{"id":3011,"date":"2017-10-18T09:42:30","date_gmt":"2017-10-18T09:42:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/?p=3011"},"modified":"2026-01-16T12:46:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T12:46:16","slug":"unique-business-idea-lauren-aston","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/unique-business-idea-lauren-aston\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing a business from a unique idea: Lauren Aston tells all"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMoney Matters<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tGrowing a business from a unique idea: Lauren Aston tells all\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Sabuhi\t\t\t\tSabuhi Gard<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Lauren Aston began her knitting career at the age of 11, when her grandmother taught her to knit. She now owns Lauren Aston Designs<\/a>, a super-chunky knitwear business creating unique merino wool designs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lauren has been featured in many national newspapers and interior design magazines and can be accredited in part, with starting a revival in knitting in the UK. Here, she shares advice on finding a unique business idea and using her ambition to make it grow<\/a> with the right suppliers, local networks and goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So where did it all begin? While in Devon, Lauren went to The Contemporary Craft Festival: \u201cIt was incredible to be around people who were passionate about what they were doing<\/a>.\u00a0I loved the makers and I thought, I need to do this,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Starting<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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From that moment on Lauren decided to hand-knit with giant knitting needles rather than use a knitting machine. \u201cI thought, the bigger the yarn, the quicker it would be to knit [an item], it would also be more viable as a business doing it that way, rather than it taking me a month to knit a blanket.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As with starting out with any business, Lauren had to seek out the right materials and suppliers<\/a>. \u201cI went on a search to find the biggest yarn I could. It didn\u2019t really exist back then [what I was doing].<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It is much more prominent now. There was a lot of research and development involved before the right yarn was found. Once I found merino wool it was then a question of figuring it all out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt wasn’t a question of keeping costs down – as merino wool is a premium wool \u2013 but it was a question of trying to find the right suppliers, without losing quality. Accepting that it might be a bit of a risk was all part of the process.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lauren says she tried to source as much as she could from the UK and to \u201ckeep it British\u201d but this aspect was quite difficult as merino wool comes from all over the world, from New Zealand to South America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She has seen her business grow from just herself and her dad to several employees: \u201cAt the beginning, it was just me working out of a little loft studio which my dad converted for me. Now I have five knitters who are local ladies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey are all freelance<\/a>, as there isn’t enough work to employ them full time. They come once a week, they drop off what they have knitted and they collect new batches of wool and knit the rest. Our busiest time is October through to February \u2013 our Christmas period. We order in lots or red and white wool during this time!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Learning from local networks<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When she was starting out, Lauren sought out local entrepreneurial networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI turned to a creative network, based in Devon. I went along to this group, it was a bunch of lovely ladies from local and small businesses. Even if you think you know everything about business, you can still learn something<\/mark>. It’s good to meet a group of people in a similar boat. It’s always better to have some sort of network whether it’s online or offline,\u201d says Lauren.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Lauren<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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She adds: \u201cI also read a lot of blogs and I also love e-courses. I have completed ones on Instagram and photography. I think the more information you can learn the better. You can also learn from other people\u2019s mistakes, rather than making them yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does she have any tips for women starting up their own business?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAttitude is key. Women, to a certain extent don\u2019t believe they are good enough, and lack confidence. Don\u2019t think you’re not good enough, but be realistic about your expectations. Make a to-do list, don\u2019t beat yourself up. I also think you should believe in yourself and don\u2019t start your own giant knitting business!” says Lauren.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finding your own business idea<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Lauren adds: \u201cTo be perfectly honest, I wouldn\u2019t suggest anyone starts a business like mine now as it\u2019s so saturated. I think the best way to start a business is to have a unique idea<\/a> as that\u2019s what will make it stand out and sell.  If it\u2019s a creative business then it\u2019s also really important to build it around your own skills and products that you develop rather than just mimicking something you\u2019ve seen that you like.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lauren plans to just build and grow her brand in the long term: \u201cIt’s probably not the way to do it, but I try not to set specific goals, as if I don\u2019t reach them I don\u2019t want to feel disappointed or like I\u2019ve failed. I prefer to just work as hard as I can and see where it takes me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“With regards to stockists, I focus on smaller boutiques and independent retailers, as it suits my brand more and the fact that I hand knit everything, is part of its charm so I wouldn\u2019t want to lose that by outsourcing.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ambition In Action<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Want to grow your business but struggling to do so? Download this free e-book for advice from Peter Jones and the winner and finalists of the Sage Ambition competition who faced challenges and overcame them using their business ambition.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGet your free e-book<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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How to start a business – your free guide<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Starting a business? Our essential guide is packed with straightforward advice on everything from planning to launch.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGet your free guide<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Working\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lauren Aston began her knitting career at the age of 11, when her grandmother taught her to knit. She now owns Lauren Aston Designs, a super-chunky knitwear business creating unique merino wool designs. Lauren has been featured in many national newspapers and interior design magazines and can be accredited in part, with starting a revival […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":333,"featured_media":4555,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sage_video":false,"post_featured_image_hide":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,6],"tags":[15,12,141],"business_type":[4],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[],"imagine_tag":[91,109],"coauthors":[393],"class_list":["post-3011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","category-money-matters","tag-grow-business","tag-start-business","tag-peter-jones-ambition","business_type-small-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-gb","author_name":"Sabuhi Gard","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2018\/06\/Lauren-Aston-4.jpg","imagine_tags":{"91":"Growing business","109":"Small business"}},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Sage Advice UK","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/333"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3011"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3011\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/4555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3011"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=3011"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=3011"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=3011"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=3011"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=3011"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=3011"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=3011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}