…you just need perseverance and lots of passion, says TRINNY WOODALL. She shares the hard-won wisdom that turned her own start-up dream into a multimillion-pound business
To launch a business and grow it into a multimillion-pound empire in less than four years takes some serious determination. But anyone who follows Trinny Woodall (and there are a lot: she’s amassed one million followers on Instagram, 1.9 million on Facebook) knows from her daily videos that she has the kind of boundless energy that practically fizzes out of your screen.
The former What Not To Wear presenter, 57, launched her beauty brand Trinny London – a range of make-up and skincare housed in space-saving stackable pots – in 2017. She’d spent the previous four years perfecting the products and developing the brand’s signature Match2Me technology, an online tool that solves the Russian roulette of ordering make-up on the internet by helping customers to find the right shades for their complexion.
Thanks to the clever stack concept and game-changing tech, Trinny London has been a phenomenal success. The company now employs 194 people, sells 187 different products and has customers in 167 countries. A pot of Trinny London Miracle Blur – an ingenious line-filling primer for your skin – is sold every 60 seconds. Despite the pandemic, the company made £45 million in revenue in the last financial year.
‘I went to a networking event recently and six people who’d said no to investing in the company when I was fundraising pre-launch came up to me and said, “I wish I’d made that investment,”’ says Trinny. ‘It was such a good feeling.’
Starting a new venture in midlife may be daunting but Trinny insists, ‘We shouldn’t define ourselves by age. We have to keep challenging ourselves and think: “What do I really want from life?”’
Here she shares what she’s learnt from launching a business in her 50s – and her advice for how you can get started, too…
Know your skills
My career has been about evolution, rather than reinvention. How can I take the skills I already have and do something new with them?
I spent years doing TV makeovers all around the world. I ran myself into the ground and by 2013 I knew I wanted to change direction. I didn’t want to be on a plane 64 times a year any more, but I still wanted to work with women and make them feel inspired.
I had 5,000 voices in my head from all the women we’d met. So many conversations were about make-up: women were confused by all the products out there and didn’t know what suited them. At the same time, I’d started making my own DIY stack, decanting my make-up into little pots. It simplified and streamlined everything; people kept asking where they could buy them. That was the spark that became Trinny London.
If you’re in midlife and would like to change lanes – whether you’re a stay-at-home mum who wants to launch a business or you’ve had enough of the corporate world – start by identifying your existing skill set. What do you excel at or know lots about? Are you phenomenally organised? Super creative? Brilliant at running school events? Ask a friend if you’re not sure.
Now, how can you take those qualities and spin them into a business? Is there a service or product that you wish existed in your life?
You know you’ve landed on a great idea if it’s something you get really passionate about. I was telling a friend about the idea for Trinny London and he said, ‘When you talk about it, your whole face lights up. This idea is your passion. Do it.’
Knock on every door
To get my idea off the ground I needed to find venture capitalists, manufacturers and packaging companies. So I thought: ‘Who do I know who might have a friend in those fields?’ I created a spreadsheet for each area I needed help with and every week I wrote down five people I was going to email. If I didn’t get a response I’d follow up, saying: ‘Just in case you missed this – I’d love your help. Is there anyone you know who can help me?’
Everyone knows somebody who knows somebody. Sometimes it took me three ‘jumps’ to get to the person I needed. You’ve got nothing to lose by asking for a favour – they might want one from you in the future. The worst thing they can do is say ‘no’ or ignore you. My motto is you never know what’s behind […]
source Trinny Woodall: ‘Anyone can turn a genius idea into a mega brand…’
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