CAROL Smillie is known to millions as a TV presenter.  But she has now reinvented herself as an entrepreneur who has found a gap in the market for a highly inventive brand of underwear.

The former Changing Rooms star runs her own company, DiaryDoll, which sells  breathable and washable pants designed to remove the risk of leaks and stains on bedding and clothing.
The product is designed to cater for young girls starting their periods and for women in post maternity.

They are also popular during exercise for people suffering from light stress incontinence.
Carol’s business started three years ago as a result of holiday conversation with her friend, the former tennis star and current TV commentator Annabel Croft. It’s been a big success – the company’s products are sold in stores such as John Lewis and are shortly to be marketed on the shopping channel QVC.

The business is being supported by Entrepreneurial Spark, the revolutionary mentoring programme which was launched in Scotland and is now the world’s largest free business accelerator for early-stage companies.

Being delivered in partnership with the Royal Bank of Scotland, benefits include access to a collaborative office environment in locations known as hatcheries and advice and support from world-class established entrepreneurs such as Tom Hunter, Willie Haughey and Anne Gloag.

Carol has established her business in the Glasgow hatchery and says that the Entrepreneurial Spark ecosystem has been vital to her success. “We wouldn’t have got this far without them. I’ve learned a lot about things like marketing, research and IP.

“I went to see them and explain what I’d done so far and the support I needed. They help to bring accountability and focus – no one wants to do the dull stuff such as the business plan and the numbers, but they have to be worked through and they’ve helped.  I now feel like I’m part of a big family and we understand each other.”

One of the most important aspects of Entrepreneurial Spark is that different member companies physically work alongside each other in the hatchery space, providing mutual support.  

“Even if everyone has different businesses, you’re all working towards the same things – scale, growth, funding and understanding the customer. And there’s often synergy across the businesses.”

Has she found moving into business and being an entrepreneur harder or easier than she first thought? A bit of both, she says. “My name opened a lot of doors and that’s been an advantage in some respects.

“Another benefit was winning a Scottish EDGE award for early stage entrepreneurs which was partly funded by RBS. That, she says, helped pay for important marketing and involvement in trade shows. On the downside, I assumed that the business would generate a lot of press interest, but it actually didn’t because of the subject matter, which people don’t find easy to talk about. But blogging has been very good for us – a lot of people really understand what we are trying to do.”

At present, Carol has just one employee who works on marketing and social media and although she recognises she will need to talk on other people as the company grows, she doesn’t plan to build a huge operation.

“I don’t want a massive infrastructure – I want to outsource as much as possible and concentrate on what I am good at, such as sales and marketing.”

She says she is delighted with the advice RBS have provided as part of the Entrepreneurial Spark package. “I was a bit concerned at the start they they’d want me to bank with them, but that hasn’t been the case at all – they’ve never pressured me, which is really refreshing. They’ve been very supportive and positive about the E-Spark ethos, and have people who come in all the time.

Their advice on money and banking issues has been invaluable.”
Jim Duffy, who is the organisation’s Chief Executive, says that Carol is a good fit into Entrepreneurial Spark. “We focus on building mindsets for the next 10 years and she certainly has that. We saw that she had dynamism, enthusiasm and a great commitment to bring something new to market.”

Entrepreneurial Spark is working to engage with 21st century entrepreneurs, and he says it’s succeeding. It  has been in business for three years now. “We’re a social enterprise – we don’t make any profit. Our focus is on getting businesses invested and encouraging them to grow and
scale up.”

The set up in Scotland and the rest of the UK is slightly different. Here, the funding for the three hatcheries in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Ayrshire comes from local authorities. South of the border, its new hatcheries in Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff and Leeds comes from RBS and NatWest.

Further expansion is planned with operations in Belfast, Manchester and London planned within the next couple of years. The aim is for 11 in total, with a hatchery also planned for RBS’s headquarters building at Gogarburn, Edinburgh. It is just one part of the bank’s push towards supporting entrepreneurialism and enterprise across the country.

