inspired you to get into the natural products business? Back in the mid 90’s Natural skin care products were a rarity and because of the exclusivity of these products, the price tag was huge. I felt compromised when choosing products for my baby as although I wanted to use only natural products, I was limited by the amount that I could actually afford on a continuous basis. I think the combination of providing my baby with the best natural products and the expense of Christmas and birthdays was the deciding factor that pushed me into looking at making my own homemade products. Very quickly it became obvious to me that not only was I now supplying my whole family with good, natural and effective products, but that friends and friends of friends started to want my products too. I have always been very determined to keep the price of my products affordable, I feel a great sense of purpose when people chose to use products that have no harmful effects that synthetic ingredients in products have on us externally and internally. A large part of the ethos of Daisy Diva Natural products has been to help encourage people to be aware of the harmful ingredients some products have in them and to have my products be attainable and affordable in comparison to many of the Natural ranges available today is important.
Well, from the start of the journey of making products to turning the products into a saleable range took me 11 years. I began by using basic recipes from well known cosmetologists like Liz Earle and slowly became confident and skilled enough to expand what I had self taught myself to lead me onto creating my own recipes and range. By the time I was ready to turn my hobby into a business, I had only the name of the business to create and to have the products tested by a toxicologist to be certified under E.U regulations.
Was it a struggle to get your business off the ground? If there was any struggle at all at this point, it was the sheer determination that was needed when you believe that you have something worthy for selling to the public. There are so many layers to complete when setting up your own business so for about 6 months before setting up Daisy Diva Natural products, I gave huge amounts of samples out to people who lived in our community and simply worked on the feedback that was coming from those who tried the products. Once I felt confident that people did in fact seem to be very keen to buy my products, I found a couple of businesses locally that would be interested in selling my products on a sale on return basis. Once established in the local shops, the business has just continued to grow from strength to strength, leading me on to setting up the website and selling Nationally and internationally. You learn so much about business in the first year of setting up and it doesn’t take long to find your feet so long as you have a strong ethos for your business and that you keep focused on all the reasons why you started your own business in the first place. There are many organisations out there who are willing to give great advise and direction.
How long was it before you were making a decent income? Well, it is said that it takes on average three years to properly know whether you are running a profitable business or not. Most of your income needs to go straight back into the business in order to help it grow and to fund every aspect of the business as it develops. By the second year I started to generate an income.
I run the business on my own at the moment. From creating the products, cutting the labels, packaging the products and getting them lovingly wrapped for customers. I adore the whole process from the very beginning of watching all the raw ingredients melting to the final presentation of the range on the shop shelves or photographed on the pages of the website. There will reach a point when staff will be able to join me and learn how to make Daisy Diva natural products, with the passion and determination to reach out to people who are making great choices when choosing to use Natural anything!!!
Has having your own website helped your business much or do you mainly advertise or rely on word of mouth recommendation? All the elements of advertising and marketing have been beneficial. Each avenue leads to each other in the long run. Living in a community that ethically supports buying locally and using absolutely natural products has helped me with regards to word of mouth and recommendations from people who have used Daisy Diva products and felt the benefits to be so good that they have shared this with people in the community and of course to friends. The website has proven very busy and generates a great response not just with orders but with supporting people who need advice and have skin care regimes that they want to improve on.
Is most of your business in the uk or is it International too? I sell internationally yet I would say that the majority of orders are from the UK. Since advertising Daisy Diva in Vogue magazine I have had a bigger response Internationally. Advertising through magazines and writing articles locally and nationally after all has a big impact geographically which is very vital for any expansion to any business adventure.
Do you do anything besides making and selling products? Yes. I hold private Daisy Diva parties for people who gather a group of friends together to try and sample the products whilst enjoying a glass of wine and some nibbles. In the very near future I plan to create courses to help people create their own products. Independently from being a cosmetologist and running Daisy Diva Natural Products, I have been a Reiki practitioner for 12 years now. Reiki is natural healing using Universal life energy force and has been a very profound and important part of who I have become today. Reiking my products for purchase is also something that could very well materialise in the near future. One of the key elements to running a successful business is to do it your way, with your own visions and ideas and without a doubt to expand slowly. Good luck to all you great people who are wanting to or who are already on the journey to running your own business. The rewards are endless and great credit to you all. Kind regards Return from Home business idea to more Work at home interviews
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