We’re really excited that Becca Pow (who we profiled way back in February) will be regularly contributing her diary of life as a lingerie entrepreneur! Not only does Becca run online lingerie store Bella’s Blush, she also works full time as a hen party planner AND makes it to the gym on a regular basis. Want to know how she fits it all in? Read on…
If you had told a 16 year old me that by the time I reached the grand old age of 20, I would have dropped out of uni, be working full time, have relocated to live with my boyfriend and have started a business, I would have laughed in your face.
I’m organised, conscientious, sensible and a plan-to-make-plans kinda girl…
…so how I ended up here, I’m not quite sure!
Around a year ago, I began to cement my lifelong ambition of starting a business by launching Bella’s Blush - my online lingerie store and my escape route from a degree I hated. Admittedly, my head was firmly in the clouds and this seemed a straightforward, money-making mission. Rose-tinted specs removed, and it’s actually a lot of blood, sweat and tears, which has and continues to cause huge conflict in my life. How do you balance work and play? How can I still be 20 when I’ve fallen into the routine of someone twice my age? How am I supposed to switch off at night?
I hope writing everything down – from discussing my latest ideas for the business, to considering the most recent trends and developments in lingerie and retail – will help me to manage my business trials and tribulations, and provide some advice and inspiration to other young female entrepreneurs.
As you may know from my previous Professionelles post, my mum and I launched Bella’s Blush together – and this month has been a whirlwind for us both! We’ve been nose to the grindstone with marketing, self taught SEO, our email newsletter and launching a huge spring sale; it’s been all about the promo throughout April and May! On top of this, we’ve been updating the website and aiming to build interest in our offering since driving traffic to the website in the first place takes a lot of time and effort – especially with little experience. However, there’s a lot of help out there, and I’ve been reading up and making little tweaks nearly everyday. It’s a lot of trial and error, and you certainly learn fast from costly mistakes!
Since I have a full time day job, a typical weekday for me is broken up into chunks.
9am – 5.30pm, I am a hen party planner for Nottingham based company, UK Girl Thing; 5.30pm – 7.30pm I am a gym bunny and domestic goddess(!); 7.30pm – 9pm I am head of Bella’s Blush; 9pm – 11pm I am a slave to reality TV. Dividing my time in this way can be really difficult and I usually feel completely worn out, but managing my days are so important or weeks just whizz by without me noticing.
My routine can be monotonous, but I am driven by results and I’m very passionate about building Bella’s Blush up to succeed, so I’m happy to take the rough with the smooth. My mum and I divide the responsibilities: she looks after the stock, sends deliveries and looks after finances, which is fantastic, but also means we need to communicate allllll the time and discuss negatives as well as getting excited about positives! This is usually lovely, but sometimes work and play is blurred and knowing when to stop talking facts and figures is something I’m still trying to figure out…!
That said, there was something hugely exciting for us to discuss last week: the arrival of our brand new bikinis!
Adding them to the website really reminded me of why we started the online store: to provide for young women who are fortunate enough to be blessed with a small back, big cup ratio, since high street options are limited. We hope to provide them with a go-to online shop that offers young and fun styles from the best designers. Our sets are mix and match and usually come in more than one colourway; strictly no frumpiness allowed! This extends to our bikinis, too. The bandeau styles of our gorgeous Hattie and Betty may be a surprising choice for a bikini top that is supposed to be DD+ specialist, but they fit to perfection and come with a detachable strap. Try them out if you don’t believe me…!
Unfortunately there’s the serious stuff to consider too…such as cash flow – the bread and butter of any business and my least favourite part! With our gorgeous new Spring lines and swimwear coming in, we’ve had big outgoings, so when you don’t sell as quickly as you had anticipated, problems can start to arise – hence our big marketing push.
Looking forward, in June we’ll be focusing on revamping the website with some fantastic swimwear images and, along with Lateysha of MTV’s The Valleys, nurturing our “Lateysha Loves“ collection. We’ll be continuing to use Twitter and Facebook to find girls who struggle to find well fitting bras suitable for young, party loving peeps, and we’ll be carrying on with promoting our wonderful small back, large cup sized lingerie.
I love finding out about other women’s businesses, and am always keen to learn and spread innovative ideas! I’d love to hear from Professionelles readers, and I’m looking forward to my next post already!
B xoxo
You can keep up with Becca and Bella’s Blush via Facebook and Twitter, and the next installment of Becca’s entrepreneurial adventures will be here in July.
If Becca has inspired you to get your own business off the ground, we’ve got lots of inspiration for budding entrepreneurs and working with your mum.
Natalie Johnson on Google+Becca Pow – Diary of an Entrepreneur is a post from: Professionelles | Career profiles & style info for young professionals
The post Becca Pow – Diary of an Entrepreneur appeared first on Professionelles | Career profiles & style info for young professionals.