According to head of entrepreneurship for RBS,  the benefits are obvious. He said: “Entrepreneurs are significant wealth creators and the economy’s  lifeblood. Last year was the first time there have been over five million UK businesses, of which more than 99 per cent are SMEs.
 

“The enthusiasm that programmes such as Entrepreneurial Spark generate highlights the appetite is there for people to set up on their own – it is just about creating the right network of support to help them do that. Internally we are developing programmes to help our staff think like entrepreneurs and help them understand the challenges they face. Externally we are hosting events which bring together our contacts, facilities and expertise to offer networking and learning opportunities which will prove invaluable for start-ups and high growth businesses.”

Working with Young Enterprise Scotland, the bank recently turned its flagship branch on Gordon Street in Glasgow into a shop window for young start-ups, offering up floorspace to allow businesses to showcase their work and engage with customers.

It is also about to host Opportunity Knocks, a conference bringing together entrepreneurs, professionals, business angels on September 23 in Gogarburn.
 

Aimed at people with great ideas, attendees get the chance to pitch to people with track records in supporting new-starts.
 

Gordon added: “It’s exciting to see pioneering events like this emerge when Scotland’s entrepreneurial ecosystem partners come together. This conference is particularly unique as it gives entrepreneurs and investors the opportunity to showcase their businesses as well as providing them with knowledge on alternative methods of finance available to them.”

 

 

It pays to think outside the box

SONNY Charles is just 24. He graduated last year with a medical sciences degree and started looking for the right kind of job. Like so many young graduates, he just couldn’t find what he wanted.

Then he had an inspired idea. “I started looking at the various food and wine box subscriptions on the market and I spotted a gap.

“Although there are a couple of cocktail suppliers, they operate differently from us.

“Rather than receiving the nice little miniature bottles, customers are sent something more like a chemistry set.

“There is no branding and I believe that matters.”

Tipple Box began to take shape. The concept of sending the alcoholic miniatures along with the mixers and recipe cards, all carefully packed and delivered for £24 each month, seems ideal for both cocktail connoisseurs and those who’d like to discover the notion without buying £300 worth of different ingredients

Entrepreneurial Spark has, says Sonny, been his salvation in the continuing search for his personal Holy Grail. “I didn’t have the £15,000 or so I needed in the bank and I looked around for possibilities.

“Beginning in September last year, I launched a crowdfunding effort for the Christmas period, so people were buying the product in advance of it being available. That raised about £10,000 and it also gave me a useful insight into the potential marketplace.”

He adds: “I’ve learned so much from the other entrepreneurs around me in
ESpark.

“That has certainly been a huge experience. Everything I learn is giving me knowledge and experience that I can take away.

“Someone who happened to be sitting alongside me gave me a contact at the online retailer Not On The High Street, and that’s where a third of our sales are now.

“At ESpark, that kind of thing happens all the time. You learn so much from one another.

“The organization has given me an executive from RBS on secondment as my Financial Manager. She is fantastic.

“She really drills down deep and I have learned a huge amount from her.

“She’s demanding, knows what she’s doing and makes me ask the right questions.

“The product has also gone onto RBS’ intranet system so I’m getting quite a few customers from the staff there and that’s a very good endorsement.

“I know people make a lot of criticisms of banks but I can honestly say RBS has been great. They’ve provided a kind of safety net that is reassuring and an overdraft facility which, thankfully, I haven’t needed so far.”

As Sonny looks to the future, he says: “My priority is to be able to draw a salary!
“The upfront costs have been high – for example, using proper miniatures rather than decanting is expensive and that has been difficult.

“I’ve now managed to build relationships with partners so that the supply chain is working much more effectively.

“You can never tell what’s around the next corner or what might happen next year but I’m learning so much every single day.

“I know that is building my knowledge and experience for the long term, whatever happens with Tipple Box.”