In this week's episode of The Crafty Entrepreneur, I am interviewing Samantha from Pup Chic Boutique,
a small business that has started right from scratch a few years ago that makes the most
gorgeous dog based products. So go and grab a cup of tea, sit down, settle in and listen up.
So welcome to this week's episode of The Crafty Entrepreneur. I have the absolute gorgeous Sam
here from Pup Chic Boutique and she's going to tell us a little bit more about her business,
why she does what she does and the lovely products, which if you're watching this,
you can see in the background and she's going to talk to us all about that in detail.
So firstly, thank you Sam for being here. Oh, thank you so much for having me.
No problem. I was on a TikTok scroll as you do in the evenings and I saw one of your lives
and I saw the products you were making. I was like, oh my God, I need to ask if you'd come and be a
podcast guest. Because I just love people that are actually making products and potentially
I've got a story to tell. So maybe tell everybody who's listening or watching
what you actually make and where you're based in the world.
Hi. So hi everyone. I am based in Halstead in Essex. I recently moved from London.
So I set up a dog accessory business in lockdown. I was getting my second toy poodle and I was
reminded how hard it was to get accessories to fit them properly. I had an incident with my first
toy poodle where I was walking her in Soho. She got spooked by another dog and slipped out
of her harness. So getting a second one, that was something I was really nervous about. And I looked
at, there are so many brands around and I was looking for harnesses and collars that were small
enough, but were stylish and they just weren't there. They didn't exist. And my sister has
Alaska Malamutes, which are the complete opposite. If you don't know what they are, they're basically
like twice the size of a husky. You would have two of them walking, pulling a sleigh versus eight
huskies. So really powerful dogs. So for those dogs, they need sort of big, strong harnesses.
And my sister finds that she couldn't find anything that would fit them. Or if she did,
it was very expensive and it was very plain and boring. It was very tactical, not fashionable.
And so I did a lot of research to find out that a lot of dog owners feel that way, that there's
just not suitable things for their dog or they're just really plain. They're not high quality made.
And so I decided that I was in lockdown. My work had been reduced. I had a bit of extra time on my
hand and that I was going to do something about it and start my own business. My sister is autistic.
She's self teaches herself everything. She's super, super talented. So she had taught herself
graphic design. So she's designed the majority of the designs on our dog accessories. And then I've
been dabbling myself a bit and do sort of slogan t-shirts and sweatshirts and hoodies and things.
So we've got nice slogan things, but also items so you can match with your dog. And then in the last
year, I have branched out into dog treats. I just spotted that and I thought that doesn't
look like a harness and they're dog treats as well. Are you making those?
No, I have found a nutritionist, a trained nutritionist who makes these. I want to make
sure that everything that I do is properly. So when I was researching manufacturers to make
my accessories, I wanted to make sure that I went with the best quality ones, always getting
samples and checking first. So I wanted to make sure that everything was made to a high standard.
Again, finding a nutritionist that could make things in small batch. So I didn't have to go
and buy like thousands and then worry that I couldn't sell them that quickly. So they're all
handmade by a nutritionist and they've all got sort of intentions for the dog. So there's like
charcoal one, which is good for if they eat something toxic or just for their digestion.
There's brain free treats, there's calming treats, there's dental sticks. So I wanted to make sure
that I'm picking things that have got a purpose for dogs to treat and then grooming products as
well. So you've branched out into all areas, amazing. Again, I have someone who specialises
in making these sorts of products. So I mean, I can't be an expert in everything. So I think
it's and supporting other small UK businesses as well. So I worked with my favourite one is the
Pupcedent on the go dry wash shampoo. Oh God, I think my lab dog needs a little bit of that.
So I have a case of long haired dogs are prone to getting a dirty bum on a walk or like all dogs
rolling in fox poo, muddy paws. And you know, you've gone for a nice walk, you want to go to
the pub afterwards and you have to change your plans because you need to go and clean the dog.
That's a product you can take with you and clean them on the go. And that's been so popular that
people then wanted it in a bigger bottle because it smells delicious. And then shampoo for dry skin
and flea repellent and then a detangling conditioner, which absolutely saved one of my
dogs who got really matted and loads of groomers have been buying that and recommending that as
well. So fantastic. I love everything you said there. And especially the collaborations with
other small businesses. The thing about you cannot be an expert in everything,
but you can work with other experts and come together. That's phenomenal. And do they
reciprocate? So they're selling their products. Do they recommend you? Does it work like that?
How do you have this? Yeah, with some of them, I have another one that I work with that make
our ID tags to map. So obviously, I won't show all the details, but we do ID tags that match.
