Rosie Wolfenden co-founder of Tatty Devine answers your questions!
By MeredithBerman 10/05/2012
Hello everywomanNetwork members! We welcome co-founder Rosie Wolfenden from the creative, original and fabulous brand Tatty Devine to our Business Owners Group hub. She will be online tomorrow, the 11th of May from 4pm-5pm answering all of your questions around business, starting up, success, challenges. You ask and she will answer! Feel free to post your questions now for her to answer tomorrow if you don't have the time, and have a look at the answer at your own convenience!
I'll start...Hi Rosie, welcome to the Network! We are so thrilled to have you here. How did you get the idea to start up your business? How long have you been making your jewellery?
elaine0
Hello Rosie - I love your designs - I have your bat necklace. ! I'd like to ask you what's the biggest risk you've taken so far in business and how did you feel about it? Thanks!
Rosie Wolfenden
Hi Elaine,
Thanks for your question, and glad to hear you love the bat! We made that in collaboration with Eley Kishimoto, which is a label both Harriet and I have always been big fans of.
I think running a business is all about taking risks, otherwise the journey can quickly become uninspired and dull, and possible come to a standstill. We have taken many risks over the years, perhaps the biggest was moving our Brewer street shop to Covent Garden. Not only did we have to build our customer base back up, but also we had to cover much higher rents and rates, which felt relatively risky. It has turned out very well though and sales just get better every month.
Rosie
elaine0
Thank you! I'm going to buy the table tennis bat cuff links for my partner - they couldn't be more apt.
wendy.chamier
Hi Rosie - love your website! I'd be really interested to hear how important it is to your business - and how it stacks up as a sales channel alongside your own stores, and your national stockists. Or is it more of a support for your brand? Thanks!
Rosie Wolfenden
Hi Wendy,
Thanks for your question. The website is really important to us as it accounts for 40% of our turnover, compared with the other 60% being made up from our shops and stockists. It is absolutely critical in terms of communicating the brand, as it is live, accessible by millions and fully controllable.
Rosie
wendy.chamier
Hi Rosie, wow, 40% seems a great balance vs your shops and stockists. I think businesses can rely too heavily sometimes, and then other times not get them working hard enough! Thanks for sharing. I'd not seen your jewellery before, its lovely!
MeredithBerman
Welcome everyone! Rosie is here to answer your questions, so fire away!
Rosie Wolfenden
Hi Meredith,
Thanks for having me! I set up Tatty Devine in 1999 with my friend Harriet. We met at Art school and wanted to make stuff together. We made leather cuffs from some leather sample books we found and sold them on Portabello market. Before too long we were featured in Vogue, selling to Harvey Nichols and realised we had something quite special.
MeredithBerman
Hi Rosie,
Have there been any times in business where you’ve struggled? How did you manage to get through this?
Charlotte Seales
Hi Rosie, you have such a successful following on twitter.....what tips do you have for creating a loyal customer base through social media?
Rosie Wolfenden
With social media I think it is really important to engage with your followers, share valid information and photos and never use it just for your own gain.
lucywykes
Have you ever lacked the confidence you need in business? How did you overcome this?
Rosie Wolfenden
Hi Lucy, I think confidence is really important and there are times in everyone's life when it is hard to come by. To some extent confidence comes from trusting others and having faith in yourself. Tiredness can affect confidence so lots of rest is key, which can be especially hard when you feel like there is so much to do when running a business.
Rosie Wolfenden
We struggled in the early days before we retailed, as we would take a lot of wholesale orders, spend all our working capital on materials and there would always be a lag before we received payment from the shops. Since then (and twelve years later) we have managed to get into a much better rhythm of cashflow and we rarely struggle too much.
elaine0
Your stuff is very distinctive - do you get a lot of imitators and how do you deal with that, particularly if they are churning out cheap copies?
Rosie Wolfenden
Hi Elaine- I managed to post this below, but not as a reply so. . .
This can be so frustrating, but at the same time it is also flattering. With our jewellery we consider originality one of our main values, and always strive to make things that don't already exist- which is not the most commercial route but is intrinsic to what we do. We make nearly everything in Britain, and see the business as a slow jewellery movement rather than succumbing to fast fashion. The recent twitter storm over the items found in Claires Accessories demonstrated one way of dealing with imitators, and proved so affective as the customer got to voice their opinions in harmony with ours. Originality and longevity are at the heart of what we do.
Catherine Cook
Hi Rosie, I am a huge fan of your jewellery. It's all so unique and original! I am in fact trying to start up my own bakery but am finding it difficult to get the advice on where to start! Where did you look for this? Have you set yourself goals? Setting realistic goals can be quite a struggle.
Rosie Wolfenden
Hi Catherine,
I think there are so many parallels with running a bakery and what we do. I'm presuming that you are making your product on sight just as we do, giving the product an artisan quality, the hand made touch. When we started we went to our local business centre (the East London Small Business Centre) and they were incredibly supportive. They helped us access grants to show at trade shows, helped us write business plans as well as helping us through tough decision making.
Harriet and I have always had each other to lean on, which is helpful. I think talking to people is the most important thing in business, how can you know answers if you don't know the questions? Conversations help eek these things out, as well as decide what your hopes, ambitions and goals are.
Rosie Wolfenden
This can be so frustrating, but at the same time it is also flattering. With our jewellery we consider originality one of our main values, and always strive to make things that don't already exist- which is not the most commercial route but is intrinsic to what we do. We make nearly everything in Britain, and see the business as a slow jewellery movement rather than succumbing to fast fashion. The recent twitter storm over the items found in Claires Accessories demonstrated one way of dealing with imitators, and proved so affective as the customer got to voice their opinions in harmony with ours. Originality and longevity are at the heart of what we do.
fiona keating
Hi Rosie
Do you have any business role models? Who inspired you to start your business, and who inspires you today?
Rosie Wolfenden
Hi James,
I come from a long line of people who ran their own businesses, so to some extent it's all I've ever know. My Grandmother was very entrepreneurial, she opened a country house hotel in the 1950's, wrote books, ran shops, and all in her own original way. I've always had the desire to do my own thing, make my own rules and find a way to be involved and engaged in what is around me.
Catherine Cook
Thanks for that Rosie, it was very helpful! How have you managed to PR your brand? We have a very small budget so obviously hiring PR is unrealistic. Did you know contacts in the press? Who did you speak to?
Rosie Wolfenden
Hi Catherine,
We've always been quite imaginative with PR, as I'm a firm believer that with a good imagination you don't need much money (although money obviously helps). At first we bought all the relevant magazines, went through and thought about where our product or personalities could sit and then proceeded to ring up the stylists and editors making appointments to go and meet them. Don't ever forget that they have a job to do and are always looking for interesting content and images, so in a way you are doing them a favour. We also met lots of press at the market stall when we started and also at trade shows. Getting out there and putting yourself in busy spaces has much more potential to being 'discovered'.
michellek
Hi Rosie,
Do you have any stand out moments since starting up your business? When was the time when you felt you had really made it?
(Great nuggets of take away information and tips by the way, Thank you!)
Rosie Wolfenden
Hi Michelle,
There have been some really fantastic moments over the last decade. Most recently working with Selfridges has felt like a real breakthrough. We had a pop up there at the beginning of the year with our laser cutter making live name necklaces, and it was so successful that they've offered us something more permanent. We also just got asked to teach at the Royal college of Art which is equally as exciting.
MeredithBerman
Rosie, you have been so helpful today, and what an insight you have given us into your successful business! Thank you so much - and we hope to have you back on the Network soon!
Meredith
Rosie Wolfenden
It's a pleasure- thanks for asking.
Rosie