Having decided to raise investment for your business, it’s important to prepare your financials so that prospective investors can assess the inner workings of your company. Given everyone can find business finances complex to get their heads around, I wanted to talk to someone who didn’t come from a financial background but has totally smashed it in raising investment efficiently for their business.
In this episode, I hear from Daisy Knatchbull, founder of The Deck, the first women’s-only tailoring house to have a shopfront in Savile Row’s 200-year history. Beloved by the fashion press since its launch in 2019, The Deck represents Daisy’s mission to change tailored clothes for women and offer them a compelling alternative to fast fashion.
Daisy shares her advice on how to approach finances when you don’t have a background in it, who to bring in to support you and what to be aware of when going into pitch… all before having those extensive investor conversations.
Daisy’s advice:
If you'd like to contact Daisy you can reach her on Instagram @thedecklondon_
FF&M enables you to own your own PR. Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, 2023 MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason. Email us at hello@fallowfieldmason.com or DM us on instagram @fallowfieldmason.
Let us know how your start up journey is going or if you have any questions you would like us to discuss in future episodes.
FF&M recommends:
Having decided to raise investment for your business, it’s important to prepare your financials so that prospective investors can assess the inner workings of your company. Given everyone can find business finances complex to get their heads around, I wanted to talk to someone who didn’t come from a financial background but has totally smashed it in raising investment efficiently for their business.
In this episode, I hear from Daisy Knatchbull, founder of The Deck, the first women’s-only tailoring house to have a shopfront in Savile Row’s 200-year history. Beloved by the fashion press since its launch in 2019, The Deck represents Daisy’s mission to change tailored clothes for women and offer them a compelling alternative to fast fashion.
Daisy shares her advice on how to approach finances when you don’t have a background in it, who to bring in to support you and what to be aware of when going into pitch… all before having those extensive investor conversations.
Daisy’s advice:
If you'd like to contact Daisy you can reach her on Instagram @thedecklondon_
FF&M enables you to own your own PR. Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, 2023 MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason. Email us at hello@fallowfieldmason.com or DM us on instagram @fallowfieldmason.
Let us know how your start up journey is going or if you have any questions you would like us to discuss in future episodes.
FF&M recommends:
Juliet: [00:00:00] Thank you so much for your time.
Juliet: I know how precious it is. No, it's great because I've, long admired what you've been doing and I can't believe that you started in 2019 because I feel like the deck's been around for a really long time,
Daisy: , I can't believe it's only been that long. It's been, but in a great way, it just feels, you know, we now have the largest shot for an ensemble row. I just never, ever thought I'd be in this place. Yeah.
Juliet: Total. Irrespective of gender.
Daisy: Irrespective of gender. Yeah.
Juliet: Go Daisy. That's amazing. Because I know that the deck, and you'll obviously you'll tell us more about it, but you are the only female founded. Taylor on Savile Row in
Juliet: its
Juliet: 200 year
Daisy: first shot front for women. Yeah.
Juliet: And congratulations. And you're probably going, well, yeah, obviously, cause that's what we need to be doing and that's what needs to happen, but it probably was not that easy because looking from the outside in, you've built this incredible brand, very quickly, given the pandemic and Brexit. [00:01:00] Can you just give us a bit of introduction as to why you started the deck and how you started it?
Daisy: Yeah. Well, I mean, I always say it's crazy, isn't it, that we put men on the moon however many years ago, but there was no shot front for women on Savile Row. So it always seemed like something that just should kind of have been there, but hasn't been. , my background before this was I was always interested in fashion from a very young age and, , before I was doing what I was doing, I'd worked in various roles within fashion styling, PR
Daisy: and I wanted to move into, menswear. I felt that womenswear was too saturated. I was always looking for a gap in the market , and I just felt that womenswear wasn't the place to kind of be. So I took a job on Savile Row and a place that I'd never been on in my life and knew nothing about. And I thought I'd understand menswear kind of from the stitch up. I the first job that I had there was actually PR coordinator and I ended up working there for five and a half years, working my way up to becoming comms director. And that was for a tailor called Huntsman, a very famous and sailor on [00:02:00] Savile Row who also did women. I mean, a lot of the tailors. did women's.
Daisy: It was just a very tiny portion of their business. And as you can imagine, all of these tailors were geared towards men, , they were very dark , very kind of heavy interiors and, and felt very good towards men. And it was not very often that you'd see a woman walking down the street.
Daisy: I mean, only until recently where they're really , opportunities for women as tailors. So it was a really interesting place to be. I was, 24 years old, and I was literally immersing myself in this secret, wonderful world of tailoring. And it truly is this kind of magical place.
Daisy: It's like a little village and, it has hold some of the most talented people in the world on that street. I mean, truly with skills and, the art of craftsmanship that's been passed down for generations. And in 2016, I was trying to bring more women and attract more women to Huntsman.
Daisy: And for those that don't know, Huntsman was It's the tailoring Kingsman. So we were doing a lot of filming for Kingsman the movie around there and they changed the whole [00:03:00] interiors. It was all quite fun and Savile Row, was this great place. It was busy and buzzing and this is pre pandemic and pre Brexit and all these
Juliet: Pre the world falling
Daisy: Free the world falling apart.