And this is a small business of two sisters that make these. Their dad has the machine.
And they basically they identified an issue when they were I think out just fresh out of uni that
their cat was always losing their ID tags or they were getting rusty. So they decided to make their
own. So they do they list my products on their site as well. And we do help to promote each other
on social media. And some retailers I work with as well. There's a local retailer,
Amy's Pet Supplies in Braintree. She's on TikTok and Instagram as well. And she stocks a lot of
my products. So we're always again helping to sort of shout out about each other. Lots of female
owned UK small businesses as well, which I love to say, love this. And you're neuro diverse as
well yourself. Yeah, my sister's autistic. I am dyslexic. So there is many a time that my social
posts have typos in them. I apologize to everybody. I do want to see try my hardest. But yes,
I have a lovely lady in my community, Sandrine that goes, So Jane, you've just felt that wrong.
I'm sorry. I've got an amazing brand rep who's always like, just send me a little message,
like checks it as soon as I put it up to the FYI. You've spelt this wrong. I'm like, thank you.
Sometimes you just want to just get it out, get it done. And you're working so fast to do some
things that your brain thinks you've checked it, but obviously hasn't. So again, apologies. If
anybody reads anything I do. It's not intentional. Yeah, one of the things I have found that helps
with that, although I don't, I don't use it enough is actually, you know, AI. I'm not a big fan of
like using AI and replace of things to sort of type what you want to say. And especially because,
you know, being dyslexic words are not my, not my forte. I can't remember big words. I'm always
going to use the simplest language to talk. I do, my day job is in PR. So I do write for a job,
but I've always said I'm not the best writer in the, in the business that I work with. So I'm
always happy to like get, you know, someone more junior than me that is a better writer to
look at my work and critique it, or I'm quite good at editing when it's someone else's work.
I'm quite actually good at spotting typos or grammar or how to improve it, but that sort of
starting from scratch, I'm not. So I do use AI, especially blog posts for my website, just as a
starting point. I go in and then sort of tweak it to how I want to say it. But I find that really
helps, especially for captions and things where there's always typos, because you're doing it in
a rush. On your phone. Yeah. On your phone. Can't spend half an hour doing a social post. Got to
get that up and got to go and do the next thing. And I think just having it done is 90% of it. It
doesn't have to be perfect. And I think it does show that there is a real human, there isn't a
huge branding team behind you, you know, not polished is okay. And I think that works for me,
it works for you. And it works for a number of people. But sometimes that can stop people from
just getting started, can't they? Because they feel they have to do all the things, but they can't
do it perfectly. So then they don't try. So it sounds like you've just gone for it started in
lockdown. And you mentioned that you've got a day job. So you're doing this alongside a full time
job as well. So yeah, to start with, I was working sort of five days a week and doing this sort of
evenings and weekends and lunchtime. And then the last couple of years, I went down to four days a
week. And then in January, this year, I've gone down to three days, and I'm hoping, I'm hoping in
the next few months to go down to two or one day. So I've kind of like, no, I've got a bit of money
coming in. But it is nerve wracking, because pop chic is not quite there yet. Know that that's
safe. So I'm in the process of hopefully, hopefully, trying to get a second startup loan,
because I know there's things that I've got so many new customers recently, I did a sale with
some stock that I'd had from launch where and I think that's one thing I want to say to anyone
that's thinking about starting a business where you're getting things manufactured, do try and
find and negotiate with the manufacturers to get as small a quantity made as possible. Because I
just at first was like, this is the best one, they work with these other big brands. So I know
that's the one I want to go with, but they would only let me do 75 or 100 quantity. And I was kind
of like, Oh, yeah, I'll be able to do that. But that's per per design per size. Oh, wow.
At launch, you can only I could only launch with sort of three or four designs. And then, you know,
a lot of dog owners, especially millennials are obsessed with having everything for that their
dogs. So they have wardrobes with loads of different harness designs, which is amazing.
And one of the reasons why I started the business, but once they bought those four,
what where else can they go? Yeah, where else can they go? What else can they buy? So adding
the other products like the treats and things enables them to sort of keep coming back. But I
have to, you know, bootstrapping my business, I have to wait for the sales to come in and then
save up to buy the next lot of stock. And then that takes a couple of months to produce and then
get shipped. So I'm hoping by getting another sort of bit of funding in now, I can all these products
and all these ideas that I've got that I'm waiting to do, I can sort of rush and bring them out now.
