{"id":9519,"date":"2026-04-20T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/?p=9519"},"modified":"2026-05-13T14:44:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T13:44:17","slug":"sound-advice-ecommerce-startup-rachel-clark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/sound-advice-ecommerce-startup-rachel-clark\/","title":{"rendered":"How Rachel Clark beat corporate burnout by starting a sustainable beauty business\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<header class=\"entry-header has-dark-background-color entry-header--audio\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__row row align-center\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-lg-7 col-xlg-6 entry-header__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"component component-single-header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-header__misc text--subtitle text--uppercase text--small\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/category\/strategy-legal-operations\/\" class=\"entry-header__link\">Strategy, Legal &amp; Operations<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"entry-title-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"entry-title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tHow Rachel Clark beat corporate burnout by starting a sustainable beauty business \t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"entry-header__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-8 col-lg-4 entry-header__image\">\n\t\t\t<figure class=\"entry-header__thumbnail js-hero-section\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"810\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2022\/04\/Blog_Header_Image_11-810x810.jpg\" class=\"entry-header__thumbnail-image\" alt=\"Rachel Clark\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2022\/04\/Blog_Header_Image_11-810x810.jpg 810w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2022\/04\/Blog_Header_Image_11-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2022\/04\/Blog_Header_Image_11-350x350.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2022\/04\/Blog_Header_Image_11.jpg 1250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 810px) 100vw, 810px\" \/>\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"single-post-details container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"posted-on \">Published <time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2026-04-20T06:00:00+01:00\">20 April, 2026<\/time><\/span><span class=\"reading-time\"> min read<\/span>\n\t\t<button\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"social-share-button button button--icon button--secondary js-social-share-button\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-title=\"How Rachel Clark beat corporate burnout by starting a sustainable beauty business\u00a0\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-url=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/sound-advice-ecommerce-startup-rachel-clark\/\"\n\t\t\tdata-share-text=\"Please read this interesting article\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__share-label\">Share<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-label\" hidden>Copy Link<\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"social-share-button__copy-tooltip\" aria-hidden=\"true\" hidden>Copied<\/span>\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<\/header>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-author has-dark-background-color alignfull\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"co-authors\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"entry-author-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"entry-author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/author\/bexburncallander\/\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"40\" height=\"40\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2020\/12\/Rebecca-burn-callander-podcast.jpg\" class=\"entry-author__image\" alt=\"Rebecca Burn-Callander\" \/>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"entry-author__name\">Bex Burn-Callander<\/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<figure class=\"wp-block-embed alignfull is-type-rich is-provider-buzzsprout wp-block-embed-buzzsprout wp-block-sage-buzzsprout-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div id=\"buzzsprout-player-8420748\"><\/div><script src=\"https:\/\/www.buzzsprout.com\/1422304\/8420748-rachel-clark-i-started-a-beauty-business-to-deal-with-corporate-burnout.js?container_id=buzzsprout-player-8420748&#038;player=small\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-sage-podcast-networks\">\n\t<div class=\"container has-dark-background-color on-scroll-highlight__target\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"h4\">Listen to Sound Advice on:<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"unstyled\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/gb\/podcast\/sound-advice-get-year-one-in-business-right\/id1544479344\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"660\" height=\"160\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/01\/2-US_UK_Apple_Podcasts_Listen_Badge_RGB.png\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Listen on Apple Podcasts\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/2yhPIOebSiBpEYek6q2GZJ?si=UWWTKrgIQ2OsUAlnHrzHTQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"330\" height=\"80\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/01\/spotify-podcast-badge-blk-grn-330x80-1.png\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Listen on Spotify\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLrubL8LEhtwidxbdUKZGnQWeiuLx2vDP0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"663\" height=\"198\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2023\/09\/Youtube-2.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Watch on YouTube\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rachel Clark, founder of sustainable shampoo brand Nut and Noggin, shares how she turned corporate burnout and grief into a thriving&nbsp;e-commerce&nbsp;startup\u2014built from her kitchen table with \u00a320,000 and no outside investment.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rachel Clark is the founder of&nbsp;Nut and&nbsp;Noggin,&nbsp;a sustainable shampoo bar brand built around plastic-free beauty and mental health giving. In this episode of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/tag\/sound-advice-podcast\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sound Advice podcast<\/a>, Rachel tells&nbsp;host&nbsp;Bex Burn-Callander&nbsp;how she turned corporate burnout, personal grief, and&nbsp;roughly&nbsp;\u00a320,000&nbsp;in startup capital into a fast-growing&nbsp;e-commerce&nbsp;venture&nbsp;that has attracted celebrity fans including Lily James and Kristin Scott Thomas.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rachel explains how she moved from a 20-year corporate career into building a beauty business on her own terms, why she dropped a far more expensive product idea in favour of a simpler shampoo bar, and what it really takes&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/ecommerce-business-plan-guide\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">to grow a sustainable&nbsp;e-commerce&nbsp;business<\/a>&nbsp;without outside investment.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For anyone interested in&nbsp;beauty business startup&nbsp;tips,&nbsp;recovering from&nbsp;corporate burnout,&nbsp;sustainable&nbsp;e-commerce,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/starting-and-planning\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">how to start a business<\/a>, or realistic&nbsp;UK startup costs, this episode is packed with practical details.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>In this episode, Rachel covers:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>How to\u00a0validate\u00a0a product idea without venture capital<\/strong>\u2014Rachel launched with\u00a0\u00a320,000\u00a0and tested demand with a pre-launch email list of about\u00a0600 subscribers.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Why simplifying your product to get to market beats waiting for a perfect idea<\/strong>\u2014Nut and Noggin dropped an early\u00a0\u00a3100,000\u00a0custom-app concept and launched a simpler MVP instead.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>How to calculate your\u00a0maximum\u00a0social ad spend<\/strong>\u00a0based on average order value\u00a0and profit margin.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>How to earn organic celebrity PR<\/strong>\u00a0through a genuine brand story, strong press coverage, and a charity-led mission.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Why corporate burnout can be the catalyst, not the obstacle, to\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/set-up-limited-company\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>starting a business<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0when the work feels more aligned with your values.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Listen to the full episode on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube\u2014or read the full transcript below.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><div class=\"wp-block-yoast-seo-table-of-contents yoast-table-of-contents\"><ul><li><a href=\"#h-how-rachel-clark-founded-nut-and-noggin-the-origin-story\" data-level=\"2\">How Rachel Clark founded Nut and Noggin: The origin story<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-how-to-launch-a-product-with-limited-capital-the-mvp-approach\" data-level=\"2\">How to launch a product with limited capital: The MVP approach<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-corporate-burnout-and-grief-as-a-startup-catalyst-rachel-s-story\" data-level=\"2\">Corporate burnout and grief as a startup catalyst: Rachel&#8217;s story<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-how-to-manage-burnout-as-an-entrepreneur-mindset-and-daily-routines\" data-level=\"2\">How to manage burnout as an entrepreneur: Mindset and daily routines<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-how-nut-and-noggin-launched-on-black-friday-2019-and-why-timing-doesn-t-matter\" data-level=\"2\">How Nut and Noggin launched on Black Friday 2019 (and why timing&nbsp;doesn&#8217;t&nbsp;matter)<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-how-to-build-an-email-list-before-launching-your-e-commerce-business\" data-level=\"2\">How to build an email list before launching your&nbsp;e-commerce&nbsp;business<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-how-to-calculate-your-maximum-social-media-ad-spend-the-startup-formula\" data-level=\"2\">How to calculate your&nbsp;maximum&nbsp;social media ad spend (the startup formula)<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-how-nut-and-noggin-attracted-celebrity-fans-free-pr-strategy-for-startups\" data-level=\"2\">How Nut and Noggin attracted celebrity fans: Free PR strategy for startups<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-how-to-handle-stockouts-customer-communication-during-a-stock-crisis\" data-level=\"2\">How to handle&nbsp;stockouts: Customer communication during a stock crisis<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#much-anchor-link\" data-level=\"2\">How much does it cost to start a beauty business start up?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#full-anchor-link\" data-level=\"2\">How to structure a co-founder relationship when one partner has a day job<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#investors-anchor-link\" data-level=\"2\">Should you take investment for your startup? The mental health and financial trade-off<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-how-nut-and-noggin-s-mental-health-mission-drives-customer-loyalty\" data-level=\"2\">How Nut and Noggin&#8217;s mental health mission drives customer loyalty<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#h-frequently-asked-questions-about-starting-a-beauty-business\" data-level=\"2\">Frequently&nbsp;asked&nbsp;questions about starting a beauty business<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-rachel-clark-founded-nut-and-noggin-the-origin-story\">How Rachel Clark founded Nut and Noggin: The origin story<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"h-how-rachel-clark-founded-nut-and-noggin-the-origin-story\">Rachel Clark says Nut and Noggin began with two ideas:\u00a0create\u00a0a product that gives\u00a0back, and\u00a0avoid adding more plastic to the world.\u00a0She explains that\u00a0manufacturers\u00a0initially\u00a0pushed\u00a0for\u00a0high minimum orders and plastic-bottle formulas, so she and her co-founder pivoted to a plastic-free shampoo bar that better matched their values and their market.