Daisy: And so in 2016, I thought we would do a PR stunt to try and attract more women to Savile And so I became the first woman to wear a top hat and tails.
Juliet: that was
Juliet: two 16
Juliet: at
Juliet: Ascott.
Daisy: exactly. And that was terrifying. And I think, you know, a strange thing to do. I got a lot of comments from kind of more of the old school men as I was walking in, but actually, the manager let me into the broad enclosure and I got clapped in, which was amazing.
Daisy: And we got loads of amazing press and , just talking to all the women. I just suddenly thought, gosh, , there just isn't a space solely for women on Savile Row.
Juliet: This was when you were at Huntsman and you were like, I'm gonna do this to prove a point that women can wear beautiful
Daisy: Exactly. And, and that they can come to Saburo and have things made and I wore this beautiful, tails and top hat and then they actually subsequently changed the dress code[00:04:00] quickly after that to allow women to wear trousers.
Daisy: But it was this real moment for me of my goodness, there are a lot of women out there who, by the way, the reason before Savile Row wasn't that interested in doing tailoring for women is our bodies aren't more difficult. You know, we've got boobs and we've got bums but we're the ones that need clothes made.
Daisy: We go through IVF, pregnancies, mastectomies, menopause, all these things as a woman that just mean, our bodies change shape continuously, , over years, but also over months as we know it, and it just seemed crazy to me that there wasn't someone that was catering solely to those women.
Daisy: We have clients now who've never been able to wear trousers until they found us. It's just, it feels like such a crying shame that this wasn't offered. And of course, , it comes at a certain price and I understand that, but in our own small way to make a stamp for women. On Savile Row was really important.
Daisy: So I thought, well, I'm going to try and do it. So I left my job and I raised some money and I thought, well, let's give this a [00:05:00] shot and see where it goes. And actually. Very quickly, it became something, we had a lot of celebrities wearing it. We were super busy with clients and then the dreaded pandemic and Brexit hit, which is two of the worst things to ever happen. to
Daisy: retail,
Juliet: a into
Juliet: your brand.
Daisy: nine months in. So we launched a little basement on the King's Road. And then after six months with the kind of early success we'd had, we've managed to squirrel a bit of money away to then take a very small shop front on Lower Sloane Street. And that's where I was when the pandemic hit.
Daisy: And it was in total a year and three months of being shut down. And unlike, , other businesses, I had no ready to wear, I had no online presence. I had to see everyone face to face. So it was business closed.
Juliet: And people also not wearing suits, they're all in active wear at home,
Daisy: Exactly. Comfy, stretchy clothes. Yeah.
Juliet: So going back, you said you left your job and you raised some money. What in that very big decision making process happened? You came from Sunday Times styling, you [00:06:00] went into fashion PR roles and very quickly progressed the ranks to become comms director of an established brand.
Juliet: How did you feel confident enough to then go, right, I'm going to found a business and raise some money? Because I think for me, it was off the back of redundancy and I felt like I didn't have a choice and I just made up as I went along, but you proactively, which I think is far braver,
Daisy: Extraordinary because it's, looking back now, I think there's a lot of things at play. I think it's terrifying leaving, , a salaried job that's comfortable and pays the bills and stepping into the unknown. We've had on countless occasions from various different founders, there is that fear and that step you need to take and a level of belief in what you do.
Daisy: And I think, , I went, before I quit my job, I went honestly for a hundred coffees in three months with different people, people who had failed businesses, people who had successful businesses, businesses kind of like mine, businesses that were nothing like mine, people that inspired me. I just soaked up as much as I could.
Daisy: And, I think [00:07:00] that the most resounding thing that came out of that is. You have to believe in what you do. And I think a lot of people want to start a business, but don't necessarily have that belief. And I think that belief in what you do is so important because it's the driving force that brings you back every time in the dark, low moments where you're scared or terrified, or you've got cashflow issues, .
Daisy: That's what's going to bring you out of that and, keep you moving forward and keep you putting a step ahead, , one foot in front of the other. So there is a level of confidence one has to have, but I wouldn't say I was necessarily confident. I was terrified. But. I believe in this. God knows how it's gonna do, but if I believe in it, I think other people will, and then you have to identify the need. Okay, there is, I do believe there's a need, and that's really important, .
Daisy: you And for me, it was, there's no one doing really what we're doing, and there's a scary element to that as well. Why are people not doing what you're doing? , if I were doing another shoe brand, I could probably know, . That type of shoe would be successful based on previous businesses.
Daisy: But even in building my pitch deck I couldn't really [00:08:00] show historical data of other businesses that had done this because they hadn't. And that's also a scary thing because you've got to ask yourself why. And so for me the idea of raising money, was a question I went back and forth about.
Daisy: And you hear the scare stories, don't raise money, , don't give away any of your business. You sell your soul to the devil. You'll be under the thumb of other people. They'll force you to do things you don't want to do. And then there's the other side. Raising money is incredibly difficult. And if you can do it, it's a wonderful thing.