Also, advertising is something I've started to do on social media. But, you know, I've always been
like, well, I don't want to go and spend 500 pounds if I'm not going to get 500 pounds of sales
back, because then I could have spent that on stock. But I've always had a little bit of
understanding of advertising from working in PR, but it's definitely not my area of expertise. But
from talking to TikTok, from talking to Google, you kind of need to just throw away some money.
So it can learn. Yes. And it's not necessarily to spend that ad money on buy my thing type ads,
it's more brand awareness storytelling, you know, so that you attract those customers in the first
place. Because I'm sure that you're aware of this that people need like multiple touch points in
order to feel confident and trust the person they're buying from before they kind of get
their credit card out. So by spending that ad money on your storytelling posts, and anything
that's not buy my stuff would get more, it'd be cheaper per click 100%. And it will just encourage
people to come and engage and be part of your world. So that when you do launch products and
show them the stuff, they're like, Oh, yeah, I know that right, I'm gonna go and buy it. So it's more
of a brand awareness, a kind of strategy to advertise in rather than direct sales. So you
might find that really, really beneficial, especially if you're already on TikTok, and
you've got content out there, look at something like your best performing posts and think, right,
actually, if I put a little bit of ad spend behind that, that will bring more people into my world.
Yeah, so sorry for the barking that. No, no, no, no worries. No worries. So yeah, absolutely. But
also one of the things that they said is you can't go straight into that hurt, you know,
that conversion that purchase without it knowing who is clicking. So before you can do those
purchase ads, you've got to let it run. So then they review it, and then they can see who is
clicking, who is purchasing. And then actually, when you run those ads that are focused on
conversions, they're going to perform better because they've had enough sales.
Yeah. On that point, have you got your pixels set up on your website to track people? Because that
will help. Okay, that's good. Yeah, pixels are all set up. And actually, I've been really lucky that
Google have given me have given me some support. So there was some coding that needed to go on
the website to track conversions. I can't do coding. And so they've actually been helping me
with that. And they've said, right, we need to run an ad for two weeks, this much a day, we estimate
you're going to get this many clicks. How many purchase you're going to get, but in two weeks
time, we're going to sit down, we're going to review it. And then we're going to say, right,
this is, this is how much you need to spend. This is how many sales we estimate you're going to get
a day from learning from that. So Oh, great. So who do you have an account manager with Google,
then? How's that set up? They've now set me up with that, which is good. And obviously on TikTok,
especially in the pet supplies sector, have account managers. And I think that's one of
the things where a lot of people are turning to TikTok, because TikTok is phenomenal. TikTok
show. If you're a small business, everybody should jump on there. I know I talk about Etsy,
and we can talk about that in a second for your business. But TikTok shop, be willing to put in
the effort. It's 100% worthwhile. Like I said, I found you on TikTok shop. So tell us like how
you got going there, because it's a relatively new thing. So you haven't been doing this a huge
amount of time. Maybe tell us kind of how you got started and what works for you. Yeah. So I've been
on TikTok for probably a couple of years, but it was always sort of dabbling. And then I set up the
shop and no, no one was buying on there. So it kind of then deflates you that, you know, when you
don't get the sales, you're like, you know, there's one person watching and it's you on your other
device. Exactly. So then my lovely friend and retail customer, Amy, she said, Oh, have you got
an account manager? And I said no. So then she introduced me to the pet supplies account manager.
And that has been really helpful because they give you lots of advice. They tell you when they're
doing deals and offers, like they encourage you to sign up to the summer campaigns and things.
When you're in the preheat, when you should start teasing and all of that. And you can get support
with boosting your lives and boosting your content as well. They give you access to the advertising
team and workshops and things like that as well, which has been an amazing help. But I think the
thing I've learned is, you know, I could do a live and have a really good one and have loads of people
watching and get loads of orders and I get really motivated. And then I'm like, I'm going to do
another one tomorrow. I'm going to do another one this evening. And, you know, and then, and then I
get one where there's five people watching and they're all my brand reps. And no, no one's
watching or you get a troll come in and he says, Oh, horrible. And no one's purchasing. I've
literally talked about this harness 20 times. A little bit self conscious about that. Yeah,
a little kind of your method or strategy to sell into camera because like we're having a conversation
here, we can see each other, we can talk and chat. But when you're just talking directly at a camera
constantly, it can be a little bit, I don't drive you a little bit crazy. And in some respects,
you think, have I said this right? I repeated myself so many times. So what do you do one to
stay sane and two to kind of make it engaging for people to come and chat and comment?