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bex Burn-Callander:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So what made you want to launch this business? I mean, was it about the sustainability angle? Was it about a great hair product? Tell us everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rachel Clark:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We set up the business \u2013 myself and a co-founder \u2013 and we&#8217;d both been writing about consumer products and beauty products for about 20 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Well, 40 years between us. Good God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And I wanted to set up a business that gave back. So it was really inspired by the story behind brands like Toms and products that would give back with every sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And so kind of that&#8217;s where it started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sustainability was something that was really growing in people&#8217;s minds. We started going to see manufacturers and talking about shampoos, which is obviously a product for your head, which is where the mental health angle came from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And they kind of looked at us&#8230; they thought we were bonkers because why would you want to go against a load of multinationals?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And they kind of looked at us as if we were crazy when we said, well, is it possible to live without plastic in these products?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We don&#8217;t want to create more plastic in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So we had to come home with our tail between our legs, from several manufacturers, because they wanted a huge minimum order quantity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And they just wanted to stick shampoo that was a basic formula and put it into lots of plastic bottles and just bring more plastic on to the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So we really didn&#8217;t feel that that was for us and for now as well for our friends and family when we were talking to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So yeah, that&#8217;s where the shampoo bar idea came up and that&#8217;s kind of where Nut and Noggin began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-sage-container is-constrained is-style-jade\"><div class=\"sage-container__inner\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Nut and Noggin started by\u00a0solving for\u00a0mission and product fit at the same time:\u00a0a give-back model, a sustainable format, and\u00a0a clear\u00a0way\u00a0to stand out from other brands.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-to-launch-a-product-with-limited-capital-the-mvp-approach\">How to launch a product with limited capital: The MVP approach<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"h-how-to-launch-a-product-with-limited-capital-the-mvp-approach\">Initially,\u00a0Rachel and her\u00a0partner\u00a0considered an ambitious\u00a0idea:\u00a0a custom shampoo app. But\u00a0that could have cost around \u00a3100,000, so\u00a0they stripped it back and launched a simpler Minimum\u00a0Viable\u00a0Product (MVP)\u00a0instead: a shampoo bar with a strong sustainability angle and repeat-purchase potential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-bex-burn-callander\">Bex Burn-Callander:\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As you say, shampoo is a\u00a0really competitive\u00a0and crowded market.\u00a0So why was it shampoo? Of all the\u00a0beauty\u00a0things that you could have gone with, why was that the one?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-rachel-clark\">Rachel Clark:\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yeah. Well,&nbsp;that\u2019s&nbsp;a good question.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So obviously, there\u2019s just thousands of&nbsp;different brands&nbsp;and&nbsp;SKUs&nbsp;that you could start with. And we&nbsp;actually started&nbsp;off with this big idea about&nbsp;customisable&nbsp;shampoo, and we were going to get an app developed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I had a friend of a friend who was working on Formula One technology, and he was able to create this phone app where you could kind of brush your phone over your hair.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And then it would tell you how healthy your hair is, which is still a great idea,&nbsp;to be fair.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But it was so costly and just such a barrier to us&nbsp;actually getting&nbsp;started that we were like, hang on a minute, this&nbsp;customisable&nbsp;shampoo, there&nbsp;were other brands in the US doing it who had massive venture capital funding.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And we just&nbsp;didn\u2019t.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So we were like, right, how do we make this as simple as possible, so that we can get a first product out there and test the marketplace and also create a sustainable brand that\u2019s not going to add to all this plastic pollution that we\u2019ve got such a massive issue with?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So that\u2019s&nbsp;kind of how&nbsp;we got to shampoo and how we got to shampoo bars, specifically.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-bex-burn-callander-0\">Bex Burn-Callander:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And then with the actual recipe, I suppose&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;a recipe for the shampoo bar. I mean, you mentioned how the system works.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You just go along&nbsp;to&nbsp;the manufacturer. You had to&nbsp;presumably formulate&nbsp;something from scratch. So how did you do that?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-rachel-clark-0\">Rachel Clark:\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yeah, it was a real journey, because I mean, there are shampoo bars out there, and obviously there\u2019s really&nbsp;great brands&nbsp;like Lush, and&nbsp;they\u2019ve&nbsp;done so much&nbsp;good work&nbsp;with creating plastic-free brands and testing the marketplace.&nbsp;And having lots of customers&nbsp;say&nbsp;that&nbsp;that\u2019s&nbsp;what they want and where&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;going.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the shampoo bars that we tried often had lots of&nbsp;sulphate&nbsp;to create lots of foam.&nbsp;So&nbsp;everyone\u2019s kind of got used to all these bubbles and this lovely bubbly experience, but then it&nbsp;kind of strips&nbsp;your hair of all its natural oils.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So&nbsp;we knew we had to create something that&nbsp;didn\u2019t&nbsp;leave us with scarecrow hair.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And that was something that we were both passionate about, just in terms of getting the right formula that we could get people to buy&nbsp;into, but&nbsp;also get people to repeat purchase.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">People are never going to swap from a normal liquid shampoo if&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;not creating the right results.&nbsp;So&nbsp;it had to work, whatever we decided to launch with had to work.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But&nbsp;yeah, like you say, the manufacturers were&nbsp;kind of laughing&nbsp;at us and saying,&nbsp;\u201cwell, we&nbsp;don\u2019t&nbsp;have that formula&nbsp;at the moment.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But luckily, we came across a&nbsp;really small&nbsp;artisan manufacturer who was just developing some base formulas for shampoo bars that would be a little bit more natural and a lot less&nbsp;sulphates. Well, in fact, no&nbsp;sulphates.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We worked with them to develop something that would have some UK&nbsp;ingredients in&nbsp;as well.&nbsp;So&nbsp;the first shampoo bar that&nbsp;we\u2019ve&nbsp;launched has&nbsp;actually got&nbsp;flaxseed oil in, which is&nbsp;really good&nbsp;for omega-3 and nourishing your hair.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;also got British brewed beer. And beer has always been a bit of an old&nbsp;wives\u2019&nbsp;tale for adding shine.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;actually quite&nbsp;well known that it does add shine because it helps your amino acids and builds the proteins that your hair relies on for shine.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So,&nbsp;we\u2019ve&nbsp;added those ingredients in, and that\u2019s&nbsp;kind of how&nbsp;we developed our own formula as well.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-sage-container is-constrained is-style-jade\"><div class=\"sage-container__inner\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>A simpler MVP let Nut and Noggin test demand without burning cash on a complicated first version.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-corporate-burnout-and-grief-as-a-startup-catalyst-rachel-s-story\">Corporate burnout and grief as a startup catalyst: Rachel&#8217;s story\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rachel spent around 20 years committed to a corporate career before burnout and the sudden loss of her father pushed her to reassess what mattered.\u00a0Despite the disruption caused by grief, the strong emotions\u00a0helped\u00a0clarify the path\u00a0forward\u00a0and\u00a0gave her the push to build something more aligned with her values.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-bex-burn-callander-1\">Bex Burn-Callander:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I want to talk about how you built the business and how you created the brand.&nbsp;But I want to go&nbsp;back just&nbsp;quickly.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because you mentioned your&nbsp;previous&nbsp;life, your&nbsp;previous&nbsp;career, and I know from&nbsp;a previous&nbsp;chat with you that&nbsp;basically burnout&nbsp;was something that prompted you to start your own business.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Can you tell us about your former career and what happened that made you think,&nbsp;\u201cright,&nbsp;that\u2019s&nbsp;it. I need something new.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-rachel-clark-1\">Rachel Clark:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That kind of sounded a bit of a paradox when you said, well,&nbsp;\u201cburnout\u2019s the thing that prompted you to start your own business.\u201d&nbsp;Because now looking back,&nbsp;I\u2019m&nbsp;like,&nbsp;\u201cwhat was I thinking?\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because starting your own business is such a challenge in itself, but it\u2019s a very different challenge because you\u2019re working towards something that you\u2019re really passionate about and that you\u2019re 110% in every single day and ideally want something that is aligned with your own values and all of those things.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So&nbsp;I had many reasons why I&nbsp;kind of worked&nbsp;through the corporate career ladder for about 20 years working with lots of different multinationals and growing entrepreneurs and working with some amazing people and some growing businesses for other people.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But I got to the point where&nbsp;I\u2019d&nbsp;kind of got&nbsp;as far as I could&nbsp;go,&nbsp;I felt,&nbsp;within corporate&nbsp;life,&nbsp;and I was helping other entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial people grow their businesses.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And I\u2019ve&nbsp;kind of got&nbsp;to the point where I thought,&nbsp;\u201cwell, actually,&nbsp;I\u2019m&nbsp;sure I could do this myself, if&nbsp;I\u2019ve&nbsp;got all these skills that&nbsp;I\u2019ve&nbsp;built up over all this time, but&nbsp;I\u2019m&nbsp;not using them.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And then, I&nbsp;actually lost&nbsp;my&nbsp;father,&nbsp;and he was&nbsp;kind of the&nbsp;reason why&nbsp;entrepreneurship was part of my DNA, if you like.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He was an entrepreneur&nbsp;himself,&nbsp;and we lost him&nbsp;really suddenly.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019d&nbsp;already been going on yoga retreats and helping me to understand how the mind works and&nbsp;all of&nbsp;those things.