We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Suki Sabur a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Suki thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?
Success means something entirely different to every individual. Some people may measure success with their revenue, others may be focusing on their social media growth and be basing it on the number of Instagram followers, a blue tick, the number of daily sales or just wanting to be completely independent and live life on their own terms. While I do believe that everyone’s journey is unique, I do think there is some correlation between where each individual starts off and where they’re hoping to go whilst working towards their goals. I believe that it takes perseverance, evaluation and constant revaluation, strong intuition, a positive attitude and most importantly gratitude to be truly successful
We’re always working towards the next big thing and a lot of the time we forget to stop and just look around at the fact that we’ve already achieved so much. Something we may have wanted 1-2 years ago probably has manifested but we’re so focused on the next milestone that we’ve not stopped and celebrated the small wins.
Suki, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I’m a small business owner and I run my handmade business from my little studio space at home. I started around 6 years ago because I didn’t feel creatively challenged or fulfilled at any jobs I undertook after graduating with a degree in Fashion and Textiles. I felt like I had many creative skills that just weren’t sought after and I felt like they were just going to waste. I didn’t want to lose that creative energy so I started designing and making a range of gift items that I started off selling on Etsy. It’s taken a good few years to feel like I know what I’m about and figure out what my customers like. I now offer a range of sparkly handmade bags, accessories and home decor items. Each piece is handmade by myself which I think has been integral when it comes to the quality of my products. The other main reason I started is because I worked with a couple of fast fashion brands and saw a side to the creative/fashion industry that I didn’t think was okay. I decided early on that this wasn’t a career I wanted to pursue and in correlation I stopped buying from many fast fashion brands and instead decided to support other handmade or small businesses and individuals.
My products are all items that I love and use myself, which is so important to me. I do think you need to believe in your own products and be your own customer, because if you don’t then how do you expect anyone else to? My products such as the handmade resin geode coasters come in nearly 50 different colours. The reason I offer such a broad range is because I want my customer to find the perfect colour to match their home decor. I want my customers to be over the moon when they’ve found the exact item to complete a room in their house or the exact accessory to complete their outfit. I want my customer to feel as if they’ve found something they could only dream of in their head until they came across my brand.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
2020 was a difficult time for many of us and like so many other small business owner I know, I had to change a lot. My bestsellers had completely stopped selling. People were not going to buy sparkly bags for weddings or parties when there was nowhere to go. I knew I had to be innovative with a lot of the fabrics and supplies I had kept ready but now wasn’t using. I also had a lot of free time during lockdown so I decided to experiment and create products that my customers could use everyday and not just on a night out. I’ve always kept spare fabric scraps that I didn’t want going to landfill This was when I came up with making the reusable makeup wipes, which I feel is now the perfect complimentary item to the makeup bags.
Do you sell on your site, or do you use a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc?
I sell on my own website as well as Etsy, Not On The High Street and ASOS Marketplace. I think selling on platforms such as Etsy is great, especially when starting out. It’s a wonderful way to build your customer base who are already shopping on the platform, however I do think that as you grow you don’t want to entirely be relying on another platform. Once you’ve found loyal customers I think they’d be happy purchasing directly from your own website as you’ve already got a level of trust. You’ve also got to think about what’s more sustainable in the future as many platforms will be charging fees, is there a way to cut that out? I’m not saying you should rule out platforms when you start growing. To be honest I’ve continued to sell on all those platforms because I think they’re great for championing small business owners. Especially over the past few years, the support they’ve given is honestly so amazing. Everyone will feel differently and I just think you need to evaluate your own sales, profit margins etc and make your own decision. What’s right for one business may be completely different for another.
Contact Info:
- Website: sukisabur.co.uk
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sukisabur_designs/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SukiSaburDesigns
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suki-sabur-98934187/