Yeah, so because it is sometimes you're like, when no one's commenting, you literally feel like
you're talking to a brick, a brick wall. Because are they even there? Is it as it just got stuck
on the number and actually zero people in the room. But there's a few things that I found that I do
that I quite often ask people, you know, what dog they've got, what what breed. So what breed is
what gender is what fur color it's got. So then I can say, Oh, well, it will look fabulous product.
So I love that kind of personal stylist dogs. Yeah, exactly. So I can so I can pick out specific
stuff for them. I've trained two of my poodles that when someone follows me, and I say thank
you for the follow, they come running up to say hello. So I've learned that as a quite a good thing
to say to people like, Oh, you know, if you're not following us, give us a follow. My dogs are trained
will come and say thank you every time someone gives me a follow. So that that really helps.
That's genius. I wonder if I can get my kids to do that.
Here you go. Here's one of them. Oh, hello, gorgeous. Oh, fantastic.
Yeah, and then and then they come so that I mean, poodles are very easy to train. So
it just started saying it and then calling them over. After a couple of times, they were like,
All right, that is our command to work in PR. What a fantastic gimmick. That's brilliant.
Yeah. And it's always nice to introduce like say hi to people to call out their
handles when they join. They're more likely to stay then if you're like, Oh,
my name's just been said. Yes. Sometimes doing like polls and things to ask people or the
giveaways. I mean, the giveaways are good because but they do bring a lot of people in but then a
lot of people will just let you know, you could go from 10 people to suddenly 100 people and then
as soon as it's over, it drops. But always run the giveaway for 15 minutes, not five minutes,
because it gives the algorithm more time for people to come and find you. Okay. And one thing
I've done a few times, which tick tock don't like you doing because they want you to use their
giveaway tool. But if you don't put your products in your tick tock shop, so you just do a live and
you tell people to go and shop on the website, you can do it is to basically I get so one of
another small business I work with creates these products called treat caddies. Like little bin
things put your treats in. But I basically put a number on these. And inside I've put a piece of
paper with a with a prize. And I say that during the live or you know, all of the orders from that
day, every 15 minutes, I will pick an order at random, and you get to pick a number and then
you win what's written on that paper inside that. Oh, okay. And that normally really works with
sales. And I will vary I'll have one expensive product, like it might be a pair of matching
leggings, or a blanket, which is worth 30 pounds, but then the rest could be a collar or a bow tie
or some treats. So it's all really varied. And so that seems to work really well. And I saw a sort
of big makeup brand doing that. And I thought, oh, that's a really good idea, because it also
creates that, you know, buy buy now. So they have to purchase and then you'll select an order at
random. Yeah, then they pick a number, then they win a prize, then they win a prize.
And I've done that one on Instagram as well. I've tried a few times of doing Instagram and TikTok
live at the same time. I did that once. That was a nightmare. I was trying to do two things at once
while walking on a walking pad, which I please don't. Well, I killed two birds with one stone,
or three in this case. Yeah, tick tock live Instagram while doing my steps. And I was like,
please don't ever do that, Sarah Jane. I literally fell on well, nearly fell over so many times.
I won't do that one. That's my neurodiverse brain going, yeah, just do it. It's fine.
I'll fall at the same time. It's one of those things that being neurodiverse, you're like,
it's so much easier if I do everything in one go, like, yes, like, you know, taking the shopping
out of the car, you're like, I'll carry all six bags. Yes, easier, even though it's really heavy
than going back three times. I found my person. Yes, 100%. I do that all the time. Flash deals
are quite good on TikTok shop as well. So I think they've just launched a new filter where
you can do a flash deal that's only available on the live. I just saw an email this morning on it,
or you can just set up a flash deal and put the timings that are going to be whilst you're
whilst you're on that one. But that is all about that trying to drive people to purchase now,
because as you said, they people like to go away and think about it. And they don't see you again,
because you're not advertising or your contents not being seen, they'll forget. So it's a really
good way to just be like, you know, get it now. And especially when you've got more people ordering.
So I find my lives where I'm packing orders, I tend to get more orders than if I'm just sat there
showing. Because then it shows that trust in your brand that, oh, well, if these other people have,
yes, other people have purchased, so they'll purchase. So you mentioned there the TikTok
shop, but also direct people directly to your website. Do you mix it up between the two to see
what works? Yeah, it's one thing I haven't done. But I've seen from the chat on the TikTok group
of the other small businesses, some have said that, you know, oh, you can get around doing those
giveaways if you don't add your shop, because they're like, how are these people talking about
the website and not getting TikTok violations, the thing every small business hates. And then
they were, you know, people saying, oh, it's absolutely fine to do if you don't have any
products in your basket, then you can talk about your website. So I have, yeah, but I am planning
on doing another one of those giveaways soon around, I find they're better to do them around
payday. Yes, people are more likely to purchase. And also, you don't want people to just go and
purchase the cheapest thing for a chance to then win something big. No. So TikTok shop is working
for you. I saw that you did have an Etsy shop at one point. Let's talk about that and kind of why
you moved away from Etsy, because I think that's super interesting to everybody, because I'm all
about working on platforms that work for you, but Etsy didn't work for you. So tell us a little bit
more about your Etsy journey. Sorry, I'm waiting for them to stop. Can you hear them barking?