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So I had that as a background during that really incredibly tough period of grief and loss, but it really made me kind of galvanize what I\u2019d already been feeling inside was&nbsp;\u201clet\u2019s live a more aligned life with how you kind of want to live your life,\u201d&nbsp;and it just shows you that life\u2019s really short.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So that was&nbsp;kind of the&nbsp;trigger, I guess, that&nbsp;happened to make me&nbsp;actually do&nbsp;it and take the leap.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-bex-burn-callander-2\">Bex Burn-Callander:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Did you feel that\u00a0maybe you\u00a0wanted to turn your grief into something constructive because often it can feel like an overwhelming emotion and just the act of\u00a0channelling\u00a0it into something, building something new can be quite cathartic?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-rachel-clark-2\">Rachel Clark:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"h-rachel-clark-2\">\u00a0Yeah, absolutely.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s&nbsp;just like the rug\u2019s pulled from under you and so everything that you\u2019ve&nbsp;kind of built&nbsp;towards and think is&nbsp;really important, suddenly becomes totally re-evaluated.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And once&nbsp;you\u2019re&nbsp;kind of processing those massive emotions and that kind of huge thing&nbsp;that\u2019s&nbsp;going on in your life, absolutely.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was&nbsp;really important&nbsp;for&nbsp;me.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&nbsp;kind of flushed&nbsp;all that stuff away in terms of what I thought was important to me, how I wanted to live the rest of my life.&nbsp;It can be really life-affirming.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I think that it&nbsp;kind of creates&nbsp;this opportunity, in a way, to be able to move forward.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"h-rachel-clark-2\">And also to be really brave with your decisions, because you\u00a0realise\u00a0that actually life, we\u2019re not here forever,\u00a0and unless you make some big decisions that feel good and that really hit your own values and feel aligned, then that\u2019s where you can really make some massive progress forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-sage-container is-constrained is-style-jade\"><div class=\"sage-container__inner\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>For Rachel, burnout and grief\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0just trigger change;\u00a0they made an aligned business feel urgent and necessary.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-to-manage-burnout-as-an-entrepreneur-mindset-and-daily-routines\">How to manage burnout as an entrepreneur: Mindset and daily routines<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rachel is candid that starting a business is\u00a0as\u00a0stressful\u00a0as burnout, just in\u00a0a different way. Her approach is to protect her energy with simple routines\u2014yoga, gratitude, and daily intentions\u2014while staying focused on the one task most likely to move the business forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-bex-burn-callander-3\">Bex Burn-Callander:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We were both laughing a moment ago at the irony of going from a really busy corporate life that\u2019s approaching burnout and then starting a business and thinking that it might be less stressful, which, of course, it\u2019s a different kind of stress, as you said, but it is still very stressful.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So how do you manage that pressure?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-rachel-clark-3\">Rachel Clark:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yeah.&nbsp;It\u2019s&nbsp;very interesting, because if&nbsp;you\u2019re&nbsp;working primarily on your own, which obviously a lot of us have been doing over the last year, then&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;very much a personal mindset.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So&nbsp;I\u2019m&nbsp;really careful&nbsp;about where I put my&nbsp;energy. And&nbsp;so&nbsp;I do my yoga and I try to do gratitude meditations when I&nbsp;remember;&nbsp;it&nbsp;doesn\u2019t&nbsp;always happen.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But I try and create an&nbsp;intention for&nbsp;every day.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-bex-burn-callander-4\">Bex Burn-Callander:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Can you give me some examples of your intentions?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-rachel-clark-4\">Rachel Clark:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m&nbsp;full of positive intentions.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There\u2019s&nbsp;a really&nbsp;great book, actually.&nbsp;I think&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;called&nbsp;<em>The One Thing<\/em>, and it just&nbsp;focuses&nbsp;your mind because, obviously as an entrepreneur,&nbsp;you\u2019ve&nbsp;got a hundred things that you could be doing every single day.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And this is more about working on the one thing&nbsp;that\u2019s&nbsp;going to move the needle forward.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But&nbsp;yeah, intentions might&nbsp;be&nbsp;\u201ctoday&nbsp;I\u2019m&nbsp;going to feel calm and happy,\u201d&nbsp;or it might be&nbsp;\u201ctoday&nbsp;I\u2019m&nbsp;going to speak to three people and feel connected.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So those are some of the things that I try to use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-sage-container is-constrained is-style-jade\"><div class=\"sage-container__inner\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Rachel manages founder stress by keeping her routines simple and her daily focus narrow.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"#gate-adbf67e7-f26f-4f58-a954-9e67147b2f85\">Download your free small business toolkit: a guide, business plan template and cash flow forecast template so you can boss your business<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-nut-and-noggin-launched-on-black-friday-2019-and-why-timing-doesn-t-matter\">How Nut and Noggin launched on Black Friday 2019 (and why timing\u00a0doesn&#8217;t\u00a0matter)\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nut and Noggin launched the day before Black Friday 2019, not because it was part of a grand strategy\u00a0but because\u00a0product\u00a0delivery happened to coincide with the date. Rachel says the real validation came when orders stopped coming only from friends and started coming from strangers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-bex-burn-callander-5\">Bex Burn-Callander:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"h-bex-burn-callander-5\">\u00a0Back to the business, right, before I get completely sidetracked,&nbsp;because I could talk about&nbsp;this&nbsp;a long time.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"h-bex-burn-callander-5\">So how did you get your first customer? Do you know who the first person\u00a0was that bought a bar?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-rachel-clark-5\">Rachel Clark:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&nbsp;do,&nbsp;I know exactly who it was.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s&nbsp;a friend, and&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;a guy as well.&nbsp;Probably about&nbsp;98% of our customers are women, but&nbsp;he\u2019d&nbsp;actually very&nbsp;kindly bought it for his wife.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Basically,&nbsp;the&nbsp;product arrived the day before Black Friday 2019. My husband, we were chatting about it and he said, \u201cYou\u2019re going to have to launch this weekend.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And I was like, \u201cWell, I&nbsp;don\u2019t&nbsp;feel ready.&nbsp;I\u2019m&nbsp;not ready.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We had a thousand things to do on the website, and an email list, and marketing, and I thought, \u201cOh, my God,&nbsp;he\u2019s&nbsp;right.&nbsp;We\u2019re&nbsp;going to have to do it.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So&nbsp;we&nbsp;actually launched&nbsp;inadvertently on Black Friday 2019, which was totally unplanned.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When we started getting customers,&nbsp;it was&nbsp;friends at first. I was like, \u201cOh, God, okay. This is everyone that we know.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And then it was when we started seeing people that I&nbsp;didn\u2019t&nbsp;actually know&nbsp;of coming through, I was like, \u201cOh, my God, this is&nbsp;actually going&nbsp;to sell.&nbsp;This is&nbsp;actually working.&nbsp;So far so good.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So that was so exciting just to be able to know that people were responding to it and wanting to join in to get the shampoo bars, but also to give back.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So&nbsp;yeah, that was&nbsp;a&nbsp;really&nbsp;exciting&nbsp;time.&nbsp;Very stressful&nbsp;as well.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-bex-burn-callander-6\">Bex Burn-Callander:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0not just your best mate buying 50 bars,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0actually\u00a0a complete stranger.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-rachel-clark-6\">Rachel Clark:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Exactly. I was still\u00a0very disappointed\u00a0with my\u00a0mum. I said, \u201cWhere were you,\u00a0mum?\u201d She\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0even buy one that weekend. She went, \u201cI thought you\u2019d bring me one.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-sage-container is-constrained is-style-jade\"><div class=\"sage-container__inner\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The launch mattered less than the proof of demand:\u00a0strangers buying confirmed the brand had real traction.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-to-build-an-email-list-before-launching-your-e-commerce-business\">How to build an email list before launching your\u00a0e-commerce\u00a0business<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before launch, Rachel built an email list of around 600 subscribers by asking contacts to forward emails and by running a spa-day giveaway aimed at the right audience. She says that strategy was inspired in part by the Harry\u2019s launch case study and gave Nut and Noggin a direct channel to early customers from day one.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-bex-burn-callander-7\">Bex Burn-Callander:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"h-bex-burn-callander-7\">\u00a0What did you do to reach the strangers?\u00a0Presumably\u00a0you might have sent some emails or done some social media posts to your immediate network and your friends, but then how did you reach everyone else?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-rachel-clark-7\">Rachel Clark:\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yeah,&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;a great question.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So&nbsp;I\u2019d&nbsp;researched&nbsp;it to&nbsp;within an inch of its life. How are we going to get the message out there?&nbsp;What\u2019s&nbsp;working&nbsp;at the moment? Which of the brands are&nbsp;doing what?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So&nbsp;I\u2019d&nbsp;heard,&nbsp;I think it&nbsp;was&nbsp;[<em>U.S.&nbsp;<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/attract-angel-investors-startup-business\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>angel&nbsp;investor<\/em><\/a><em>&nbsp;and author<\/em>]&nbsp;Tim Ferriss&nbsp;on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/tim.blog\/podcast\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">his podcast<\/a>, talking about the launch of Harry\u2019s, which is a&nbsp;really cool&nbsp;shaving brand,&nbsp;men\u2019s&nbsp;shaving brand.