Daisy: It allows you to take up opportunities you wouldn't otherwise do. It, it gives you that. Headstart in making, , where, yes, you give away equity, but isn't it better to own more equity of very successful business than less of not? And so I was constantly flip flopping between these and eventually I thought, well, look, I'm the first person doing something of this kind.
Daisy: There are other women making for women. I'm definitely not the first person to do this, but the vision I had to become this shopfront for women on Savile Row, . There [00:09:00] weren't many people doing anything similar. So I thought, right, well, what I need to do is raise some capital.
Daisy: I've got overheads. I need a shop. I need employees and I want to get
Juliet: And if you're going to do it, do it properly.
Daisy: Yeah. And I want to do this and I want to go and I want to own that space and I want to be the market leader in that space. So I raised 150, 000 SEIS, this amazing scheme. I'm sure your listeners know, but for those that don't, S E I S E I SS is a wonderful tax relief scheme that the government offers to help people invest, in seed enterprises.
Daisy: And it has amazing kind of tax relief . And so I put the word out and of those a hundred coffees, I asked them all to introduce me to one other person and one other person, and I went on this. It's, , big chase to see if I could raise this money and lots of no's and some yeses and some maybes.
Daisy: And that for me was the most terrifying part. , I didn't do math at A level. It wasn't my strong suit. I never studied economics. I couldn't read a PNL until, , the point where I needed to [00:10:00] raise money. , and so I took up kind of night school with this wonderful man that I've met, on a platform called Upwork where you can hire freelancers.
Daisy: And he was based in Pakistan. I never met him, but he was, he believed in what I did. And every night we would spend an hour on zoom and he'd teach me about, , PNLs and DCF graphs , and balance sheets. Forecasting. So that I felt kind of bulletproof when it came to the investors. And obviously I have wonderful mentors around me and I think that's hugely important and bounce the pitch deck off them.
Daisy: And then finally felt ready. And actually it was my father that gave me one piece of advice that I always stick with, even now, as I've subsequently raised more money, which is you do. So even if you're walking into, , an office of someone who. , as a hedge fund manager or has had multiple successful businesses and maybe a 60 year old man with huge experience in finance, they will never understand your business like you do.
Daisy: You will always be the expert [00:11:00] and don't be afraid to come back on things you don't know the answer to.
Daisy: And that advice has stayed with me through every single round. If I don't know the answer to the question, I say, that's a great question. I'd love to come back to you. And where I speak about my business, I don't fear it anymore because I know that I'm the expert in it.
Juliet: Well, I love this twofold in the sense that you're resolute in your value. And someone told me that very early on. It's like, stop deliberating pricing, own it and just don't waste time on it. You haven't got time to waste. But in my day job, we teach founders how to do their own PR and articulate their business because they know their story better than anyone else.
Juliet: No one else will be able to know those nuances around your business, you've seen it through.
Juliet: Blood, sweat and tears,
Daisy: Yeah.
Juliet: know it better than anyone. And I think with investors, you're right. They might be an expert in their field, but you're sort of bridging that gap and you are the business. So you went and you raised the money before you.
Daisy: Before I started the business and that money was going to help me with a little shop, which I took in the basement of the King's road, [00:12:00] investing in, some , inventory, but not for the ready to wear kind. I needed what was called fit garments to help with the fitting process. And my first employee and a production manager.
Daisy: First, my first tailor and a production manager. And that was it. And, and that's the only reason I survived the pandemic, because we were such a lean business
Juliet: Yeah. There's no wastage.
Daisy: Knows now, it would be totally different.
Juliet: A lot of people, it's like, you need to have minimal viable product. Get someone to pay for your service.
Juliet: Just prove that someone is willing to pay for it. And then you've got it. It doesn't matter what they pay you, but there needs to be sort of a. Peanut swapping exercise, but you'd gone in cold as it were saying, this is the idea. This is what I'm envisaging. This is the gap in the market. Would you say, I mean, it's hard for you to answer this cause you've only done it your way, but would you say that's a harder pitch to raise investment
Daisy: That for sure, for sure. And I was going to,, the unfortunate reality is there are more male investors than women now. As I enter my third round of funding, I realize this has changed a lot, which is a [00:13:00] beautiful thing.
Juliet: for? Only in the
Juliet: last couple of years though, right?
Daisy: yeah, back in 2018, so that's what, nearly six years ago, it was a very different landscape.
Juliet: That was two and a half percent of VC funding would go
Juliet: to female founders. Yeah.
Daisy: I mean these statistics are crazy. I could read off a whole other load that just upset me enormously. But, The funny thing was, is when I was pitching to all these men, they said, so you're doing men's suits for women. And doing women's suits for women, you know? And, and this idea, I think people didn't really understand what I was trying to do in the way that they can now so easily see.
Daisy: And so certainly that was harder, but there's also something to be said here was that I was 25 and I was much less, fearless. I just I had
Daisy: Kaons, as they say it was, yeah. I felt that I had at that point, no mortgage. I have, I still have no kids.
Daisy: You know, I had,
Juliet: Nothing to lose.