Not too bad. It's absolutely fine. Okay, good. I didn't want it to be like, can't use that bit
because the dogs are barking. And so, yeah, I was using it, I thought it was really good to,
before I set myself up with iOS, it was really good where I've got like customers in Ireland
that I could direct them to Etsy to shop and I could set up my brand rep discount codes on there.
And I was getting sort of international and local customers. But I had a conversation with
my accountant and they said the fees are so high that actually when you look at it over the year,
I'm actually barely making profit because when it's quiet and I always found Etsy was like this,
I could have a week where there's loads of orders and then I could have another one where there's
none or you know, only one. And it was my accountant that was like, when you take into account all of
those fees, you're not you're barely covering the cost of your stock. So it's not necessarily
worth it. And I mean, I didn't necessarily go and spend a lot on the Etsy advertising, I would maybe
know that like one or $2 a day. So it's not to say that I won't go back and do it. But my accountant
was like, I think you should reconsider it and look at other platforms. So I decided to
just put my effort into into TikTok. Okay, and how does that compare fee wise? I'm assuming it's
less. Yeah, it's a lot less. Sometimes you look at it and you're like, oh, and plus, because they
they give you talk like growth targets. So you know, if you post 10 videos, we'll give you
200 pounds of vouchers where you can get five pounds off orders over 20 pounds. So then you
end up you're giving discounts to your customers without losing the cost. Yes. So you know, then
that helps. So you get an order that's worth 30 quid, but the customer because they've got all of
these vouchers or whatever is only paid 22. And then actually, you're only paying TikTok like one
pound 50 or something in fees. Yes, that works really well for the customer and for you. Yeah,
exactly. See, I end up getting paid more than the customer has paid. Yes. But I've you know,
I still do pay a fee, but they are they are relatively small. And you're only paying the
fees on the sale. You're not paying listing fees and things like that. Yeah, because it seems a
little bit sneaky with that. It's all broken down rather than just a fee. It's the postage fee,
it's the transaction fee, it's the processing fee, and then the offsite ads if somebody finds you on
Google, which can be a real killer as well, because that's quite high. And have you ventured
into this whole brand collaboration on TikTok, you know, where you go and find TikTok creators or
sorry, TikTok influencers to promote your products for you? I mean, I don't know about you, but this
blooming stripy dress that everybody's advertising. Yeah, I brought one just to see what the fuss was
about. But the power of using TikTok creators to then promote products as well. Have you tried that
yet? Yeah, so I've done a few. And I think where I'm failing on that, and where I need this sort of
extra funding, so I can buy bigger quantities, because I have yeah, manufacturers are now only
get sort of 20 of each thing, which means I can sell those quite quickly. They're not stuck here
for ages. But the ones the brands that are doing really successful, they've got, you know, a stock
of like 5000 or whatever, so they can go and say, we're going to give away 200. And then it is the
best way to do it. Because, you know, on TikTok, if you stop and start watching one of those videos,
then TikTok is going to show you every other person that has reviewed that product. And once
you've seen like six or seven of them, you're like, okay, I'm going to buy it, I do it myself.
I think 90% of what I purchase now, apart from my grocery shopping, although I do some of that on
TikTok, and I buy it, I buy everything on on TikTok, like, I think my whole makeup bag is
things I discovered on TikTok, and some of my clothes. So I know that the power of it. And I
think that's also one of the things that I want to do is something like get something my next product
that I can buy in bigger quantities. And I can say, right, I'm going to give away
30% of that stock to influencers, because even if I can, you know, write off the majority of that
collection that I'm not necessarily going to get all sales of that one, what I am going to do is
get people to come and if not buy that, they'll buy something something else.
Yes. And if you've got your pixel setup, tracking those people, you know, coming over to your
website, maybe subscribing, join your email list, like all those touch points. It's just
finding that cold traffic and making them warm through those those avenues. Yeah, amazing.