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And&nbsp;they\u2019ve&nbsp;really taken on the likes of&nbsp;Gillette,&nbsp;and they just did&nbsp;a great job&nbsp;in terms of launching it and marketing it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And he&nbsp;actually shared&nbsp;the whole case study of what they did in the States, which was to create&nbsp;kind of a&nbsp;giveaway and to really build your email list before any sort of launch.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So&nbsp;I knew that email was going to be&nbsp;a really important&nbsp;way of communicating with our customers.&nbsp;And also,&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;just a&nbsp;really direct&nbsp;way to let people know&nbsp;what\u2019s&nbsp;going on and give behind-the-scenes updates and things like that.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We\u2019d&nbsp;grown an email list&nbsp;to&nbsp;about 600 names.&nbsp;Probably 100&nbsp;were friends and family.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And then we&nbsp;asked for&nbsp;people to forward emails and if they knew of anyone&nbsp;else&nbsp;that they thought would be interested.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And we did a little giveaway, so we&nbsp;actually gave&nbsp;away a spa day, which obviously would be bang-on for our target audience.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So&nbsp;we&nbsp;launched to&nbsp;an email list, but it was a&nbsp;small&nbsp;but&nbsp;perfectly formed one.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And then after that, it was very much trying to get some press and&nbsp;looking&nbsp;at things like Facebook and Instagram advertising as well.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And we&nbsp;kind of continue&nbsp;to do all that, but&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;\u2026 you&nbsp;can\u2019t&nbsp;do everything on day one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-bex-burn-callander-8\">Bex Burn-Callander:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"h-bex-burn-callander-8\">\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0expensive, isn\u2019t it? Because social media\u00a0adverts, it\u00a0used to be\u00a0a\u00a0pittance,\u00a0and now,\u00a0it can\u00a0really just\u00a0drain your entire marketing budget.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-rachel-clark-8\">Rachel Clark:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Absolutely,&nbsp;yeah.&nbsp;You&nbsp;have to&nbsp;be so careful not to just blow all your budget on social media.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So&nbsp;we\u2019d&nbsp;go in&nbsp;sort of 90-day&nbsp;sprints, I call it, and&nbsp;we\u2019ll&nbsp;look at&nbsp;\u2026&nbsp;we\u2019re&nbsp;very careful&nbsp;to not overspend on Facebook ads because&nbsp;we\u2019ve&nbsp;already got quite a low average order value in terms of how much people are&nbsp;actually spending&nbsp;on shampoo.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s\u00a0not a Cartier watch people are buying, for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-bex-burn-callander-9\">Bex Burn-Callander:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A Ferrari.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-rachel-clark-9\">Rachel Clark:\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"h-bex-burn-callander-9\">Yeah,\u00a0a Ferrari.\u00a0So\u00a0you\u2019ve\u00a0already got a lower spend and how much you can spend on your marketing, so you\u00a0have to\u00a0be\u00a0really careful\u00a0that\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0actually working\u00a0and just making the most of your marketing books.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"h-bex-burn-callander-9\">So\u00a0yeah, absolutely.\u00a0We\u2019ve\u00a0got to keep\u00a0a real close\u00a0eye on that.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-sage-container is-constrained is-style-jade\"><div class=\"sage-container__inner\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Nut and Noggin launched with a small but valuable email list, proving that pre-launch audience-building can start with simple referral mechanics and one strong giveaway.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-to-calculate-your-maximum-social-media-ad-spend-the-startup-formula\">How to calculate your\u00a0maximum\u00a0social media ad spend (the startup formula)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once you know your average order value, you\u00a0have to\u00a0work backwards to see how much you can afford to spend to win a customer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For a product like a shampoo bar, where the basket value is\u00a0relatively low, that means watching ad spend closely, understanding your margins, and knowing that even a small overspend on Facebook or Instagram can wipe out profit.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-bex-burn-callander-10\">\u00a0Bex Burn-Callander:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s&nbsp;interesting.&nbsp;So&nbsp;did you have a metric that you use, like the maximum spend per conversion?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Knowing how much your audience will spend in an average basket so&nbsp;that\u2019s&nbsp;the maximum you can spend to convert?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Did you get as nitty gritty as that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-rachel-clark-10\">Rachel Clark:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yeah, absolutely.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0not a\u00a0finances\u00a0person.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But I\u2019ve quickly become one because when you\u2019re looking at your stats and you\u2019re looking at your sales versus your marketing spend, then all of a sudden you\u2019re like, actually, how much profit is each, say, shampoo bar generating, and how much do we have to spend on advertising or free product or influencers and things like that?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So&nbsp;yeah, we absolutely get&nbsp;totally nitty&nbsp;gritty on the cost per acquisition.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s\u00a0an ongoing process, because obviously you\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0know what\u00a0everything\u2019s\u00a0going to cost at first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You\u2019ve\u00a0got costs coming in left, right, and\u00a0centre\u00a0for design work, branding, website, as much as you can try and do yourself.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But yes, so it takes a while to&nbsp;kind of filter&nbsp;through and know what your actual profit margins are.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But&nbsp;yeah,&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;been a real baptism of fire in that respect in terms of getting the financials up to speed and being able to forecast for what we can do in future as well.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-sage-container is-constrained is-style-jade\"><div class=\"sage-container__inner\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-is-cost-per-acquisition-and-why-does-it-matter-for-e-commerce\"><strong>What is cost per acquisition, and why does it matter for e-commerce?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) is the amount it costs your business to win over a new customer. The formula for it is:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CPA = Total Marketing Spend \u00f7 Number of Customers Won<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For instance, if you spend \u00a3500 on Facebook ads and get 20 new customers, your CPA is \u00a325.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The key is to keep your CPA lower than the amount customers spend: If it costs your e-commerce business \u00a325 to gain a customer but they only spend \u00a315,&nbsp;you\u2019ve&nbsp;actually lost&nbsp;\u00a310.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Your&nbsp;maximum&nbsp;ad spend should be based on margin, not guesswork, because low-value&nbsp;e-commerce&nbsp;products leave&nbsp;very little&nbsp;room for wasted acquisition costs.&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/sage.com\/en-gb\/sage-business-cloud\/sage-accounting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Small business accounting software<\/strong><\/a><strong>&nbsp;is&nbsp;a great help&nbsp;in&nbsp;calculating these figures.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"h-rachel-clark-10\">\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"#gate-adbf67e7-f26f-4f58-a954-9e67147b2f85\">Download your free small business toolkit: a guide, business plan template and cash flow forecast template so you can boss your business<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"h-bex-burn-callander-10\">\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-nut-and-noggin-attracted-celebrity-fans-free-pr-strategy-for-startups\">How Nut and Noggin attracted celebrity fans: Free PR strategy for startups<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rachel\u00a0didn\u2019t\u00a0engineer celebrity traction through paid placements. Nut and Noggin built early visibility through press coverage in\u00a0top magazines, then gained further momentum through organic word of mouth\u00a0and\u00a0its mental health charity model.\u00a0That led to names such as Kristin Scott Thomas and Lily James discovering the brand.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-bex-burn-callander-11\">Bex Burn-Callander:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But\u00a0you\u2019ve\u00a0had some great free PR. Can you tell us about how\u00a0you\u2019ve\u00a0got these celebrities shouting about Nut and\u00a0Noggin.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-rachel-clark-11\">Rachel Clark:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s&nbsp;amazing, isn\u2019t it?&nbsp;We have had some&nbsp;really fab&nbsp;people talking about Nut and Noggin.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So&nbsp;we&nbsp;actually got&nbsp;featured in&nbsp;press&nbsp;quite early on.&nbsp;So&nbsp;<em>Vogue&nbsp;<\/em>ran a piece on sustainability.&nbsp;We\u2019ve&nbsp;been&nbsp;in&nbsp;<em>Glamour&nbsp;<\/em>magazine,&nbsp;<em>Red&nbsp;<\/em>magazine,&nbsp;<em>Grazia<\/em>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Stylist&nbsp;<\/em>did a stylist love song on Nut and Noggin, and people were really responding to, I think, A, our branding, but B, the story behind it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So very much the fact that we give back to mental health charities that are helping young people and children, and people just love that.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So&nbsp;they were really&nbsp;kind of wanting&nbsp;to help us in that way.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But&nbsp;yeah, we often have customers who will&nbsp;recommend&nbsp;to others. It might be mums recommended to daughters, or sisters recommending to their best mate, which is obviously the best way to market a product, lots of word of mouth.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But we had a lady approach us on Instagram,&nbsp;and she said, \u201cOh, my mum has got me onto this.\u201d And she posted about it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She said, \u201cI absolutely love this new brand, Nut and Noggin.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And it turned out she was a makeup&nbsp;artist&nbsp;and she was&nbsp;actually working&nbsp;with the amazing Dame Kristin Scott Thomas at the time, and so she tried it,&nbsp;too.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And then she posted about us.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And then Lily James got&nbsp;involved&nbsp;and she said&nbsp;she\u2019s&nbsp;going to order some.&nbsp;And it was&nbsp;kind of just&nbsp;this lovely,&nbsp;really natural&nbsp;organic way of getting the word out there.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So&nbsp;things like that often happen.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We\u2019ve&nbsp;got a few other celebrities who use us,&nbsp;too, and&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;stuff that you just&nbsp;can\u2019t&nbsp;predict&nbsp;and you&nbsp;can\u2019t&nbsp;plan, but&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;a really&nbsp;nice thing&nbsp;when it happens.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-bex-burn-callander-12\">Bex Burn-Callander:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"h-bex-burn-callander-12\">\u00a0So how fast are you growing now? Can you share how quickly customers are coming on board?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-rachel-clark-12\">Rachel Clark:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yeah, absolutely.