Daisy: yeah, somewhat, , a, a lot to lose in many ways. I was taking jobs on the side. I squirreled money away from my [00:14:00] previous role. I was then, taking side jobs to keep funding to live before I launched this business, but it was terrifying, but I just thought.
Daisy: I'm going to do it. And if I believe in it, people will believe in it. And I know that there's someone that will. And, and then I managed to close the round actually at a million pound valuation, which is quite punchy for a business that I
Daisy: hadn't launched.
Juliet: Yes, that's incredible. But, how long did that take you from you quitting your job and closing that round? What was the time?
Daisy: So I did a lot of the business planning and stuff in the evenings whilst I retained my job. And a lot of the market research and a lot of the, , on the weekends, I'd go and see all these people for coffees. And, and then it was about six months of quitting my job and building the pitch deck and understanding the business more.
Daisy: And, , looking at the business models. And then it took me about six months to raise the money and I closed the round. Literally months before I then launched the business.
Juliet: And you had a plan in place of what you were going [00:15:00] to do first and next and then after that and then the pandemic hit.
Daisy: Yeah, that wasn't written into the plan.
Juliet: no, no, I don't think it was written into anyone's plan and I think there's a lot of good and learnings that have come out of it, but there's a lot of strife and stress that has also been experienced throughout it.
Juliet: Did you have investors suddenly coming back to you going, well, now what? We've invested. What's going on? Like, how did you manage the communications with those stakeholders?
Daisy: Do what? I think another valuable piece of advice I was given was, and this is scary, is you can be a little choosy with who invests. You don't always have that luxury, and particularly now is a very difficult time to raise money with the economy and everything going on. It's a luxury to have people on board who Believe in your vision and, , let you do what you do because they back you as the founder and they believe in your vision for this business.
Daisy: And I'm very lucky to have investors , that follow that and believe that. So when the pandemic hit, [00:16:00] no one knew what was going on, , I mean, it wasn't like I could turn to someone and say, Oh, what did you do in the last global pandemic? Or what did you do when, Britain left the EU? No one had the answers.
Daisy: , , when Brexit first happened, no one knew what was going on. The shipping companies didn't understand. They were holding all my suits of my clients for six months at a time. , I, I, it was a disaster and I couldn't explain it to clients. I couldn't explain it to investors because the people, , couldn't explain it themselves that were a part of this.
Daisy: So it was a very. Unknown time. And I think my investors kind of understood that, that, , my goodness, tomorrow it could, everything could be gone. , the high street, it was, we know it brands as we know it, you can even buy loo roll at that time. So I think it was all unknowns for everyone
Daisy: and it was a really scary time.
Daisy: Yeah. For everyone. And you saw some amazing businesses that I had loved and looked up to for so long, closed their doors. And it was a really sad time. for everyone. I mean, not only because of the great death and sadness around it, but from a business perspective, it saw some of the [00:17:00] great brands close their doors.
Daisy: And, and I just thought, how am I going to do this? And then everyone's wearing stretchy clothes and the world's changing. And, and I'm just thinking, this is a disaster. , what on earth am I going to do? But you have to just stay resilient and strong. And, and really there was nothing else that you could do.
Daisy: You just had to sit and wait and think, right, we're closed for, I don't know how long. And, and so. I use that time of closure to do a lot of blue sky thinking. I kind of used it almost as an opportunity, right? I traded for nine months. I'd learned a lot since before I launched, , I'd proved my concept, but also things that I thought about my business.
Daisy: Maybe weren't what I thought and they went in a better direction or a different direction and so it allowed me to kind of pivot. I mean, as per this book, , the Lean Startup, it's kind of the classic book every founder reads, but it allowed me to look obliquely at the business and do some kind of blue sky thinking and think, okay. My current business model doesn't work in this scenario. How am I going to reach my client if this [00:18:00] happens again? And so that led me on this path to start working on the technology side of business. It's very exciting, and lots more to be discussed around that, when it launches at either end of this year, beginning of next year.
Daisy: Or how can I refine the customer experience? Experience. I could then take the time to look at my margins and look at all the things that, when you're starting a business just come at
Juliet: Oh yeah. the
Juliet: luxury
Daisy: to, it was almost, and 'cause I was small enough, I could stop all operations.
Daisy: I had no cost during the pandemic.
Daisy: Other than the cost of , my employee but , we'd made some money. At that time, my costs were almost nothing and it was. It was a time that I could reflect and say, right, I did it for nine months in the real world.
Daisy: Now I've got a year to think about how that went. And then come out stronger and bigger and better. And actually that's what led me to get thinking of, right, I'd had the basement in the King's Road, I was on the... , shop front on Lower Stone Street. I want to get to Savile Row and now is the time.
Daisy: And as much as there were a lot of bad things out of this pandemic, what it meant [00:19:00] was, , retail landscape was changing. Were people going to go back to bricks and mortar? Did anyone want to own bricks and mortar at that point? It was hugely expensive. And so, , an opportunity arose for me to Get onto Savile Row after nine months of trading and open up the first shop front for women on Savile Row.
