I started my side hustle with £250 on my lounge floor – now I’ve turned over £1m & stocked on the high street
WHEN Kerry Bilson took the leap and used £250 of savings to start her bracelet company, she had no idea she would turnover £1million a few years later.
was founded during pandemic when the former Virgin Atlantic cabin crew member wanted to send something sentimental to loved ones.
- Mum-to-be bracelet, £8.99 from Letterbox Love -
From starting off as a side hustle in Derbyshire-based Kerry’s home, her products are now stocked in over 500 stores worldwide, including Clintons.
The success of her bracelets - which include her best-selling £8.99 ‘Mum to Be’ bracelet - has enabled her quit her job and she now has four staff on the team.
Speaking to Fabulous, she shared: “We don’t have big investors behind us, it’s just us, a husband and wife team, pouring everything into something we care deeply about.
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“I just wanted a way we could send something to someone to pick them up in the post that’s not edible, and not flowers because sometimes flowers can be quite expensive.
“I want something that really meant something that was affordable and could be a keepsake.”
Kerry and husband Liam settled on bracelets, and to add a sentimental touch decided to include a personalised poem with each item.
Her initial £250 went on buying the initial materials to make her first batch of bracelets, and she also forked out for a laptop and printer to make her poems.
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After creating her website and Etsy shop, her business was underway.
Kerry still remembers the first sale she made from a stranger online in July 2020, and said she “was crying my heart out” and must have “packed in 17 times” to ensure it was perfect.
By Christmas Kerry had launched around 70 different products because she kept “churning them out”.
Her bracelets priced from £8.99 for her cheapest designs, rising to a matching earrings and bracelet set at £19.99
In January 2021, Kerry decided to take the plunge to the recruitment job she was working at the time and run her business full-time, but admitted it was a “scary” move.
The entrepreneur said: “When we started selling it was always going to be a bit of a side hobby and I just wanted something to enjoy.
“As soon as the sales started to come in, I was just so overwhelmed that people believed in my business.”
Kerry's top tips for running a business
- NAIL YOUR KEYWORDS: With Etsy it’s all about long keywords and it’s all in the title, description and photography.
- STAY RELEVANT: When you are on Etsy you have always got to be current and think about what people are searching for and current sales and that changes week on week.
- ADD GRAPHICS TO YOUR LISTING: If you are uploading a product and want to be more description, don’t go into too much detail in the description, try and upload it as a graphic so it more user friendly, it is really quick to read.
- OFFER FREE SHIPPING: We offer free shipping as well. It puts a lot of people off.
- ADD YOUR PERSONALITY AND STORY: I think people love a story. On Etsy we try and write about us and how I set the brand up and more values and what inspired me as people like to know the face behind the brand.
- PUT YOUR RESEARCH IN: I’ve really had to study Etsy hard to get to grips with the algorithm.
Her husband also left his job in construction to work full-time with the business doing the accountancy and the operations side.
In their first year, Kerry had predicted that, if they were lucky, they would make £30,000, but they surpassed this and made £50,000.
In their second year they turned over a whopping £250,000 and by 2023 they turned over £1million.
This includes selling over half a million bracelets - and expanding their range to include over 300 products.
Kerry’s success has seen her win Young Entrepreneur of the year at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards, which she said was the “biggest confidence boost”.
She added: “The last 18 months have been, without question, the hardest we’ve ever faced as a business.
“The combination of rising costs, increasing competition, and constant uncertainty around government policy announcements created a perfect storm; one that’s hit a lot of small businesses like ours hard.”
We don’t have big investors behind us, it’s just us, a husband and wife team, pouring everything into something we care deeply about
Kerry Bilson
However, they have been able to hire another staff member and have also “achieved some of our biggest business goals to date” and “experienced steady growth”.
They now also have been able to move to bigger premises in Derbyshire to house all their stock and production line.
One of the biggest things she’s proud of is the culture she’s created for her work staff - with one massive perk including “unlimited holidays”.
She shared: “We’ve experienced environments that didn’t prioritise people or wellbeing and we knew we wanted to do things differently at Letterbox Love.
“That’s why we’ve intentionally created a workplace that puts mental health, flexibility, and happiness first.
“It might sound controversial for a small business, but we now allow our team to bring their dogs to the office (because pet care is expensive and dogs are part of the family).
“We also have monthly back and neck massages with a qualified therapist, monthly ‘fuddles’ or breakfast to celebrate even the tiniest wins, unlimited holiday and fully flexible working and we do all this because mutual respect is everything.”
Their business success has enabled Kerry and Liam to completely renovate their house and turn it into their dream home.
She shared: “It has rolling views of the Derbyshire countryside which has always been a dream of ours.
“At the time, I think some of our family thought we were mad...quitting secure and successful jobs to chase a dream.
“To help fund the business, I sold my dream car. It sounds silly, but it broke my heart, that car meant so much to me.
“But I believed in Letterbox Love and told myself, ‘One day, I’ll buy it back when the business is thriving.’.
“And last year, that dream came true.
“I bought my car back, and honestly, there were tears.
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“It was never just about the car, it was a symbol of everything we’d sacrificed, worked for, and achieved.
“A full-circle moment I’ll never forget.”