&nbsp;We\u2019re&nbsp;growing about 200% every month, so&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;a really exciting&nbsp;time.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A lot of that is word of mouth.&nbsp;So&nbsp;we\u2019re&nbsp;really diligent&nbsp;about asking people for referrals.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So&nbsp;from the start,&nbsp;we\u2019ve&nbsp;always had a refer-a-friend&nbsp;programme.&nbsp;So&nbsp;if you refer a friend, you both get 10% off your next purchase.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We&nbsp;kind of learned&nbsp;from the likes of even LinkedIn and some of the&nbsp;US&nbsp;brands that having a referral element can really help grow a brand quite quickly.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So&nbsp;that\u2019s&nbsp;something&nbsp;we\u2019ve&nbsp;really&nbsp;focused in&nbsp;on, and it&nbsp;seems to be&nbsp;working. And&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;sometimes&nbsp;really simple&nbsp;ideas and&nbsp;concepts&nbsp;can work the best.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So even though there\u2019s kind of lots of shiny objects out there advertising and TikTok and all of these things that we could be doing, it\u2019s kind of just learning that some things work better than others and going down that road instead of wasting lots of time on things that might look shiny and bright&nbsp;but might not work so well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-bex-burn-callander-13\">Bex Burn-Callander:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"h-bex-burn-callander-13\">\u00a0Have you had any of those experiences where&nbsp;you\u2019ve&nbsp;maybe put&nbsp;too much effort into something that ended up being a bit of a damp squib, any kind of nightmare moments?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"h-bex-burn-callander-13\">I know\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0only been a couple of years, but anything you can share?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-rachel-clark-13\">Rachel Clark:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I mean, it&nbsp;wouldn\u2019t&nbsp;be a nightmare. It would be&nbsp;probably a&nbsp;good nightmare.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But in lockdown one,&nbsp;we sold out. Everyone was at&nbsp;home,&nbsp;everyone was on Facebook. We were running Facebook and Instagram ads.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We were getting lots of press and PR, and we sold out. We just&nbsp;hadn\u2019t&nbsp;ordered enough. It was like, \u201cOh my God. Now what?\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was a&nbsp;really nice&nbsp;problem to have, but at the same time, when&nbsp;you\u2019ve&nbsp;never hit that challenge before, and obviously it was&nbsp;totally unprecedented&nbsp;what was going on at the time.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">People were looking for lots of self-care tips and&nbsp;feel-good&nbsp;brands. I think, speaking to other founders, lots of people have the same issue,&nbsp;and other people were importing from China as well,&nbsp;and that was hitting their businesses.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To sell out,&nbsp;I think that&nbsp;was&nbsp;probably the&nbsp;biggest challenge.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Luckily,&nbsp;there\u2019s&nbsp;lots of ways you can get round that online now with online businesses. You can set pre-orders up.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s&nbsp;not&nbsp;always necessarily&nbsp;such a bad message that you sold out, because obviously everyone wants it. But&nbsp;yeah, at the time,&nbsp;it was a massive challenge and&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;like, \u201cHow are we going to get more really quickly?\u201d Because the manufacturer was already struggling to keep up with their orders as well.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So&nbsp;yeah, it was a challenge, but a good one.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-sage-container is-constrained is-style-jade\"><div class=\"sage-container__inner\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Nut and Noggin\u2019s strongest PR came from a brand story people wanted to pass on, not from forced outreach or manufactured hype.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-to-handle-stockouts-customer-communication-during-a-stock-crisis\">How to handle\u00a0stockouts: Customer communication during a stock crisis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When lockdown demand surged, Nut and Noggin\u00a0faced a restock delay of about three and a half weeks. Rachel says the team handled it by communicating clearly on email and social, setting up pre-orders, and turning a stock problem into a trust-building moment with customers.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-bex-burn-callander-14\">Bex Burn-Callander:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But what did you do then? What process did you follow?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-rachel-clark-14\">Rachel Clark:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When we&nbsp;realised&nbsp;it was going to happen, it was like, \u201cOkay, we\u2019re going to sell out.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We\u2019re&nbsp;not able to get our next restock in for,&nbsp;I think it&nbsp;was three and a half weeks;&nbsp;what can we do?&nbsp;Actually, you&nbsp;can set up pre-order managers where&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;like an app that you install.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We&nbsp;actually just&nbsp;communicated&nbsp;really well&nbsp;with our customer base on email and on social media.&nbsp;We\u2019re&nbsp;like, \u201cThis is&nbsp;what\u2019s&nbsp;happening. This is where&nbsp;we\u2019re&nbsp;at.&nbsp;Thanks&nbsp;so much for all your support. You can still get&nbsp;product. It will be here in about three and a half weeks, we think.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just over-communicating with our people, really.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That was how we got through it. But having the pre-order app enabled on the website was a massive help as well.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-bex-burn-callander-15\">Bex Burn-Callander:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s&nbsp;a great lesson,&nbsp;and I love to hear how different founders, when they do come across a hairy situation, how they cope and how they turn it to their advantage,&nbsp;and obviously,&nbsp;selling out&nbsp;&#8230;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When you go to a website and&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;like,&nbsp;\u201cthis product is sold out but will be back in in a few weeks,\u201d&nbsp;you were like, \u201cOh my God, I must be back in three weeks if everyone wants this thing.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then you do, you turn it into an opportunity.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-rachel-clark-15\">Rachel Clark:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yeah, absolutely.\u00a0That\u2019s\u00a0kind of what\u00a0we did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-sage-container is-constrained is-style-jade\"><div class=\"sage-container__inner\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Low stock levels\u00a0became manageable because Nut and Noggin communicated early, stayed visible, and gave customers a way to keep buying.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"#gate-adbf67e7-f26f-4f58-a954-9e67147b2f85\">Download your free small business toolkit: a guide, business plan template and cash flow forecast template so you can boss your business<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"much-anchor-link\">How much does it cost to start a beauty business start up?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rachel and her co-founder launched Nut and Noggin for approximately \u00a320,000. This\u00a0covered\u00a0stock, branding, and website costs,\u00a0while\u00a0they did\u00a0the copywriting and marketing themselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She recommends aspiring beauty founders\u00a0deal in-house with\u00a0at least one of\u00a0marketing,\u00a0e-commerce\u00a0tech, or operations. This helps you\u00a0avoid spiralling agency costs.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bex Burn-Callander:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Do you mind sharing a little bit about how much it actually costs to get a business like this off the ground?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because I&#8217;m sure a lot of people will be like, &#8220;Well, I&#8217;d love to start a business. I&#8217;ve got maybe \u00a35k in savings. Would that do it?&#8221; Or I&#8217;ve got a bit more or a bit less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How much did it cost you guys to get this going?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rachel Clark:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yeah, please do ask that one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yeah, I&#8217;ve already explained that we started off with this fantasy idea of a clever app that we were going to have developed and a customisable shampoo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So it was going to be like a different product for every single customer, and we put the pricing together for that and it was going to be about \u00a3100k. We soon backtracked and decided we could not afford that in any respect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We actually didn&#8217;t want to take any outside investment early on because we wanted to prove that the concept was going to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was very much, right, what savings do we have?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We&#8217;ve spent initially about \u00a320,000, which I would say is really frugal. We did a lot ourselves in terms of creating the website, all the copywriting, all the marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The branding we outsource, because I&#8217;d be rubbish at that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We spent initially \u00a320,000, obviously stock as well. It depends. You could start really small with a product and iterate from there, but we wanted to start with a bit of a bang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But still that is really pretty frugal in terms of a small business startup fee for a consumer brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-sage-container is-constrained is-style-jade\"><div class=\"sage-container__inner\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What did Nut and Noggin spend \u00a320,000 on?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After abandoning\u00a0an initial\u00a0\u00a3100k plan for a bespoke app,\u00a0Rachel and her co-founder\u00a0opted for a\u00a0frugal\u00a0launch, self-funding the business with \u00a320k in personal savings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They\u00a0concentrated\u00a0their limited capital on professional branding and their\u00a0initial\u00a0stock order, ensuring the brand could launch with a high-impact &#8220;bang&#8221; without relying on outside investment.\u00a0<br>*<em>As a\u00a0comparison,\u00a0by March 2024,\u00a0state\u00a0startup support fund\u00a0British Business Bank\u00a0had\u00a0doled out an average of\u00a0more than\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.british-business-bank.co.uk\/news-and-events\/news\/british-business-bank-total-financial-capacity-increased-ps255bn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>\u00a3271.8 million per business<\/em><\/a><em>\u00a0to some\u00a064,000\u00a0ventures.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Expense Category<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/td><td><strong>Description<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Branding&nbsp;<\/td><td>Outsourced professional design (logo, packaging, and visual identity)&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Inventory&nbsp;<\/td><td>The&nbsp;initial&nbsp;production run of shampoo products&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Operational fees&nbsp;<\/td><td>General small-business startup fees and administrative costs&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Total Investment:<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/td><td><strong>\u00a320,000<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bex Burn-Callander:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Would you say it&#8217;s really useful if you&#8217;re starting a business to make sure that whoever&#8217;s in the founding team, you have the skills in place already to cover a lot of those startup costs?