Daisy: That never would have happened had the pandemic not happened. Not only that, but the press that came out of it because people thought I was balmy, literally. Who is this girl taking 2, 000 square foot on Savile Row in the middle of a pandemic? for suiting. And so we had the BBC, we had CNBC, CNN, everyone came as soon as we opened out of the pandemic, , and retails life began, I mean, not as normal because we lived with COVID, but we were able to open.
Daisy: It ended up working out in our favor and actually coming out of the pandemic. We did best revenues we'd ever done and it was people who thought, Do what? I loved wearing stretchy clothes but I kind of want to dress up now, but I, I want to dress [00:20:00] up in a different way.
Daisy: And we've had time to think about the planet and we've watched the planet,
Daisy: you know. regenerate. Yeah. And we've, , the pandemic, we watched the canals in Venice change and, , the trees and even on our daily walks, how it just felt with less traffic and less people that the world got to breathe for a moment.
Daisy: And I think people realize the effect that particularly fast fashion, , 11 million garments a week go to landfill in the UK. And I think people. Shopping habits shifted and it bred this more conscious consumer. So instead of spending thousands on a dress that they'll wear once, they wanted to shift that into spending, money with us in things that they can wear on repeat a multitude of different ways as separate altogether and
Daisy: have inlays. Yeah. And that you can change shape and, and, and it's okay 'cause we put inlays in and we can alter them and change them and you can pass 'em down to the next generation. So I think it was a combination of all of that. That led to this kind of post lockdown surge in [00:21:00] sales. And we've been doubling our business ever since.
Juliet: Congratulations, first and foremost, given this episode and the season's focusing around investment, one thing I wanted to ask you is your background was in fashion and PR, , and then you come to be a. Company director and you're like, oh, I have to learn all this business stuff that I had no idea about.
Juliet: And it's, as you said, you had evening classes, but did you seek other financial advice? Who helped you get to grips with the nuts and bolts of the finances of the business?
Daisy: Yeah, there was a wonderful guy I got introduced to who was my rock at the very beginning, who came and, , advised me on the various things. So as much as I was learning the nuts and bolts, there was someone that I needed to talk about, , strategy and valuations and how much money I'd need to raise and,
Juliet: And was that an advisory c f O? Would that be the
Daisy: . Yeah. And he was just brilliant and he really helped me understand. , and then also the mentors, like I said, around me, , bouncing ideas off, [00:22:00] and helping me get to grips to really understand the financials and what that meant for the business and what things cost. I didn't know about rates and I mean,, I knew about them, but I didn't know what that cost or what that looked like.
Daisy: I didn't know about, so many different things and, , company taxes and income tax. And, and corporation tax and it's just so much stuff that, if I had the time, I would campaign more for schools in the UK to teach,
Daisy: much more financial understanding and particularly for women,
Juliet: In terms of getting your finances ready for investors, are there any sort of basic things that you've given you found to say, this is something you don't know that you don't know yet what are the things that investors are going to really point to and want to see?
Daisy: So it's a funny thing, a pitch deck, because often the person you're putting it in front of has seen a ton of them, right? They know the drill. So you should always give a three or really a five year projection of your business, but these are kind of [00:23:00] finger in the air stuff, right?
Juliet: Especially if you've not launched.
Daisy: yeah, when you're first starting out now, , four and a half years in this slightly different for me, but when you're, you're first starting, . You don't even know if it's going to work. So you can model things out till the cows come home and having a very strong model is really important.
Daisy: And there are things that you can do to work out, , the mathematics behind, okay, roughly where you would be in three years time, but there's an extraordinary phenomenon where, which I was often told by lots of people, which is that investors tend to slash those numbers, they think, okay.
Daisy: And same with valuations, it's all finger in the air stuff.
Daisy: So I think show, , men tend to be more bullshit in their financials and their pitching in a way that women aren't and there's a lot of stuff around. women raising money versus men raising money and the kind of psychology behind it.
Daisy: But I think having a robust three year plan to the best of your ability is usually important because you can do a beautiful pitch deck , and, , make it really pretty and add everything you need. But really that's the page that they're going to be most interested in [00:24:00] immediately. A lot of investors skip straight to understanding, okay, how much do you need?
Daisy: How are you using that? And what does that look like from a three to five year perspective? But also at the very beginning, identifying why you're different is hugely important. , everyone always talks about this elevator pitch
Juliet: I think it's, you have to say it in one breath. You
Juliet: have
Juliet: to articulate what problem you're
Daisy: why are you different? What's the problem you're solving?
Daisy: And I think, , there's a, there's often the case where as a founder, , so much about your business that you almost forget to explain the really small details. And you kind of, , you don't assume people understand it as much as you do, but sometimes. What I've, what I've worked out is there's more explaining than I initially imagined that I'd need to do or really why my business is different or, but it needs to be very clear and succinct.
Daisy: And so talking in layman's terms and what I do is all the kind of acronyms of my industry, always write in full, always assume that someone is completely.