One of the downsides, I would say with TikTok is that you can't track, you can't, well,
you can track but you can't see the customer details, you can't get them onto your email
subscription. Although saying that I use Klaviyo and they've just said that they've now got a
collaboration with TikTok. So I think that is going to be possible because that's been one of
the things of like, it doesn't show you their email address, you've got no way of contacting
them other than through TikTok. So there's no way that you can keep them updated and keep reminding
them by adding them to your email database. So I'm hoping that that is going to change.
So what was the name of that company Klaviyo?
So it's and I learned about that actually from one of my PR clients that I worked with that
quite handily, they they were a small business and they wanted all the marketing agencies on
a weekly call together. So being on things like that has given me lots of insights on you know,
how much this to spend on Facebook ads or Google ads and what they're getting return and
Oh, brilliant.
This tool that they use, I was using the Shopify one to start with but Klaviyo is one it's got
reviews as well. So you can you can embed them direct on the product pages on your website.
Oh, okay.
And it's really easy to embed. So I do have trust pilot, but it was too much coding as I don't know
how to put this on my site. So I have it. But it's not implemented into the site. But their system
is really easy to use as is their email integration. So you can have a you know,
pop up at the start on on the page. I don't use their pop up. I've used this one called wheelie
fi. So that has like a spinny wheel. Yes, like wheel of fortune for them people to claim a prize.
Yeah, yeah. And I've found that has helped to increase website orders, even if it's just
free shipping. Although anyone that is using that I highly recommend and I've learned the hard way
on this one, go and make sure you adjust the filter that is only UK shipping. Because I had
an order from the US of someone ordering the knots be gone and got free shipping. So then when I
worked out I was basically paying them 50p to have this product because to me what they paid
and the cost of the shipping. We all do it though. That one time you're like shit, I can't not send
it. Yeah, you have to take the hit. But immediately into your back end and just adjust it. I did it
with postage the other day. I did a small run of chocolate bars. And since the last time I did
an order, the Royal Mail prices have gone up. So it wasn't like huge, but it's just part of admin,
isn't it just to go and check prices, check your settings, just make sure it works. But you do
learn over time to do these things. And right, so I've made a note of that. One thing, I'm sure you
most probably do this already, when you're packaging up your orders, do you put anything
in with them to say come to my website, you know, scan, discount, that's another way to build your
email list. Yeah, I have collectible postcards. So on the pop up as well, they do have to put
their email address as part of that spin, the wheelie fire spinning wheel. So that definitely
helps. But then I do like collectible postcards. This one's my favourite. I choose dog shit over
bullshit. Yeah, so I do these postcards that people love to collect them as well. And they put them on
their fridge or some of them frame them. But then on the back, it's got all of the product care,
it's got my social media, it's got my contact details, if they've got any questions or anything.
So I do tend to put those in. And if people do order on TikTok shop, I do sneakily put a little
discount code card in as well. Brilliant. I mean, you've got you've got to use these different
avenues, whichever platform you sell on, where you don't have direct access to email addresses,
then put in something with the order to direct those people to your website and future. When I
buy stuff from suppliers, I've just brought some card to print on. And they all put their leaflets
in and have a little nudge saying in future, please purchase through our website, it helps us
out massively. I mean, people love buying from small businesses. But if you tell them like
where to go in the future, that can make a huge difference. Some people like the comfort of only
ever ordering through TikTok or only ever ordering through Etsy, because they're a trusted provider
platform, you know, credit card transactions, some people have different views on that.
Yeah, help yourself. I mean, I'm sure to get postcards and little business cards added in,
it's not a huge expense once you've got what I know minimum order sometimes is about 100.
Yeah, exactly. And if you if you know, I order sort of eight different designs and like 50 of each.
So it kind of brings brings the cost down. I've got them for a while. I put stickers I've literally
just run out of because that's one of the things of being neurodiverse. Sometimes you forget to do
things, you can see they're running out and you're like, Oh, I need to order those. I did that.
That was my card order. I was supposed to do that weeks ago. Oops. And I had no card when I
order came in. Yeah, all the time. I'm like, Oh, I need to order them every time I pack an order.
And then I get to the last one. And I'm like, and I still haven't. So I've just reminded myself
again. And I'm sure I'll forget after this. Those have got the stickers saved for your pause only.