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So you either have someone that is a great copywriter or knows about marketing or knows at least something to reduce the overhead at the beginning?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rachel Clark:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our business is operations-led, but then it&#8217;s growth led in terms of marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You could save yourself a whole lot of money if you&#8217;ve got either the ecommerce side of things or the marketing side of things or the operations side of things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But as soon as you start going out there and trying to get agencies to help you, that&#8217;s when the cost can just spiral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;ve seen so many business owners get totally ripped off as well, which is frustrating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can do a lot yourself, but you really have to be in that able-to-grow mode yourself. My learning curve, even though I&#8217;ve got a marketing and PR background, was just huge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It was like twice a day I was on Google or YouTube looking at how on earth do I do this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That&#8217;s the brilliant thing about podcasts as well, is you can learn so much about other people&#8217;s businesses and where they&#8217;ve gone wrong, where they&#8217;ve got right, what&#8217;s working, what&#8217;s not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You just didn&#8217;t have access to that 10 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#8217;s a brilliant time to be a founder if you&#8217;re willing to do all the work and grow it organically yourself at first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-sage-container is-constrained is-style-jade\"><div class=\"sage-container__inner\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-to-reduce-startup-costs-when-launching-a-beauty-brand\"><strong>How to reduce startup costs when launching a beauty brand\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To keep your&nbsp;initial&nbsp;overheads low, follow these principles from the Nut and Noggin journey:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Audit your founding team:<\/strong>\u00a0ensure your team has the\u00a0DIY\u00a0skills to cover operations, marketing, or e-commerce in-house before paying for outside help.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Avoid agency &#8220;spiral&#8221;:<\/strong>\u00a0be wary of outsourcing too early; costs can quickly escalate or lead to poor value for money if you\u00a0haven&#8217;t\u00a0mastered the basics yourself.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Embrace the &#8220;learning curve&#8221;:<\/strong>\u00a0use free resources like YouTube, Google, and podcasts to bridge your skill gaps.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Prioritize\u00a0your\u00a0spend:<\/strong>\u00a0focus your limited budget on the things you\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0do yourself\u2014like high-quality branding and physical stock\u2014rather than expensive custom tech.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Iterate and grow organically:<\/strong>\u00a0prove the concept works before seeking outside investment.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Nut and Noggin&nbsp;was able to&nbsp;launch&nbsp;frugally because the&nbsp;founders&nbsp;cut complexity, funded it themselves, and kept key skills in-house.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"full-anchor-link\">How to structure a co-founder relationship when one partner has a day job<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rachel and her co-founder were deliberate about roles from the start. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rachel handles most of the day-to-day operations and marketing, while her\u00a0partner, who still has a full-time job, supports with content and product ideas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Clear\u00a0lines\u00a0of\u00a0responsibility\u00a0matter more than equal time split.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bex Burn-Callander:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What&#8217;s the dynamic between you and your co-founder like? Do you have very specific roles? Is there much crossover?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Do you ever go to war with each other over anything?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rachel Clark:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">No, we&#8217;re good friends. My co-founder actually has a full-time job anyway, but she really helps with things like content and ideas for new products and things like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We were very careful to be very specific about who does what and who gets involved with what. I do most of the everyday operations and marketing. I think it&#8217;s really important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Having been in businesses with other people in the past as well, we were talking about this earlier, but it can be like a marriage so you have to be really careful with who you go in with, what their skill sets are, and just having other people that complement your skill set or have a different skill set to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bex Burn-Callander:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Remove any friction right at the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rachel Clark:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yeah. Although, I don&#8217;t think friction is necessarily a bad thing. It just depends how it&#8217;s handled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bex Burn-Callander:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Julien Callede, the founder of Made.com, said on a much earlier episode said that actually sometimes it&#8217;s good to have founders that you disagree with because it ends up with a much better decision because you really fight for what you believe in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You have to take on someone else&#8217;s counsel and it ends up improving the final result. I thought that was quite interesting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rachel Clark:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yeah, I can believe that. I did listen to that one and it&#8217;s fascinating, because I think that they had four co-founders, didn&#8217;t they?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That&#8217;s a lot of people and a lot of ideas, but I think it&#8217;s just being really specific about who does what and who&#8217;s best at what as well, is how we&#8217;re using it anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-sage-container is-constrained is-style-jade\"><div class=\"sage-container__inner\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>A co-founder\u00a0partnership works better when responsibilities are defined early and matched to each person\u2019s strengths and availability.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"investors-anchor-link\">Should you take investment for your startup? The mental health and financial trade-off<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"investors-anchor-link\">Rachel explored outside funding, including the\u00a0<em>Dragons\u2019 Den<\/em>\u00a0TV programme, but came away more convinced that profitable, organic growth suited the business better at that stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"investors-anchor-link\">She is open to future options such as crowdfunding, but\u00a0she\u2019s\u00a0wary\u00a0that external capital\u00a0would\u00a0bring\u00a0pressure, timelines, and expectations that can affect both decision-making and mental health.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bex Burn-Callander:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rachel, you said you didn&#8217;t want to take on any outside investment at the beginning. You wanted to keep it very much your own venture. Is that changing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I can imagine, with the pace of growth that you&#8217;re experiencing, that maybe you might have to take on some finance. What are you going to do in terms of external investment?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rachel Clark:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yeah, that&#8217;s a really interesting question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I don&#8217;t think we&#8217;ve discussed this before, but I actually did the filming for Dragons&#8217; Den. Every season, they do about 100 founder entrepreneur interviews. Only about 70 get through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We did it, we got there, and I didn&#8217;t fall flat on my face and I was quite pleased with myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But I didn&#8217;t get investment, but it was a really great experience just in terms of going through all the due diligence and meetings, obviously, the dragons as well, who were amazing and actually really friendly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bex Burn-Callander:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Are you going to be on TV?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rachel Clark:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We didn&#8217;t get on, but I was in touch with another couple of beauty founders, and they also went through the whole process and also didn&#8217;t get on, so I was like, &#8220;Oh, okay, I can solace myself with the fact that not everyone gets on.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">People keep ringing me now and they&#8217;re like, &#8220;Are you on? Are you on?&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You have to be really up to speed with all your financials, all your projections, all the things that it&#8217;s not my zone of genius, I would say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But that whole process and even just going to think about going for investment is a really great thing for anyone to go through, so I would recommend it if anyone&#8217;s got the opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bex Burn-Callander:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now you&#8217;ve got your presentation style down pat, you&#8217;ve got your pitch deck. Would you look elsewhere? I suppose the question is, do you need money or would it just be nice to have some additional support maybe?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rachel Clark:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yeah. That&#8217;s the thing. It&#8217;s this lovely idea of, &#8220;Oh yeah, let&#8217;s get investors on and we can go massive and we can go really quick.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Or is it, &#8220;I want to build it a bit slower and see how we get to and make sure we&#8217;re profitable,&#8221; because there are so many founders out there who take on big investment and still don\u2019t have a profitable business model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So it&#8217;s really important to me, personally, just to make sure everything&#8217;s profitable and that we grow organically as opposed to going really big, taking venture capital, getting people in, and having that huge pressure as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We talked about mental health. It&#8217;s a really big call to have external investment and external investors who will want their money back in, it could be two years could be three years. So yeah, I think we&#8217;re doing the right thing at the right time for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bex Burn-Callander:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yeah, and it strikes me that Noggin is the kind of business as well that if you did need to raise money, crowdfunding would work so well because you have all these passionate fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Or something like shampoo bonds. You remember? There used to be chocolate bonds and shaving bonds and it&#8217;s just people buying into a business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rachel Clark:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We have looked a little bit into crowdfunding, but Dragons&#8217; Den came along and then we&#8217;re like, &#8220;Actually, let&#8217;s just focus on this.