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Exquisitely British - The British Entrepreneur Club for Luxury Brands
An Interview with...
Caroline Hardy
Founder of Illumens Candles
By Clare Heighway - 7th October 2014
We chat to Caroline Hardy, the founder of Suffolk based Illumens Candles, who tells us about how the business began and where she gets her inspiration from.
Caroline, can you tell us bit about yourself?
I have always loved fragrance and perfume and I was that child making rose water in the garden all summer holidays. I worked as a buyer at DESIGNERS GUILD and then HEALS and when I left full time work to have children I decided to develop my own range of toiletries. The Conran Shop was the first store to place an order, and it just grew from there. I love running my own company. I like the creative freedom and after years of consultancy where I was developing products for other people, I relish the fact that now I have the final say, and the power of veto - for better or worse I can do exactly what I like with my products.
Where did the idea for Illumens come from?
HARDYS, the brand of bath preparations I created, was sold in the late 1990’s because it got too large for me to run alone. It wasn’t long before I got bored and wanted to do the same thing all over again. I then began to do a lot of work as a consultant on toiletry and home fragrance brand development. The tipping point came for me when a certain high street chain rejected a range that was developed for them as ‘too sophisticated, too expensive and might look better in pink’. I walked out of that meeting and thought ‘I could launch that for myself’ and Rouge d’Origine, our first Illumens scented candle collection, grew from that rejection.
Who’s your perfect customer?
Someone who truly appreciates the quality of our fragrances and enthusiastically buys our products.
What has been your biggest challenge?
We completely re-launched the website and computerised all the order, stock control and accounting systems this year. It was hellish for a luddite technophobe like me, but now it is done and everything works so much better - I am a convert!
What has been your biggest highlight?
Going to Tokyo last year and seeing our products stunningly displayed in the department store Takashimaya, then whilst we stood gazing seeing a beautiful woman in traditional dress buying one of our candles. That was a truly proud moment.
What or who are you inspired by?
There is no single answer to this, and it is difficult sometimes to say what exactly inspires me. I am constantly wandering antique shops, markets and brocantes. Constantly looking at packaging new and vintage, and I love fonts, and always, always I am sniffing: fragrance, candles, flowers, book paper etc (we very nearly missed a flight once we were so distracted in the perfume department at Duty Free). I am always reading at least one book, and I'm a film and Instagram junkie so I suppose something from all of that makes me do what I do.
Do you have any advice for other entrepreneurs?
Be brave, work with what you really love and what inspires you but do the maths, before you start, and continually as you grow. It's no good having the best products in the world if you end up bankrupt.
What does your "typical" work day look like?
There really isn’t any such thing, which is one of the reasons being your own boss is so great. We always start the day by preparing the orders that have to leave that day, and then raising invoices and chasing payment, which is a necessary bugbear. Then some days we can be office bound with admin, or visiting the factory and warehouse, and sometimes working on new packaging and fragrances (my favourite way to spend the day). 7pm is usually the time for a glass of wine unless it is a week we are pretending that we don’t drink until Friday...
What do you think is important in developing a successful British brand?
Make sure it is the very best it can be in every way. No compromise.
How do you manage the work/life balance?
I find this easier than my partner in the business who has to be banned from working on Christmas Day. I do try and keep the weekends totally work free, and work reasonable hours Monday to Friday. There are times when we work late into the night to get things done but that is the nature of running your own business.
What are your plans for the future?
We are currently finalising a new range which launches in early 2015 so I would love to see ILLUMENS grow as much next year as it has this. I also have to fit in continuing to learn to ride sidesaddle, writing a book and weeding the garden more often! However I have to face up to the fact that if the first part of those plans comes true, the second part could be tricky!
For more informaiton on Illumens visit the website at www.illumens-candles.co.uk
Illumens are a Best of British member.
Read more about them here.
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