Statistically only 42 per cent of UK businesses reach the five-year milestone so it’s a cause of much celebration, pride and reflection.
There have been so many highlights, including our first hire; moving into our fantastic new Lincolnshire premises; raising £500k in investment; and being stocked by major retailers like Costco and Not On The High Street.
However, you have to take the rough with the smooth in business and the last five years have been dotted with learnings (I don’t think of them as mistakes).
IMP & MAKER’s story started in 2020.
Sarah Louise Fairburn: Disrupting the world of food and drink gifting
The country had been plunged into a Covid lockdown and I was busy home-schooling four children under the age of 11.
In my previous role as a director of Fairburn’s Eggs, I’d helped grow the company’s turnover from £12m to more than £100m and I knew I wanted to do something in the food and drink sector.
Before long I settled on luxury food and drink gifting – and so IMP & MAKER was born.
As any startup founder will tell you, I literally did everything at the beginning – and I mean everything.
Writing a website, photography, managing our social media platforms, liaising with suppliers, packaging and delivery. I was responsible for it all.
We didn’t have any Google or Meta advertising so I had to push everything by word of mouth.
Luckily, one of my friends had some spare factory space and the turning point was an order I received for £15k of hampers in time for Christmas 2020.
I’ll never forget packing the orders with the kids and delivering them in a van.
In year two the Daily Mail voted us the best hamper company. It was a real ‘wow’ moment because we beat some established names.
In year three we really went for it. I brought in a strong team but, in hindsight, we grew too quickly.
Our customer acquisition costs were too high and our margins were too low. It was a tough lesson to learn but we learned it.
Today IMP & MAKER is recognised as one of the foremost names in modern food and drink gifting.
Our recent investment valued the business at £2m and we’re now debt-free and on track to report our first profit this year.
On a personal level, I’m now a single mum and suffer terrible ‘mummy guilt’ at the sacrifices I’ve had to make – but I know my children are proud of me.
I think of IMP & MAKER as my fifth child and it really feels like we’re just getting started.