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It&#8217;s not something we would definitely say no to at the moment, so that could be a really good way to get some money in as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"wp-block-sage-container is-constrained is-style-jade\"><div class=\"sage-container__inner\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What is crowdfunding, and is it right for a beauty startup?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Crowdfunding is a way to raise capital by collecting small investments from a large group of people\u2014usually your own customers and fans\u2014rather than a single wealthy investor.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For a beauty brand like Nut and Noggin, crowdfunding is a good fit because it taps into a passionate community who already love the product.&nbsp;It\u2019s&nbsp;an ideal middle ground for founders who want to scale but are wary of the intense pressure and rigid timelines that come with venture capital.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ultimately, it&nbsp;works if you want to speed up growth without sacrificing your mental health or your commitment to a profitable, organic business model.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Third-party investment can accelerate growth, but it also changes the emotional and financial shape of the business.<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"#gate-8bedd1ad-a10c-406c-a489-1e41f370e38b\">Download your free guide, How to pitch for investment as a small business<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-nut-and-noggin-s-mental-health-mission-drives-customer-loyalty\">How Nut and Noggin&#8217;s mental health mission drives customer loyalty\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nut and Noggin\u2019s mission is built into the product itself: \u00a31 from every\u00a0sale\u00a0goes to charity. Rachel links that directly to causes that matter to her\u00a0and\u00a0suggests that customers respond not just to the shampoo\u00a0but to the story and purpose behind it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bex Burn-Callander:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rachel, tell me a bit about the mental health side. When someone buys a bar, what happens to that purchase money?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tell me a bit more about why you&#8217;re so passionate about supporting mental health charities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Rachel Clark:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There&#8217;s a really cool quote that goes around on Instagram every now and again, and I think it&#8217;s something about when a person buys from a small business, someone does a little dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That actually does happen. That&#8217;s the first thing that happens with your purchase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So that&#8217;s the first thing that happens with your purchase, but for our shampoo bars, \u00a31 from every purchase goes to three different charities that we&#8217;re working with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of them is the fabulous <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winstonswish.org\/\">Winston&#8217;s Wish<\/a>, which is a national charity that was set up to help children and young people and also families going through grief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So obviously that&#8217;s something that resonated with me hugely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And then we also support a charity called the Yoga Therapy Foundation, who helps support young people facing grief, depression, and anxiety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And that&#8217;s something that their founder is really passionate about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And she says over the last 20 years, she&#8217;s had so many more young people coming to her with problems with depression and anxiety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And then we also help a fab charity in Leeds called the Marketplace, which is also targeting young people who are facing difficult times. So that&#8217;s where our customers\u2019 hard-earned money goes when it comes through to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The brand\u2019s charity model gives customers a clearer reason to care, buy, and recommend it to others.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-frequently-asked-questions-about-starting-a-beauty-business\">Frequently\u00a0asked\u00a0questions about starting a beauty business\u00a0\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"schema-faq wp-block-yoast-faq-block\"><div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1776697627682\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\"><strong>Do you need a license to sell cosmetics in the UK?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">You\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0usually need a general selling licence to sell cosmetics in the UK.\u00a0But you\u00a0do\u00a0have to\u00a0comply with\u00a0UK cosmetics law before selling to consumers in Great Britain.<br><br>That means having a named\u00a0Responsible Person\u00a0with a UK address, making sure the product has been\u00a0safety assessed, keeping the required product information, using compliant labelling, and\u00a0notifying the\u00a0UK\u2019s Submit Cosmetic Product Notifications (SCPN) service\u00a0before it goes on\u00a0sale.\u00a0\u00a0<br><br>That\u00a0Responsible\u00a0Person can be the business owner.\u00a0If you are selling in Northern Ireland, the rules and notification route differ from Great Britain, so that needs checking separately.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p> <\/div> <div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1776697674691\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\"><strong>Can I run a beauty business from home in the UK?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">Yes, many people can run a beauty business from home in the UK, but it depends on\u00a0what kind of business\u00a0it is and how it affects your property.<br><br>You may need permission from your\u00a0landlord or mortgage provider, and you may also need to check with your\u00a0local planning authority\u00a0or\u00a0local council\u00a0if, for example, you will have lots of customers visiting, frequent deliveries, external signage, or any activity that changes the residential character of the home.\u00a0\u00a0<br><br>You may also need to look at\u00a0insurance\u00a0and whether part of the property could be assessed for\u00a0business rates. So yes, home-based beauty businesses are possible, but the\u00a0setup is not automatically friction-free.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p> <\/div> <div class=\"schema-faq-section\" id=\"faq-question-1776697699700\"><strong class=\"schema-faq-question\"><strong>What are the new laws on selling homemade beauty products in the UK?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong> <p class=\"schema-faq-answer\">There is no\u00a0special\u00a0set of rules\u00a0applicable to\u00a0homemade\u00a0products.<br><br>If your homemade\u00a0balm, scrub, cream, soap, or other item counts as a\u00a0cosmetic product, it still\u00a0has to meet the same core legal requirements as any other cosmetic sold in Great Britain:\u00a0a\u00a0Responsible Person, a\u00a0safety assessment, compliant ingredients and labelling, a\u00a0Product Information File, and\u00a0SCPN notification\u00a0before sale.<br>\u00a0\u00a0<br>What\u00a0<em>has<\/em>\u00a0changed in recent years is that the UK has continued to update cosmetic rules by restricting certain substances and setting\u00a0dates\u00a0by which\u00a0products already on the market\u00a0must adhere to those rules.\u00a0<br><br>So\u00a0\u201chomemade\u201d\u00a0does not mean\u00a0\u201cexempt.\u201d\u00a0Once you sell a cosmetic product in the UK, you are\u00a0expected to meet the same legal standards as a larger brand.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p> <\/div> <\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"single-cta\">\n\t<div class=\"single-cta__positioner on-scroll-highlight__target\">\n\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__wrapper has-dark-background-color\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"single-cta__title h3\">Subscribe to the Sage Advice newsletter<\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"single-cta__description\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>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\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\t\thref=\"#gate-b1a63862-3fa0-4a5e-bb67-c76b88bbc6b8\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"single-cta__button button button--primary\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t>Subscribe 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<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1-1440x810.jpg\" class=\"single-cta__image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-1073797282-1-1440x810.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 33vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<section class=\"more-topics alignfull has-grey-light-background-color wp-block-sage-post-topics\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"row\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-12 col-lg-4\">\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"more-topics__title h2\">Browse more topics from this article<\/h3>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-12 col-lg-8\">\n\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"post-tags__list\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"post-tags__item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/tag\/business-finances\/\" class=\"post-tags__link button button--secondary\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBusiness finances\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"post-tags__item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/tag\/grow-business\/\" class=\"post-tags__link button button--secondary\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHow to grow your business\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"post-tags__item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/tag\/start-business\/\" class=\"post-tags__link button button--secondary\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHow to start a business\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"post-tags__item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/tag\/sound-advice-podcast\/\" class=\"post-tags__link button button--secondary\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSound Advice Podcast\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"post-tags__item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/tag\/startup-stories\/\" class=\"post-tags__link button button--secondary\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStartup stories\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n<div class=\"alignfull wp-block-sage-related-posts\">\n\t<section class=\"related-posts card-grid has-dark-background-color\">\n\t<div class=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"row\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"related-posts__heading related-posts__heading--featured h1\">Explore more wisdom<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"row related-posts__featured\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col card-grid__item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<article\n\t\tclass=\"card-post related-post related-post-0 post-32692 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-money-matters tag-auto-enrolment tag-bookkeeping tag-business-continuity tag-business-costs tag-business-finances tag-business-performance tag-cafe tag-finance tag-freelancers tag-making-tax-digital-for-income-tax tag-reduce-admin tag-work-life-balance business_type-small-business industry-professional-services card-post--is-clickable\"\n>\n\t<div class=\"card-post__media-wrapper\">\n\t\t<figure class=\"card-post__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1440\" height=\"810\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/10\/AdobeStock_2026859834-1440x810.jpg\" class=\"card-post__image\" alt=\"admin sunday\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/10\/AdobeStock_2026859834-684x384.jpg 684w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/10\/AdobeStock_2026859834-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/10\/AdobeStock_2026859834-1440x810.