Juliet: Hmm.,
Daisy: I'm someone who, who tends to [00:25:00] overdo texts. I find it very hard, well, now less so, but at the beginning, , neat, succinct copy. So, and I think a punchy pitch deck that catches an eye, it doesn't have too much text on, but says everything in as little words as possible. So that's kind of my advice on the pitch deck front and the financials front.
Juliet: Fantastic. And then given you're now onto your third phase, how does that landscape change if you've already had investment before? Have you had to do things differently? I mean, the only analogy I can think of is we just got B Corp certified and it was one thing to do it once, but I know in three years time, it's going to be a whole lot harder.
Juliet: Is that the same when you go for a second round of investment?
Daisy: definitely. I mean, so my second round I did just after the pandemic again, not a brilliant time to look to raise money,
Juliet: Well, if you can do it, then you can do it anytime.
Daisy: And I raised 500, 000 then, and that was very different because suddenly that felt like a bit more of a grown up figure. But it was still. , I felt that I could do it.
Daisy: So then you learn about things like preemption [00:26:00] rights and all these things where, you offer your existing shareholders the chance to take up more investment and you're pitching again to different faces, different people, except this time you've got real data and figures. So it could be a, a blessing cause that helps and you can show, okay.
Daisy: , we've proved the concept, , we've got X amount of engaged clients. We've got X repeat order rate, all of these great statistics that you
Juliet: for you that's night and day. 'cause presumably pre-launch and then post launch and pre-revenue. And post revenue, it's a whole, there's like, and now here's some actuals.
Daisy: Yeah. So that, that was a huge relief, but, but with that , comes firstly, you're held to a figure. So from the first round, it's like, ah, you want me to invest in the second round? Well, this is where you thought you'd be. And thankfully, we were exactly where we thought we'd be. But then, , once again, okay, now you've got the figures, and now you're projecting again, and I'd say don't get too worked up on getting exactly where you want to be.
Daisy: That's more my point on your three year, five year projections, because people understand that [00:27:00] you're not a, magician. You can't magic yourself to the exact number that you promise you'll be at. People are fairly lenient, but you do need, to get to a certain point and they're investing on that basis.
Daisy: So it is hugely important to be a roughly around where you want to be. And so it's that balance where, , the second round I had, I could prove the concept, but it suddenly felt a bit more grown up and this insane imposter syndrome that I've struggled with throughout, , all my businesses.
Daisy: And again, tends to be more It's something that more women are afflicted with , I had to learn to manage. Oh my goodness, this has actually worked. What the hell? No one's caught me out yet. , what? I don't feel, I feel like, I'm 28. I don't know what I'm doing.
Daisy: , help someone. I want a grown up to come and take over., but then we closed it and we did it and we raised half a million and that was wonderful and now , we're just in the middle of finalizing the pitch debt before we go out and it's gonna be a three million pound raise I think so It's all getting a little more grown up But each time you do it you learn more about yourself and you learn more about your [00:28:00] business and actually it's a wonderful opportunity to be challenged And have the answers because it reminds me, again, it allows me time to reflect back in a way that you don't normally do when you're rushing around in your daily business, , what are these numbers?
Daisy: Why are you different from other people? What's your scale plan? , how are you going to sustain growth? And, and these are great questions that help me understand and answer them myself. That's not the kind of things that you ask yourself on a daily basis. So I also use it as a really great opportunity to kind of challenge yourself and question your own stuff and okay, , can I do it? Am I going to deliver what I think I am, ?
Juliet: and you come through it going, I didn't quite know I was gonna do that, and we've done it, so I should be proud of myself. And actually taking that moment to go, I did that and I should really recognize it.
Daisy: And then also, being okay with the fact that you didn't do some of the things that you thought you were going to do.
Juliet: Yeah.
Daisy: the scary part, ,
Daisy: but, but actually there's always a reason.
Juliet: there's something to say, and I've learned this the hard way, is like, you're trying to do something that's never been done before. No one knows it exists as an option. So for us to [00:29:00] not be a PR agency and teach people how to do their own PR, people are like, eh, what? That's not a thing.
Juliet: And it's like, hang on a minute. We have to not only market the way we're working, but market ourselves and do our own PR, ironically. But it's that. Unshakeable belief, as you said, of no, no, there is value in this. , for me, it's getting client feedback. And when we get that validation from our paying clients to go, we're thrilled.
Juliet: We're delighted, taking a moment to share it in the team and that imposter
Juliet: syndrome, or someone else on the podcast imposter experience. Cause it's not a diagnosed syndrome. So it's a thing that's apparently trying to help you along and support you
Daisy: Interesting. God, what a positive outlook. I love that. I want to be friends with that person.
Juliet: He's amazing. Well, he's ex-army ex consulting and now he's a life coach and he's done training for our team and it was amazing.
Juliet: He said it, your imposter experience is there 'cause it's trying to stop you jumping off a cliff that you think you want to jump off. And actually when you are a founder, like, no, no, the cliff jumping's [00:30:00] happening, you can come along with me. It's really bloody scary. But you then you learn to fly and it's a really cheesy analogy, but you.
Juliet: You do scary things and then once you're past it and you're through it, you're like, Oh my God, this is exhilarating. I don't know about you, but you get slightly addicted to that feeling. And for you going round upon round and you're like, this is much bigger than just you now in such a short space of time.
