Top 10 young UK entrepreneurs, part I
LaunchLab.co.uk and the Make Your Mark campaign introduce 10 of the
UK's most exciting young entrepreneurs. Can you spot the next Branson
or Roddick?
1. Tajinder Nanuwa
Urban Apothecary
www.urbanapothecary.co.uk
Twenty-eight year-old Tajinder Nanuwa comes from a family of entrepreneurs and had always wanted to run her own business. She set up Urban Apothecary in February 2006 after travelling the world extensively and discovering a host of fantastic new beauty products that were only available in small commercial markets.
She decided to do business with these brands, and in doing so create one of the most exciting and innovative distribution companies in the UK.
Tajinder had gained great experience of brand management in the beauty industry, both at retail level as well as international distribution, before she founded Urban Apothecary having worked in the beauty industry since the age of 16. The skills she learnt here were invaluable in making the business an international success.
As Tajinder explains; “Having discovered fantastic new Bath and Body ranges in a number of countries, I was determined to make them available to everyone and am very proud to be working with some of the hottest young brands on the planet”.
Urban Apothecary is all about luxury, indulgence and glamour. Products must fulfil four criteria: beautiful packaging, heavenly scent, sensual texture and effectiveness, making sure that only the very best products are available to the customer.
Urban Apothecary also supply high-end department stores including Selfridges, Heals and John Lewis to name but a few, and many independent boutiques around the UK.
2. Natasha Faith & Semhal Zemikael
La Diosa
www.ladiosa.co.uk/
Natasha Faith and her business partner Semhal Zemikael, both aged 21 and based in London, launched their
semi-precious jewellery business La Diosa in January 2007 after receiving an initial loan of £5,000 from the Prince’s Trust.
La Diosa means ‘The Goddess’ in Spanish, and perfectly reflects the divine designs of the girls’ jewellery. Both girls have worked for other people before and do say they learnt a lot from their experiences, but also said that they found their age often held them back as employers rarely let them express their creativity.
Natasha and Semhal decided to start the business after travelling around the world for 9 months, in which time they learnt various jewellery making techniques, and these international influences are easily visible in their creations.
Their jewellery has been praised by entrepreneur Simon Woodroffe, founder of Yo! Sushi, and Keisha Buchanan of the Sugababes has said “I think I’m in love with La Diosa designs.”
La Diosa is still in its early days but is destined for great things, and the girls are ready to put their all into their business, knowing that the amount of work you put in is reflected in the level of success the business achieves.
3. Sarah Brown
Pai Skincare
www.paiskincare.com
Thirty-one year-old Sarah Brown started Pai - an organic skincare company - following personal experience of the potentially damaging effects of chemicals in cosmetics.
Whilst looking for a solution to a prolonged skin allergy, she noticed the lack of truly natural products on the market. This inspired her to create her own range of hand-made, chemical-free creams.
After completing a history degree at Nottingham University, Sarah found herself working in PR for seven years. She says that the combination of doing a non- vocational degree and the lack of visible alternatives to conventional career paths left her without any clear idea of what she wanted to do.
As the idea for Pai started to take shape, Sarah realised that she would have to completely retrain. She undertook a series of courses in skincare manufacturing and spent the next 18 months researching ingredients and exhaustively trialling her recipes on willing friends.
At the end of 2006, she was finally ready to launch an initial range of six products.
Sarah was fortunate to have supportive family and friends who encouraged her to go for it, but she still had to finance the whole venture herself. Her background and contacts in PR provided her not only with part-time freelance work, but also a wealth of experience in building a brand.
Getting Pai up and running has been an all-consuming process and Sarah can only imagine putting that amount of work and effort into something she is truly passionate about. She is a firm believer that if you’ve got a good idea you should have the courage of your convictions and go for it.
Sarah takes her inspiration from other small business owners; to her their success seems more tangible - and attainable - than that of the famous entrepreneurs.
She is convinced there are lots of great role models out there, it’s just that they need to be more visible. She is always looking to make contacts and learn from others and to this end she has joined a corporate social responsibility network called CSR Chicks.
With a dedicated client base already in place, Sarah has high hopes for the future. She plans to look for investment to enable Pai to grow and her next major landmark is to gain Soil Association organic accreditation. She is also looking to create both men’s and mother & baby ranges.
Her long-term ambition is to make Pai the most respected organic and ethical skincare product on the market, whilst keeping the company privately-owned and true to its founding principles.
See also:
Top ten young UK entrepreneurs, part II
Top ten young UK entrepreneurs, part III