And then it's got the social media and the website on there. So actually, then if the postman or
we'll go, Oh, what's this? So it's one of the things I like to pride myself on is how the
products are packaged as well. And it's one of the things that I, you know, decided to take the hit
on when I first started, I looked at right, how much does the box cost me the tissue paper,
the postcard, the shipping, and charge customers that and it just puts people off. Yeah. You know,
sometimes if someone's just going to order a bow tie at four pounds, you're like, fine, I'm, you
know, I'm gonna, I'm gonna take the hit, I'm not going to make that much profit on it. But then if
someone's making a bigger, a bigger order, because people love that to do that unboxing. And so just
opening a box and a product just sat there doesn't look quite so sexy. But box and there's this
beautiful branded tissue paper. There's a nice postcard. Sorry. There's a nice postcard,
all of those things make it so it's also something that they feel feel that they want to film and
they want to put on their Instagram or they want to put on their tick tock as well. So that also
helps you get more people showing your products. But also it shows that kind of love and care and
you're not just chucking it in a box. So I think that find that does help them to come back
and order again as well. And you're more memorable then so they're more likely to,
you know, word of mouth, you know, tell people or you know, if they're buying products at which they
the dogs are then wearing and then they're walking around the park, you know, and other people spot
that logo. Oh, you know, Sam, from pop chic boutique, you know, this is where you find
your own tick tock and you've got a memorable name as well. It's not something random. So all
those little points, kind of these micro things all add up to a really good sales strategy in the
long term. So you've been going since lockdown 2024. So what's the next big thing like you're
reducing your time at work, you're putting more time and energy, you want to kind of expand your
range, you've got all these collaborations going on. I mean, you're doing all the things,
how are you coping? Like, are you okay? Because there's a lot of things and I don't mean that in
a bad way. Because lots of people end up in like, especially the neurodiverse, you know,
going to do all the things and then you end up in a bit of a burnout and then you do all the things
and you end up in a bit of a burnout. So kind of how do you manage that yourself personally?
Yeah, I mean, I've not I've not taken a holiday because I've also, you know, moving I started with
and I was in a one bed flat in London and my lovely amazing mother, let me use her spare room
to keep all the stock there. She was sending all of the orders out to start with. But I was like,
one I need, you know, I need more space for for my business. I want a garden for my dogs locked,
you know, since lockdown, you don't go into central London as much. Why are you paying
so much money when you just stay in the village of London that you live in? So all of those reasons,
you know, I moved out to Essex, but I've got a house that needs renovating as well. So
that's quite positive, because that gives me things to focus on, because I'm very like, I'm
sure you you're the same as neurodiverse, you can get very like obsessed with things and then,
and also really hard to switch off from work. And that's one of the things I find with working in
PR, I'm really passionate about that job. But I do really find it hard to switch off and everything
you're, you know, reading, you're thinking of ideas for the clients that you work with, or
the same same with Pup Chic. And, you know, I studied media and film, so I can't just like
watch a movie, my, you know, my brain's always thinking and absorbing and taking things in. So
I'm finding the renovation is kind of I can't afford to go on holiday, and you know, I need to
put money into that. But that's giving me something I'm learning new skills is making me be more active
than just sitting in front of my phone filming content or packing orders. And then Pup Chic is
overtaking not just this this spare room that I use, but my other spare room has just got boxes,
my dining room, and it's so I am in the process of building a log cabin. When I say I am my lovely
neighbor has who used to be a builder has come out of retirement and is currently in my garden.
Oh, fantastic.
Building a log cabin and Pup Chic is going to go in there. So I feel that that's going to give me
that real work life balance to separate because I think that's what I find really hard to do.
I'll go and have my dinner and then I'll go right, I'm going to go and do a live or I'm going to go
and pack some orders. So I don't ever feel like I have a day off, you know, even when you're walking
the dogs, you're like, Oh, I must film this or, you know, so. And that's when you're self employed,
and it's your business, you're just constantly switched on to that. And I think the things that
you've put in place there to kind of give you a bit of self care, although it's physical work,
but it helps your brain focus on something else with the renovation. I think that's brilliant
to do. And I think I need to do that more because I've got to the point I've been doing this for
over a year now helping people do my own businesses, being a mom, and it's just like, I can't relax,
I can't switch off. And now that's paying a price where like, you just end up just switching off
because your body in your brain just like, I don't know, just just stop. So I need to take
that on board a little bit more myself. So kitchen renovation is on the plan. Oh, exciting. Well,
I'd love to absolutely. We've got a lovely garden, but we've got just a door and a small window in
the kitchen. I want to, you know, my other half laughs. I want bifold doors. That's the dream.