Juliet: I imagine having that security in your numbers and knowing your numbers. Through and through and through gives you that confidence . Do you, go back to running those spreadsheets and looking with your advisor, your CFO of looking at the business financially, just to give yourself that sort of
Daisy: Well, now, I have the most wonderful, best hire, was, I have lots of great hires. I have an incredible team. We're now at 20 people, but of a COO, this amazing woman who, really helps with the scale and operations and is taking the business. To where it needs to be, believes in my vision, , is, has a huge amount of experience.
Daisy: [00:31:00] Herself previously, and has been instrumental in helping with this business and helping us grow in scale and looking at the numbers and taking it to where we need to be because it's so important. I'm just 31 next week. , cool. I've got, , 10, 11. 12 years of working experience, but I don't have, , the amazing experience she has.
Daisy: And I think it's really important as a founder to know your weakness and bring along some amazing partners along the way who are going to support you where you are weak and also believe in your vision.
Juliet: Absolutely. And just going back to that investment piece when you're presenting to investors, do they have the right to look at your like full accounting history? How much information can they demand from you?
Daisy: It's funny. I mean, they can really demand what they want. There's no rule book on that. a lot of the time there's always this great question as a founder is, do I take a salary or do I not?
Daisy: And how will the investors view that? , and it got turned on its head for me actually in the second round. Cause for a long [00:32:00] time, I took nothing and took other work and actually. It was someone that said to me, , you're not a hero for not taking a salary. You're fundamental to the running of this business and that means 100 percent time and focus on your side on what you do.
Daisy: So actually from an investor's point of view, they want to see that you're paying yourself, , okay,
Daisy: let's not go crazy. , I mean, it's not like, , I paid myself very fairly throughout the business, but I think it's okay to
Daisy: Um, I think it's important for , I'm not sure your time and attention is exactly where it should be. And actually really what they want to see from you is 100 percent dedication and commitment to what you're doing. That's something that actually, since speaking with I run a a network, a WhatsApp group, as , because you're on it, of, of now, I think, 400 female founders, but it started with kind of 30 and it's built over the last five years.
Daisy: But , that was something very interesting was that whole discussion when I've been speaking with some of those girls, of salary and taking a [00:33:00] salary and what would the investors think and all of that. But no, they, they can really ask what they want
Juliet: be surprised at anything.
Daisy: Yeah, but also it's okay to not take on an investor. I think, , we're all desperate for investors and,, but what we all really want is the right ones. And if you've got someone who's going, demanding, non stop this and that and that doesn't make you feel comfortable, or it feels like they're going to be on your back every second of every day and not allowing you to do what you need to do, and you think they might hamper that, it's okay to
Juliet: Say no.
Juliet: Yeah. It's the same with clients. It's bad revenue. And actually I said no to a few clients and I fired a client because like, you don't speak to my team like that. This is not giving us joy. We're working really hard on your behalf. If this is bad, it's taking five times longer because of that personality and walking away from it saves time and ultimately money in the long run.
Juliet: Looking to investors, it's not just the funding. They can give you support, mentorship, connections. They can open doors for you. They can do other things in that value added piece. But I was going to ask, what [00:34:00] do you think are the biggest mistakes founders make when taking on investors other than taking on the wrong ones? Is there anything you would go back and do again that you go, I wish I'd known. I always laugh, experience is what you get after you've needed
Daisy: yeah, I know. I think what I really struggle with at the beginning was trying to be perfect. Trying to look seemingly perfect, be seemingly perfect. The business is your baby. And when you raise money and you open yourselves up, To third parties who put money in, it feels like you're exposing your baby and kind of all the ugly things as well.
Daisy: And I think I used to be so fearful of anyone seeing the ugly side, because anyone who tells you their business is absolutely perfect is lying.
Juliet: But it's hard when you're in a luxury space as well, because I'm Chanel trained, so I'm with you on that everything needs to be 150 percent perfect or we don't do it. That's not realistic when you're running a startup.
Daisy: A, it's not realistic. B, it will kill you. And, and actually you'll be much less productive and much more stressed and a much more unhappy founder if you have that attitude. And I've learned [00:35:00] to be okay with things not going right. And I always say to my girls at work, , we're not doing brain surgery here.
Daisy: It's okay to make mistakes and we're going to learn from them and we embrace mistakes. We talk about them in our weekly meetings and
Daisy: what do we take and what do we learn? And how do we move on? And, Elizabeth Day has done a lot of amazing stuff on talking
Juliet: Yeah.
Daisy: and all this kind of thing.
Daisy: And
Daisy: it's definitely something that we're embracing more, but it's something that I've. I still sometimes struggle with, is, , being fearful of investors seeing, , God, that, that sales weren't great that month or someone left the business or whatever it may be the ugly side of things.
Daisy: So my, my advice would be don't, don't be afraid about that and actually own up to that stuff. So when you are writing these investor updates, which I used to get so worked up about, because I need them to be absolutely perfect and I only wanted to say good news. Now I report, , failures, I report, , this is what's, this didn't go right, but we've learned this from it and I'd love your advice on it.
