Velvet Smoke: What We’ve Learnt, One Year On
Wow. One year of Velvet Smoke. What a WILD ride it’s been.
Firstly, a massive thank you to every single one of you who has supported our brand. Whether you’ve bought a candle, followed us on Instagram, or simply cheered us on, we wouldn’t be here without you. Lia and I have enjoyed (nearly) every minute of this journey. And let me tell you, launching a retail business has been an education. If you’re thinking about following your dreams, do it. Just remember: if it were easy, everyone would do it (that’s Theo’s favourite line, which I’ve heard more times than I can count over the past 12 months – and annoyingly, he’s right – ha!).
If this is the first time you’re hearing about our homeware brand, you can read how it all began over a 1970’s Palm Tree lamp and a glass of champs, here.
So, to mark our first year, I wanted to share some of the highs, lows, and lessons we’ve learned along the way. Hopefully, they’ll help anyone who’s thinking about starting their own business! Here’s what we’ve learnt…
Dream BIG – but remember your budget
Ambition is essential, but numbers matter. From day one, set clear limits on what you can afford, and stick to them. We didn’t get into debt, we didn’t take on more than we could handle but we defiantly over spent on silly things at the beginning, mainly out of naivety. But we quickly learnt that we needed to be smart so we cut costs where possible and we grew the brand at a pace that made sense for us.
Learn everything!
This is your business. You need to know your stuff. Lia and I both had experience running our own businesses before Velvet Smoke, but creating a product from scratch? That’s a whole different ballgame. And trust me, we’ve made some stupid mistakes. (Like the time we didn’t sample our labels and spent £700, only to realise the design was completely wrong… painful). The key takeaway? Know your product, inside and out. And always, always sample first.
Protect yourself (AKA, get a good accountant!)
Make sure you’re putting aside VAT and tax money on every sale – because as much as it feels like your money, it (unfortunately) isn’t. The last thing you want is a big tax bill and no cash to pay it. And remember, being VAT-registered is a good thing – it means your business is making money!
The other thing that we do weekly is put aside the money we owe our production companies based on sales. They invoice monthly so it’s nice to know what money will be going out at the end of the month and what money we have as profit.
Don’t expect to pay yourself for at least three years
This is a tough one, but it’s the reality. When you start a business, every penny goes back into the business. So, before you dive in, make sure you have another income stream to cover your bills.
Only invest what you can afford – don’t get in debt.
If you can’t afford to start your business yet, wait. Save up. It’s so easy to get carried away in the excitement, but debt adds pressure, and pressure kills creativity.
Speak to people who know more than you!
Sharing and gaining information from friends and peers is vital. And if someone isn’t willing to share knowledge, you’re talking to the wrong people. There’s enough room for everyone in business – let’s normalise supporting each other instead of cutting people and brands down. Particularly small businesses. We’re all out here learning and doing our best.
Read, read and read more!
Knowledge is power. Two books I’d recommend:
Don’t use the word ‘Champagne’ in your business name – LOL
For those of you who’ve been here from the beginning, you’ll remember our original brand name was Champagne & Smoke. That was until the region (yep, the actual region in France, called Champagne!) threatened to sue us if we didn’t change our name immediately. Imagine the stress!
So even if you, like us, can buy a domain, triple check that the name isn’t trademarked or protected. This might seem obvious but obviously we learnt the hard way. We had to rebrand, reprint everything (labels, bags, boxes, tape… the lot), and it cost us £10k of our hard-earned profits. I still get palpitations thinking about it. But honestly? It turned out to be the best thing. We stuck together and knew our business was totally worth it. In fact, we now love the name Velvet Smoke even more. Sometimes, you’ve just got to take a deep breath and keep things moving.
If you have a business partner, communication is everything!
I would highly recommend having a business partner. For me, having a co-founder has been invaluable – doing this alone would be tough. But like any partnership, there are going to be challenges. You’ll have different strengths, weaknesses, and yes, moments where you frustrate each other. Remember to talk. Be open, be honest, and remember – you’re in this together, learning and building something magic.
Get a distribution centre. Immediately.
I can’t believe that we actually shipped thousands of candles out from my house!!! PURE HELL! But also, the adrenaline of seeing our orders come in was incredible. The realisation that people were buying our candle that we had spent nearly two years creating from scratch was overwhelmingly wonderful. We cried (from stress, joy, exhaustion—you name it). But we wouldn’t change a thing.
You can’t please everyone – and that’s okay!
We’ve been so lucky that the vast majority of our customers are as obsessed with our products as we are, but of course, you can’t please everyone. If we all liked the same thing, the world would be a boring place.
Customer service is EVERYTHING.
Right now, Lia and I reply to all our emails personally (mainly because we can’t afford to pay anyone yet – haaa!), but actually? It’s been such a great way to get to know our customers and set the bar high for customer service. We hopefully won’t be doing this ourselves for much longer, but we’re happy to know that we will have been able to set our customer service standard. You should, in my opinion, be able to do every job within your business to a certain standard.
Don’t compromise on things you believe in
Lia and I are pretty much always on the same page when it comes to creativity and the products we create. We refuse to compromise on certain things that matter to us. An example, our fragrance ingredients. We’ve been told countless times to use synthetic fragrances because they’re cheaper, meaning we’d make more profit. But that’s not who we are. We use the most expensive rose in the world and saffron (which literally costs more than gold!), because quality is everything. Yes, it’s pricey. But would you expect anything less from us?!
Starting Velvet Smoke has been the most incredible, exhausting, exhilarating adventure. We’ve made mistakes, we’ve learned a lot, and we’ve built something we’re so, so proud of.
And if you haven’t seen it yet, we’ve just launched my dream bath product, a Filthy Rose Bath Soak (!) and a limited edition Birthday candle. It’s all go and I love it!
If you’re thinking about starting your own business – go for it. Just go in with open eyes, a solid plan, and the knowledge that the journey is just as important as the destination.
And once again – thank you for being part of our first year. We can’t wait to see what year two brings!
Love, Lisa xx
