How to start a handmade business - with Liz Cooke - Chester & Cooke
Bring Your Product Idea to Life
English - September 01, 2023 05:00 - 34 minutes - 39.9 MBEntrepreneurship Business Homepage Download Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Today I'm talking to Liz Cooke from Chester & Cooke. Liz designs and makes country living products for the home, garden, horse, and dog. Liz shares her product business journey, and how she transitioned from a career in finance to starting her business and designing wooden products, which her husband then makes and they sell.
We discussed the challenges of pricing handmade products, the power of offering customisation to your customers, and the areas to prioritise learning about and investing in when running your own business.
Liz has also won quite a few awards, and had some great PR successes, including being commissioned by ITV show Love Your Weekend to make a welly rack. We discuss how these came about, the channels that Liz finds more successful in helping people to find her business.
Listen in to hear Liz share:
An introduction to herself and her business (01:17)How and why she started her own business (01:44)Designing and making products from wood (03:38)Her expectations when setting up the business, and how these have grown (05:56)Their first product - a boot jack (08:34)The biggest challenges of setting up her own website (10:01)How to price handmade products (12:16)The power of personalisation on your products (16:24)How she achieved awards and PR success (18:25)Which channels work best for bringing in sales (22:11)Things to prioritise when you are at the early stages of your business (23:32)The importance of making sure your business doesn’t take over your life (28:17)Her number one piece of advice for product creators (29:24)USEFUL RESOURCES:
LET’S CONNECT
Join my free Facebook group for product makers and creators
Buy My Book: Bring Your Product Idea To Life
If you enjoy this podcast, and you’d like to leave a tip, you can do so here: https://bring-your-product-idea.captivate.fm/support
Mentioned in this episode:
Hosted by Captivate
If you've been inspired to start a podcast in 2024 then I recommend my podcast host, Captivate.
They were my top pick when I started 4 years ago because of how easy it was for a complete novice to get...
Today I'm talking to Liz Cooke from Chester & Cooke. Liz designs and makes country living products for the home, garden, horse, and dog. Liz shares her product business journey, and how she transitioned from a career in finance to starting her business and designing wooden products, which her husband then makes and they sell.
We discussed the challenges of pricing handmade products, the power of offering customisation to your customers, and the areas to prioritise learning about and investing in when running your own business.
Liz has also won quite a few awards, and had some great PR successes, including being commissioned by ITV show Love Your Weekend to make a welly rack. We discuss how these came about, the channels that Liz finds more successful in helping people to find her business.
Listen in to hear Liz share:
An introduction to herself and her business (01:17)How and why she started her own business (01:44)Designing and making products from wood (03:38)Her expectations when setting up the business, and how these have grown (05:56)Their first product - a boot jack (08:34)The biggest challenges of setting up her own website (10:01)How to price handmade products (12:16)The power of personalisation on your products (16:24)How she achieved awards and PR success (18:25)Which channels work best for bringing in sales (22:11)Things to prioritise when you are at the early stages of your business (23:32)The importance of making sure your business doesn’t take over your life (28:17)Her number one piece of advice for product creators (29:24)USEFUL RESOURCES:
LET’S CONNECT
Join my free Facebook group for product makers and creators
Buy My Book: Bring Your Product Idea To Life
If you enjoy this podcast, and you’d like to leave a tip, you can do so here: https://bring-your-product-idea.captivate.fm/support
Mentioned in this episode:
Hosted by Captivate
If you've been inspired to start a podcast in 2024 then I recommend my podcast host, Captivate.
They were my top pick when I started 4 years ago because of how easy it was for a complete novice to get started. I’ve stuck with them because it’s still simple, they keep adding great new features (like the ability to share ads like these!) and it’s been so reliable.
When you’re ready to start your own podcast, use the link for a free 7 day trial: https://www.captivate.fm/signup?ref=vickiweinberg&tap_a=53455-ceb3a2
In May 2024 our sponsor is Aubergine Legal
Do you sometimes worry that your business isn’t meeting all its legal compliance requirements and wonder if you are ticking all the legal boxes?
Aubergine offers a free initial 30 minute consultation if you have any questions or want to find out how they can help.
BOOK YOUR FREE CONSULTATION HERE: https://www.auberginelegal.co.uk/contact