Daisy: , they're there to support and guide you. [00:36:00] Investors are great resources.
Juliet: And that transparency, they respect you more. Hmm.
Daisy: but also they believe you because someone's sitting around talking nonstop about how great the business is doing. I mean, , we're in a really great period where the business is doing really well. That's not to say things aren't always going right.
Daisy: And I think if you have that transparency with investors, it's, , she's human, brilliant, fantastic. We invested in a human being that makes mistakes and owns up to them and learns from them and grows from them. And anyone that. unless it's detrimental to the business, then maybe someone's going to have something to say about it.
Daisy: But people understand and they relate on a human level. It's okay to
Daisy: be
Juliet: People like to help as well, and something I've learned purely by accident by doing this podcast is just putting my hand up for the first time in my life and going, I need some advice and I need some help and people love helping. Investors tend to be older than you, a bit more experienced than you.
Juliet: They have money that they have earned in their careers from somewhere that they want to invest. They will know stuff. And if you're putting your hand up going, this wasn't perfect, this might be an issue, they'll be like, I can help [00:37:00] with that. And they'll
Daisy: Yeah. And I think a lot of people forget they can do that. And that's something I've started doing much more of my investor updates is, , Hey, we're heading to New York on a trunk show. Like I'd love you to send the invite around to anyone you think might want to come. I used to be. It's kind of scared to ask those things, but these people, they want you to succeed.
Daisy: They want to help you. And actually, sometimes it just takes asking to get the great result. And actually another thing that I would really advise is I used to get very worked up about the pressure of having other people's money. And another great little nugget of advice that I've collected over the years is, , these people are putting it in and if they're investing in you.
Daisy: They're, also understanding they might lose it. And that's, how you roll the dice when you make an investment. ..
Juliet: They've chosen to do it and they wouldn't do it unless they have faith in it, but they are also getting something out of it potentially. So that's sort of, it's their choice and don't waste your bandwidth and your energy on worry.
Daisy: yeah, and I think a lot of people do, [00:38:00] myself included, or did, and, and I think it's hugely important to think what a beautiful thing that someone's chosen to believe in my vision and give me this money, and I know, I believe that I'm going to make them more money, but it's also, I'm not going to let the stress of losing it affect My business performance and me and my mental health and I'm gonna do everything I can to Double triple quadruple it but
Juliet: don't take time away from your day job worrying, I think is the thing. Well, I love that you've already talked about nuggets because I always ask guests, what's their golden nugget piece of advice. So you've covered that one. But something that we do with guests is from a question from the previous guest, we ask for you and then ask you to ask a question for the next guest.
Juliet: And they've all been very Humble and heartfelt until Ed last week said, Hmm, what cartoon character best summarize you and how you run your business, which I think is super sweet. And I was like, God, I'm road runner and I'm this and I'm that. But his question for you was what cartoon character would best summarize you and how you run your business?[00:39:00]
Daisy: What's hilarious is I was going to say roadrunner.
Juliet: I think that's any women
Daisy: I mean that, yeah, that is me in a nutshell. I mean consistently just never, I mean on top of the fact that I have ADD , and love to do a million things at once, I often feel like a roadrunner. I mean literally non stop.
Daisy: I'm the roadrunner.
Juliet: no, but Roadrunner gets shit done. You like, there's dust trails and you are racing and you're gunning and you're going for it, which I think I'm quite proud of. What would your question be for our next guest? It could be anything around business or investment or anything that you found as a founder.
Daisy: I think it's something that I have sitting at the top of my notes. That I look at, I have this kind of section on my phone where I write, , something that someone says or something I want to remember or a quote or something, and this is something I've always have pinned to the top, which is, what would you do if you knew you couldn't fail? And I love that. And I think,
Juliet: I've got goosebumps.
Daisy: , [00:40:00] it doesn't have to be, , whoever your next guest is probably has an established business. It doesn't need to say, , you need to change career entirely. Just what, what is something right now? If you knew you couldn't fail at it, what would you do?
Juliet: And there's no risk, there's no fear. And we're talking about that worry of, I'm constantly whack a moling and , your to do list is never done. There's always something to come up to the top. I love that. Cause it makes you more fearless, doesn't it?
Juliet: It makes you go, actually, I'm just going to go for it
Daisy: But it's interesting if you give someone that as a question and really tell them, that imagine there's no repercussions, nothing, no
Daisy: of anything, what would you do?
Juliet: I want to ask you that question back now,
Juliet: but I'm not allowed. I'm not allowed. It's for the next guest. Don't worry.
Daisy: Well, I'd love to hear what the next guest
Juliet: Yeah. Thank you, Daisy. That has been incredible and
Juliet: huge congratulations. You've achieved so much so quickly and from the outside looking in, it looks. Seamless and swanlike, but I know that you are peddling quickly underneath to get things done, but you've done it with complete grace and professionalism.
Juliet: So
Juliet: thank
Juliet: you so much. you are [00:41:00] setting a great example for future female founders to come. So very appreciative.
Daisy: Thank you, Julia.