What do you currently do?
I am co-founder and director of the online tailor InStitchu UK where we believe that every man should have the freedom to design a high quality custom tailored suit.
The garments are created through our website giving you a real-time view of what your suit or shirt will look like. There are numerous ways to get measured but most of our customers prefer to visit us directly and discuss fabrics, style and fit. Once the order is placed it takes up to 30 days to be delivered with any minor alterations covered by our Perfect Fit Guarantee.
Our vision is to transform the process of getting a tailored suit so that men can repeatedly order custom made suits that fit perfectly every time.
What is your inspiration in business?
I’m inspired by what others are currently able to achieve through technology and by creative business models such as ours. Meeting like-minded entrepreneurs in the tech industry also gives me the enthusiasm to continue innovating. The men’s fashion market is now growing at a rate of 11 per cent each year with 68 per cent of male shopper’s online using laptops or desktop computers to buy clothing, while 25 per cent used a tablet and 15 per cent a smartphone.
Another big motivator for me is learning about new tools that can help grow young businesses. I would love to be able to one day help young entrepreneurs grow their business using my experience.
Who do you admire?
I follow a lot of entrepreneurs especially in technology. Those I tend to be drawn to most are people in the pursuit of changing the world like Elon Musk (Space X and Tesla) and Jack Dorsey (Twitter and Square). My favourite company has to be Google for the sheer amount of effort they put into developing new ideas with a lesser known Astro Teller pioneering the very secretive Google X.
Looking back are there things you would have done differently?
I would have done lots differently and that’s the beauty of starting a business, it’s the amount you learn and new people you meet. One of the biggest things we would have done right away as a new business is seek out a mentor to offer guidance. The reason being, it’s easy to get too involved in your business and lose focus on what is important. A mentor is able to sit back and listen to everything you have to say and not only offer experience but an outsider’s perspective as a potential customer.
What defines your way of doing business?
It wasn’t until recently that the way I like to do business was really summed up by my business partner Matt Hinkley. We had a few problems happen all at the same time and it really made me question the business model. He said ‘Whenever something goes wrong don’t look at it as something negative, look at is as an opportunity to learn and demonstrate your commitment to good customer service.’ It can be easy to lose motivation when things go wrong but I think what separates those that succeed from those that don’t is determination and I am very determined.
As a growing business we are extremely focused on delivering remarkable customer service that goes above expectation. The fact we have a quality product make this a lot easier.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out?
Test, test and test again (thank you Richard Patey). There is no definitive list on how to grow a business but it think entrepreneurs should see what works and what the return on investment is whether that’s time or money. Another piece of advice I would give is understand everything about your market. By having this clear in your mind it will be easier to reach your customers in the way they want to be reached.