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 250px, (min-width: 30em) 100vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t<div class=\"card-post__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"card-post__label\">Recommended<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"card-post__meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"card-post__meta-text\"><span class=\"posted-on \"><time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2026-10-30T08:00:00+00:00\">30 October, 2026<\/time><\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"card-post__meta-text\"><span class=\"reading-time\">10 min read<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t<p class=\"card-post__title h3\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"card-post__title-link\"\n\t\t\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/admin-sunday-creative-freelancers\/\"\n\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tHow to stop freelance admin taking over your Sunday\u00a0\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"card-post__description\">\n\t\t\t\tReceipts, invoices, and payment checks can build up while you\u2019re busy with client work. Use this weekly finance routine to keep the essentials moving and reduce the admin waiting for you at the weekend. \t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"row related-posts__non-featured\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-12\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"related-posts__heading related-posts__heading--more h4\">More on this Topic<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-6 col-lg-3 card-grid__item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<article\n\t\tclass=\"card-post related-post related-post-1 post-32702 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-strategy-legal-operations tag-bookkeeping tag-business-continuity tag-business-costs tag-business-finances tag-business-support tag-cloud tag-customer-stories tag-grow-business tag-reporting tag-workplace-technology business_type-small-business industry-healthcare\"\n>\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\tclass=\"card-post__link\"\n\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/dental-business-financial-admin-case-study\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t<figure class=\"card-post__media card-post__media--video\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"684\" height=\"384\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/10\/DSC08230-dental-684x384.jpg\" class=\"card-post__image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/10\/DSC08230-dental-684x384.jpg 684w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/10\/DSC08230-dental-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/10\/DSC08230-dental-1440x810.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 250px, (min-width: 30em) 100vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"card-post__play-video\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" class=\"card-post__play-icon svg-icon\" width=\"28\" height=\"28\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewbox=\"0 0 33 36\"><path d=\"M3.947.936C1.889 1.016 0 2.661 0 4.878v27.11c0 2.956 3.36 4.896 5.999 3.463l24.965-13.555c2.715-1.474 2.715-5.451 0-6.925L6 1.416a3.96 3.96 0 0 0-2.052-.48Zm.032 2.6c.232-.001.475.058.713.187L29.66 17.28c.986.535.986 1.774 0 2.309L4.692 33.144c-.952.517-1.999-.088-1.999-1.155V4.878c0-.533.261-.95.642-1.17.19-.11.411-.171.644-.172\" \/><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"card-post__meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg role=\"presentation\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" class=\"card-post__meta-icon svg-icon\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\"><path d=\"M5.25 3C3.74 3 2.5 4.24 2.5 5.75v12.5C2.5 19.76 3.74 21 5.25 21h14c1.51 0 2.75-1.24 2.75-2.75V5.75C22 4.24 20.76 3 19.25 3zm0 1.5h14c.699 0 1.25.551 1.25 1.25v12.5a1.24 1.24 0 0 1-1.25 1.25h-14A1.24 1.24 0 0 1 4 18.25V5.75c0-.699.551-1.25 1.25-1.25m.25.75a.5.5 0 0 0-.5.5v.5a.5.5 0 0 0 .5.5H6a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5v-.5a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5zm13 0a.5.5 0 0 0-.5.5v.5a.5.5 0 0 0 .5.5h.5a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5v-.5a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5zm-8.25 2.751A1.248 1.248 0 0 0 9 9.251v5.5c0 .442.231.849.613 1.074.389.231.846.237 1.239.021l5.001-2.751c.396-.219.646-.639.646-1.094s-.25-.876-.646-1.095l-.001-.001-5.002-2.751a1.25 1.25 0 0 0-.601-.153zM5.5 8.25a.5.5 0 0 0-.5.5v.5a.5.5 0 0 0 .5.5H6a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5v-.5a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5zm13 0a.5.5 0 0 0-.5.5v.5a.5.5 0 0 0 .5.5h.5a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5v-.5a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5zm-8 1.423L14.731 12 10.5 14.328zm-5 1.577a.5.5 0 0 0-.5.5v.5a.5.5 0 0 0 .5.5H6a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5v-.5a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5zm13 0a.5.5 0 0 0-.5.5v.5a.5.5 0 0 0 .5.5h.5a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5v-.5a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5zm-13 3a.5.5 0 0 0-.5.5v.5a.5.5 0 0 0 .5.5H6a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5v-.5a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5zm13 0a.5.5 0 0 0-.5.5v.5a.5.5 0 0 0 .5.5h.5a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5v-.5a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5zm-13 3a.5.5 0 0 0-.5.5v.5a.5.5 0 0 0 .5.5H6a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5v-.5a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5zm13 0a.5.5 0 0 0-.5.5v.5a.5.5 0 0 0 .5.5h.5a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5v-.5a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5z\" \/><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"card-post__meta-text\"><span class=\"posted-on \"><time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2026-10-29T16:32:18+00:00\">29 October, 2026<\/time><\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"card-post__meta-text\"><span class=\"reading-time\">6 min read<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t<p class=\"card-post__title h5\">\n\t\t\tWhat changes when small business owners get the numbers sooner?\u00a0\t\t<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-6 col-lg-3 card-grid__item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<article\n\t\tclass=\"card-post related-post related-post-2 post-32603 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-money-matters tag-accountant-accounting tag-accountant-automation tag-accountant-payroll tag-accountant-tax tag-alternative-finance tag-auto-enrolment tag-bookkeeping tag-business-costs tag-business-finances tag-business-support tag-cafe tag-cash-flow tag-finance tag-hr-processes-medium-businesses tag-hr-payroll-benefits tag-payments tag-payroll tag-retail tag-vat business_type-small-business business_type-medium-sized-business business_type-accountants industry-food-beverage industry-travel-hospitality\"\n>\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\tclass=\"card-post__link\"\n\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/uk-autumn-budget-2027\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t<figure class=\"card-post__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"684\" height=\"384\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/10\/AdobeStock_420550058-684x384.jpg\" class=\"card-post__image\" alt=\"UK Autumn Budget 2027\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/10\/AdobeStock_420550058-684x384.jpg 684w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/10\/AdobeStock_420550058-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/10\/AdobeStock_420550058-1440x810.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 250px, (min-width: 30em) 100vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"card-post__meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"card-post__meta-text\"><span class=\"posted-on \"><time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2026-10-29T10:28:40+00:00\">29 October, 2026<\/time><\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"card-post__meta-text\"><span class=\"reading-time\">15 min read<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t<p class=\"card-post__title h5\">\n\t\t\tAutumn Budget 2026: What it means for your business\t\t<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-6 col-lg-3 card-grid__item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<article\n\t\tclass=\"card-post related-post related-post-3 post-10040 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-money-matters category-strategy-legal-operations tag-bookkeeping tag-business-finances tag-mtd-business tag-need-to-know tag-tax tag-vat business_type-small-business\"\n>\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\tclass=\"card-post__link\"\n\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/voluntary-vat-register-making-tax-digital\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t<figure class=\"card-post__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"684\" height=\"384\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-497069597-684x384.jpg\" class=\"card-post__image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-497069597-684x384.jpg 684w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-497069597-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2022\/04\/GettyImages-497069597-1440x810.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 250px, (min-width: 30em) 100vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"card-post__meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"card-post__meta-text\"><span class=\"posted-on \"><time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2026-10-15T16:40:53+01:00\">15 October, 2026<\/time><\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"card-post__meta-text\"><span class=\"reading-time\">10 min read<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t<p class=\"card-post__title h5\">\n\t\t\tHow to get ready for Making Tax Digital for VAT\t\t<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"col col-6 col-lg-3 card-grid__item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<article\n\t\tclass=\"card-post related-post related-post-4 post-32306 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-strategy-legal-operations category-technology-innovation tag-business-finances tag-business-performance tag-business-support tag-cloud tag-data-analytics tag-midsized-business tag-performance-management tag-productivity tag-reporting business_type-small-business business_type-medium-sized-business industry-financial-services industry-professional-services\"\n>\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\tclass=\"card-post__link\"\n\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/is-your-finance-system-holding-back-business-growth\/\"\n\t\t\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t<figure class=\"card-post__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"684\" height=\"384\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/09\/intacct-5-header-684x384.jpg\" class=\"card-post__image\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/09\/intacct-5-header-684x384.jpg 684w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/09\/intacct-5-header-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.sage.com\/en-gb\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2026\/09\/intacct-5-header-1440x810.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 48em) 250px, (min-width: 30em) 100vw, 100vw\" \/>\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"card-post__meta\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"card-post__meta-text\"><span class=\"posted-on \"><time class=\"entry-date published\" datetime=\"2026-09-29T12:32:05+01:00\">29 September, 2026<\/time><\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"card-post__meta-text\"><span class=\"reading-time\">1 min read<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t<p class=\"card-post__title h5\">\n\t\t\tIs your finance system holding back business growth?\t\t<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rachel Clark, founder of sustainable shampoo brand Nut and Noggin, shares how she turned corporate burnout and grief into a thriving e-commerce startup\u2014built from her kitchen table with \u00a320,000 and no outside investment. 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