Yes. So I can just open them up and sit and have my breakfast, but I still be in the house. But
that is the dream. So that's what I'm working towards. I don't know whether I'll be able to
do it myself, but I'll try and do as much as I can with him as well. But no, it's been fantastic
talking to you. And I think it's been really interesting seeing how your business has grown
and the journey you're on, because you're still changing. Like, can't wait to see that on TikTok,
your videos, like if you go in into your unit out in the garden, have a few clients that have
done exactly the same thing. And I think for your community, it's lovely to see how
they've contributed and supported you with that. And yeah, just see where it goes. I absolutely
love it. So on that note, where can everybody find you on the internet? Tell everybody where you are.
So this, and this is probably my background of my, you know, main job being in marketing,
but everything is pupsheek.boutique. So Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, website,
it's all just pupsheek.boutique. That's really, really easy. Yeah, really important,
especially social media handles. If people can't remember it, they're not, they're not going to
find you, especially when you're starting up, because it will take a while for people to search
for you to actually show on Instagram. So you've got to make it as easy as possible for people to
find you. Excellent. No, I love that. So everybody, please go and check out Sam's profile and go and
check out our gorgeous products. So before we go, actually, do you want to show people your collars
and your harnesses and things? Absolutely. If you're watching this or listening to this,
go and pop over to my website, sj-louis.com and you can see the latest videos on there.
Oh, yes. So this one is our newest collection, which is Circus Chic. So I've got one collection
with poodles on because I have poodles, and I know a lot of people in the poodle community
that keep selling out. So I thought I will sneakily add a poodle on here to attract those people,
but it's got like a lion ring master, a juggling giraffe. So this one, I actually got an illustrator
to do it because it was an idea that they weren't the right vectors and graphics to create this
design. So I had an idea in my head. I collaborated with an illustrator and got her to sort of draw
it and bring it to life. But this is a product that I had a lot of customers asking for adjustable
harnesses that don't have to go over their dog's head because whether they've got a rescue that's
really nervous or just a dog that they can't get it on, the dog's running away. So this has got a
clip on the neck and the chest. So this is where you can work with your manufacturers to say,
I've got this idea, sketch something out, get them to make an example. So because the step-in
harnesses that you normally get are not adjustable, so they're not going to be a perfect fit for your
dog. So this is a perfect fit because you can adjust it in both places. So we've got a few like
that now. And I've actually seen a few other brands doing them. And that is one of the downsides of
being a small business. I couldn't afford to patent this. So others are doing it. But that's
one of those things that you've kind of got to think, is that worth the investment or not? And
I don't want to be a business that brings in loads of investors and grows really fast.
I want this to be my business. And if I do something and it fails, I've only got myself
to answer to. But if something's successful, then it's just me that is going to be
rewarded from that. So that's one of the sacrifices I think you have to make.
No, and I think that's good because not everybody wants huge, huge big businesses. There's something
called a lifestyle business that is something for you to focus on, makes enough money to make you
comfortable and like you have that control over your business. So that's okay to do and have.
So I love that for you. And what else do you have there to show?
So we have, I'll show you one of our tough harnesses as well. And this is the Lazy Sloth,
which is our best seller. This is one that my sister designed. So these are harnesses for
bigger dogs. And actually, again, these I changed the sort of standard pattern that they use for
this style harness to make them longer bodies. So, so again, it's that always you can always
challenge the manufacturer to adapt some, you know, something. And then this one has got like
a handle on if you need to grab it for control, really strong D-ring lockable clip here. And this
so this is one of the designs that my sister did as well. But it's a gorgeous tail with sloths on
and it's definitely our our best seller. Oh, I love that. And do you have matching you said
about having matching things you have like the matching lead and matching leads, collars, bow
ties, poop bag holders, then there's matching leggings for you to match with your dog for walks
and blankets as well. Oh, wow. Yeah, and t shirts and stuff too. So amazing. Right. I urge you all
please go and check out pub pop chic boutique and go and have a look at all these gorgeous products.
I think it's absolutely phenomenal. And thank you so much for sharing everything with us today.
And I can't wait. This will be published Saturday coming up. So yes, please, everybody listen,
share tagging your friends and let us know what dogs you have. I have Amber who's a Labrador.
Let's see if she'll come and show herself on camera. Amber, do you want to come up and say
hello? Come and say hello. She's an old lab now. She might not jump up. No, she's like no,
no. You're gonna have to teach her the follow. I will. If anyone does want to buy any of my
products as well. I will set up SJ 15. And that will get them 15% discount. Oh, wow. Right. I'll
make sure that's in the show notes. That's phenomenal. Thank you. That's very kind and
generous of you. So SJ 15. Yeah, one five. Brilliant. Simple as well. Code. Yes. Keep
things easy. Keep things simple. Lovely. Well, thank you so much, Sam, for joining us today.
And thank you everybody for listening. Thank you.
