Eureka moment?

I was working full-time as a cover teacher in a high school, teaching all lessons from Dance to Physics! I couldn't cover my bills so I was also doing promotional work on a weekend and working in a bar at night.

"Then I saw a gap in the market for glam fashion online. The fashion websites of the time showed models looking very natural wearing party dresses - I was from Newcastle upon Tyne, the party city, where the girls love tan and make-up.

Finance

After a few initial obstacles, I was really struggling for money, so I begged my mum to lend me £45 so I could afford a £90 pack of six dresses. When they sold, we reinvested and bought two packs, then four packs and so on until Pink Boutique was born! From this, we have grown to ship around 2,000 garments from our warehouse every day and our current sales are £25 million annually.

Regrets

I had a couple of failed starts with bad quality samples. I knew that if I was to
be successful, the stock needed to be great quality. I finally found a wholesaler in the UK that had good quality stock
but it took a while to get settled.

What would you have changed?

I would have brought in a management team earlier. For would-be entrepreneurs, I would say try and learn as much as you can in the beginning when you're small, but then don't be afraid to pay for experienced staff when you can. Our business really changed gears when we brought in a management team.