Celebrating women in business

Running a successful business takes drive, determination and plenty of hard work.

To celebrate International Women’s Day, we spoke to 4 entrepreneurs about what it took to set up and run their own companies.

Mandira Sarkar

Our first female entrepreneur is Mandira Sarkar, founder of Indian food business Mandira’s Kitchen in Surrey.

After teaching herself to cook the Indian food she missed so much after moving to the UK, she set up a supper club in 2016. ‘I started getting requests for catering and soon realised I needed to expand,’ she says. ‘I didn’t want a restaurant or catering business, so I started making freezer meals that I sold to friends and local farm shops.’

Word spread and soon Mandira’s home kitchen and garage freezer (plus those of her neighbours) were struggling to keep up with demand.

Discussions around expansion pointed her towards a 400-year-old cow shed in the Surrey Hills. ‘I was able to get funding to renovate the building,’ Mandira explains. ‘In May 2019, we opened our manufacturing kitchen and retail unit.’

Frances Cassell

Another woman who has successfully grown her business is Frances Cassell, director of marketing consultancy Octopus.

After taking maternity leave from a role as head of marketing for a firm in London, Frances decided that rather than return full-time, she’d set up her own business.

‘I’ve always had a desire to work, so when I heard about virtual assistants, I thought it would be perfect,’ she says. ‘While the kids were still at home, I could start out small, working around their sleep times. But when they went off to school, the business grew and I became more involved with marketing, as well as hiring other people to support me. To reflect the change in my business, I relaunched it as Octopus in 2016.’

Jessica and Louella Alderson

Also doing their own thing are sisters Jessica and Louella Alderson, who took advantage of the first lockdown in 2020 to turn their business idea (a dating app that matches people on personality) into reality.

‘We still had full-time jobs but lockdown gave us extra time in the evenings to develop our idea,’ Jessica explains. ‘We put together a personality test and worked on business plans for how to fund and market it. There was a lot to do and we’d often be up until the early hours.’

All the hard work paid off and their dating app, So Syncd, was launched in 2020. It now has more than 200,000 users and has successfully matched 1,800 couples.

‘One of our favourite moments was when the first couple emailed us to say they were getting married,’ says Louella. ‘They’d met through the app a month after we launched.’

Business challenges

Running your own business means you can face challenges you’d never come across as an employee.

For Frances, managing the flow of business and clients is probably the biggest challenge she’s encountered. ‘You have to be visible but you also adaptable,’ she says. ‘I started out ringing local businesses in the phone directory to get my first clients, but now around 80% of our work comes from referrals. You need to be able to adjust your services in line with demand.'

One of the biggest challenges for Jessica and Louella meanwhile was raising the funds to develop their app. ‘There’s still a huge bias, with only 1-2% of funding going to female-founded businesses,’ Jessica explains.

‘We had to use our contacts to open doors for us. Build your network fast and focus on getting introductions to investors rather than reaching out cold. It was really hard but there are some amazing women out there who can help with introductions.’

Benefits of being the boss

Although there are challenges in setting up your own businesses, it can be extremely rewarding. ‘I love the fact that I can do what I want to do,’ says Mandira.

She also loves the fact that she can change her business quickly, with her experience during the pandemic a good example. ‘In Covid times, I invested in the home delivery side by updating the website so we could deliver anywhere in the UK. A couple of weeks later, we sold more meals in a day than we had in the previous 9 months. It went crazy.’

The So Syncd sisters love running their own business too. ‘We gave up our jobs a year ago to focus on the business,’ says Louella. ‘It’s a constant learning experience and it’s amazing to see so many people find happiness. We also love working together. We support each other and as we’re sisters, we can be completely honest with each other.’

Expert tips

All 4 women are happy to share their tips to help others make the leap into business. ‘Network as much as you can,’ says Frances. ‘Tell everyone you can about what you do, as you never know who might be looking for the services you offer. I also went along to some networking events. It was completely outside my comfort zone but it generated lots of business.’

As well as spreading the word about your business, it’s also important to know when to bring in the experts. Jessica admits that they were a bit naive when they started out. ‘We were setting up a tech company without any background in technology,’ she says. ‘We quickly realised we needed to bring in expertise and we now have a team of 7 brilliant people who help us run the business. You can’t do everything yourself.’

Finally, Mandira says to trust your instincts. ‘If you’ve got an idea for a business, it’s really easy to keep putting it off. But you can start out small and grow as you gain confidence and time. Go for it – you’ll love it.’

Whether you’ve already set up your own business or are thinking of taking the plunge, Co-op Insurance can help. Visit our business insurance page to learn more and get a quote.