Monday saw the launch of Global Entrepreneurship Week in the UK for a second year running, with the focus for 2009 on highlighting the role of enterprise in driving economic recovery. As part of Global Entrepreneurship Week, today is Women’s Enterprise Day, which focuses on celebrating the successes of female businesswomen and encouraging others to turn their passions into profit. There are already around 680,000 majority women-owned businesses in the UK generating £45 billion to the economy. Caprice tells FMWF what obstacles she has faced trying to become a credible businesswoman and gives us her top tips.
Caprice Bourret, 35, has been a successful model since 1996 and even at the young age of 16 was winning modelling competitions.
She has always seen herself as a businesswoman but claims she was “diving in at the deep end” when she decided to launch her own lingerie company, ByCaprice.
She says: ‘I didn’t know what the heck I was doing. I just thought “I’m going to have the best lingerie company in the world!”. Because I started as a model before I set up my company I didn’t understand some things about business. I almost lost it in the recession.’
‘I came from an entertainment background where everyone said “yes”. It has been hard moving into the business arena and I have had to put my ego in my back pocket, but I am a much smarter business person now. You have to transform and readjust,’ she adds.
Caprice believes the reason her business has survived the recession is her conservative approach.
She says: ‘About a year ago, around October time, I started to really feel the pain of the recession. It was primarily because of the exchange rate. My company is a mass market company so I buy my stock a year in advance and deal with large numbers of units and monies. I lost hundreds and thousands of pounds. But I am starting to see light at the end of the tunnel now. Thank God for my modelling because I had a bit of liquidity. We are not making huge amounts of money now but we are getting there.’
She adds: ‘I think a lot of companies will be seeing light at the end of the tunnel but they can’t get too excited or greedy. Buyers are loosening up and orders are starting to get bigger but we need to be conservative and patient. People have a lot more confidence but it is about sustaining business right now.’
Despite the challenges she has faced, Caprice believes running her own business is far more secure than a career in the entertainment industry.
She says: ‘In the entertainment industry one minute you are hot, the next you’re not. I do not want to be dependent on anyone. Of all the accolades I have had, and I have done a lot, this is the one with the most longevity and security for when I have children.’
Caprice has recently won contracts to sell her underwear range to Dorothy Perkins and Tesco. She already works with online retailers such as ASOS and has supplied Debenhams and Next. She will launch online with Dorothy Perkins this week and clothes will be in its shops and Tesco stores by January.
She says: ‘These are quite big deals for me and I am really excited.’
Caprice’s top tips:
1. I never went to college, but you have to learn to educate yourself. You need to know every aspect of your business.
2. Be persistant. You will be knocked back, as I have.
3. You have to get people that are qualified, because ultimately they will help you make money.
4. If quality isn’t there your customers will know and you will lose your business. I take a hit on my margins because I’m looking for longevity.
5. You have to learn about cashflow.
6. You always have to think five months down the line. I am a very conservative businesswoman in general.
7. It is still sort of a man’s world. You have to prove yourself. Especially coming from a modelling background I have found it hard to gain credibility.
For more information about Women’s Enterprise Day and Global Entrepreneurship week click here.
To go to Caprice’s website click here.
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January 22nd, 2010 at 9:55 amBreaking the Mould 2010 will be our biggest and best yet « FMWF says:
[...] will have one off speakers – the FMWF supporter and model-turned-entrepreneur Caprice has promised to drop in to say a few words – and a host of interesting exhibition stands for [...]