{"id":4713,"date":"2018-07-16T07:00:27","date_gmt":"2018-07-16T06:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/?p=4713"},"modified":"2025-01-24T13:36:08","modified_gmt":"2025-01-24T13:36:08","slug":"secret-hamper-networking-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/secret-hamper-networking-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"Secret Hamper: How networking, awards and ambition can help your business grow"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGrowth & Customers<\/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\tSecret Hamper: How networking, awards and ambition can help your business grow\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\"\"\t\t\t\tNigel Richardson<\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Nigel Richardson <\/strong>is the founder of Secret Hamper, a gifting company that sells hampers filled with treats. He was a finalist in the Sage Ambition<\/a> competition and here he shares advice on challenges he\u2019s overcome and how his ambition has kept him going.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secret Hamper<\/a> is a gift company with a difference. Our ethos is to have a positive impact on someone\u2019s life by performing a random act of kindness. We try and do that with our customers and charities too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to starting Secret Hamper, I worked in finance for more than 25 years. I\u2019d always had an entrepreneurial streak but had never truly explored it \u2013 until now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We sell gift hampers for students, businesses, a locally sourced Essex hamper and our helping hampers \u2013 for a friend, new parents, a neighbour who deserves to be treated and so on. We also have a long list of preferred partners where people can send an e-gift voucher as a random act of kindness to a recipient at the touch of a button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We intend to keep building our business in the UK but there\u2019s no reason why we can\u2019t take Secret Hamper global.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Nigel
Nigel used his superhero costume to great effect in a bid to raise awareness of his Secret Hamper mission<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

7 tips to overcome your business challenges<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. Believe in yourself<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Identify your passion and believe in yourself<\/mark>. In the early days of launching Secret Hamper, I dressed as a superhero. Some people would laugh behind my back but I didn\u2019t want Secret Hamper to disappear into the ether of online gift sites. We were different and we had to stand out. Being passionate about making a difference really got me through those early days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Invest in yourself and network<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s important to spend time and money on investing in yourself. Surround yourself with other like-minded people who you can bounce ideas off and get support from. I felt quite lonely at the start of my journey \u2013 going from many years in the corporate world in an office filled with hundreds of people to just me on my own was a shock to the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By attending networking events<\/a>, I found I wasn\u2019t on my own and I\u2019ve built up a support system and relationships with other business owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Enter business awards<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Entering business awards is great for self-belief, especially if you\u2019re shortlisted as a finalist \u2013 or win. Awards are a great way for you to tell your story and raise brand awareness<\/mark>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are competitions run by some of the UK\u2019s top entrepreneurs, such as Small Business Sunday<\/a> (#SBS) on Twitter, the brainchild of former Dragons\u2019 Den panellist Theo Paphitis. He thought it would be a great way to help others and over the past seven years, #SBS has built a community of more than 2,300 businesses that can network together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From winning this competition, we\u2019ve had local media coverage, an order from Theo and have done business with other #SBS winners too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Collaborate with other brands<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We collaborate with other brands that are much bigger than ours to help widen our audience. Just because you may be a smaller brand doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t be taken seriously. All the big businesses started somewhere. I think it\u2019s Coca-Cola that only sold about a dozen bottles in its first year\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our locally sourced Essex hamper, we have up to 30 different local brands, from international companies to one-man bands like ourselves. When someone purchases an Essex hamper, they support Secret Hamper and all the other brands too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Even
Even Luke Skywalker is a fan of Secret Hamper<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

5. Use different tactics to promote your business<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve embraced social media to raise our brand awareness and have picked up a few celebrity fans. Celebrity endorsements are powerful as they add credibility to your brand, while consumers look and think \u201cif it’s good enough for them then it’s good enough for me\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Let your business ambition drive you<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

My ambition for Secret Hamper is to become a household name within five years. We are two years in and have had our fair share of challenges \u2013 but it\u2019s those challenges that test your mettle and prepare you for the road ahead. You need to learn from these \u2013 so take stock, evolve where necessary and move on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
A selection of delectable treats that make up a Secret Hamper<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

7. Work out your business story<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In today\u2019s competitive world, I think more people want to know your business story and why it is you are doing what you\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I left my job in finance, I didn\u2019t have a clue what I wanted to do \u2013 but I did want to make a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While watching TV in the run up to Christmas in 2015, a Co-op TV advert came on and it hit me straight between the eyes. It saw a young guy leave a bag of groceries on his housebound elderly neighbour\u2019s doorstep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This resonated with me as I\u2019d met an elderly resident in my village earlier that year \u2013 the advert made me think of him and inspired me to do the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a cold, wet night in December, I left a bag of goodies on my neighbour\u2019s doorstep, rang the bell and ran! I had such a warm fuzzy feeling that was still there the next morning \u2013 and Secret Hamper was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What would Nigel have asked Peter Jones?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As a finalist in the Sage Ambition competition, Nigel didn\u2019t get the opportunity to have a business meeting with Peter Jones. However, if he did, here\u2019s what he would have asked him:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“You often hear that investors buy into the person\/individual and not necessarily the product. Have you ever done that? We\u2019ve tweaked our offering and have identified a niche in our market \u2013 so how can we convince potential investors that we are a good bet?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Help from our Sage Business Experts<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve asked our Sage Business Experts<\/a>, who have business and entrepreneurial expertise across a wealth of areas, to answer this question. Want to find out their answers, which could be beneficial to you and your business too? Download the Ambition in Action e-book<\/a> to get them \u2013 along with more details on Nigel’s business story and advice that will inspire you.<\/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

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Subscribe to the Sage Advice newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Join more than 500,000 UK readers and get the best business admin strategies and tactics, as well as actionable advice to help your company thrive, in your inbox every month.<\/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\tSubscribe now<\/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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nigel Richardson is the founder of Secret Hamper, a gifting company that sells hampers filled with treats. He was a finalist in the Sage Ambition competition and here he shares advice on challenges he\u2019s overcome and how his ambition has kept him going. Secret Hamper is a gift company with a difference. Our ethos is to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":638,"featured_media":4740,"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],"tags":[15,141],"business_type":[4,3],"lilypad":[],"context":[],"industry":[],"persona":[71,74],"imagine_tag":[91,96,109],"coauthors":[488],"class_list":["post-4713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growth-customers","tag-grow-business","tag-peter-jones-ambition","business_type-small-business","business_type-medium-sized-business"],"sage_meta":{"region":"en-gb","author_name":"Nigel Richardson","featured_image":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2018\/07\/Nigel-and-Theo-2.jpg","imagine_tags":{"91":"Growing business","96":"Medium businesses","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\/4713","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\/638"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4713\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media\/4740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4713"},{"taxonomy":"business_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/business_type?post=4713"},{"taxonomy":"lilypad","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/lilypad?post=4713"},{"taxonomy":"context","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/context?post=4713"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=4713"},{"taxonomy":"persona","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/persona?post=4713"},{"taxonomy":"imagine_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/imagine_tag?post=4713"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/api\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=4713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}