Female Startup Club From fashion blog to £5 million fashion empire at 28, this is Sarah Ashcroft's inspiring story (part 1)
Today we’re learning from That Pommie Girl, Sarah Ashcroft. If you know her, you’ll know of her super cool blog called That Pommie Girl she started in 2013 that’s lead her down a path of exciting entrepreneurship.
After working on her blog for a number of years Sarah started SLA The Label in June 2019. Originally born out of Sarah’s love for airport outfits, she had become known amongst her followers for her travel looks across all her social media platforms. As a result, when launching SLA The Label’s first collection it felt natural to start with loungewear. Followers and fashion fans fell in love with the collection which saw the first drop sell out within 24 hours making sales of £60k and in just three years it's turned over almost £5million in revenue.
In this episode, we get into those early steps of founding a fashion business. That first year you've decided to take the plunge and are first starting to navigate the space. Two business tips stood out far from the rest, and I'll share those here as a little taste of what to expect in this episode.
Firstly, do not rush the process. Sarah remembers rushing the beginning of her entrepreneurial journey with SLA. When launching their first collection she was nowhere near where she wanted to be for the launch, but impatience got the better of her.
Impatience with launching a new business is a great sign. You're just excited for this thing to be out in the world, and to be able to share your creation. But, there's a but there, it can also mean you push your business out into the world a little before it's due. And that's what Sarah believes happened here. Her tip is to give yourself the time to feel that you are 100% ready to launch. There's just so much that can go wrong, and if you're not fully ready for those consequences it can be pretty detrimental for your business (and with that also you!).
The second tip she shared revolves around the idea that it's a better idea to launch with a (or a couple) of key products. In other words, don't expand your products and offering too quickly. It can work out better for business in the long term to stick with your small launch collection for a year, and to really nail that down. Sarah believes the result would be far fewer. Nailing that thing, doing it well, getting a good customer base. It's the way to go.
This episode is a fab one for the fashion girl. I was so surprised at her highest performing marketing channel and I think you will be too.
If you love this episode please do share it on your Instagram stories with us @femalestartupclub. You can also find me in the DMS @dooneroisin where I love to chat and hear about what you’re working on.
LINKS WE MENTION:
Sarah's Instagram
SLA The Label's Instagram
Female Startup Club's Instagram
Doone's Instagram
Doone's TikTok
Clearco Website
In sponsorship with Zyro, easiest to use website builder and eCommerce platform
In partnership with Klaviyo, the best email marketing tool for eCommerce businesses
Female Startup Club's YouTube
Female Startup Club’s Private Facebook Group
Say hello to Doone: hello@femalestartupclub.com
Female Startup Club + Clearco: Clear.co/partner/fema
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