‘I returned to my old office to sell ties after being made redundant’
After early success with vineyards, Patrick Dudley-Williams branched with the reef Knots brand.
In late 2012, Patrick Dudley-Williams was three months away from being a director at Morgan Stanley (MS), and his twins gave birth to his twins when his wife was made unnecessary. A year later, he connects at a gift fair in his former employer’s canteen.
“When I told my wife to start a tie company, she looked at me in a strange way,” Men’s lifestyle brand Dudley-Williams Reef nodes.
Even though he has a job with “the most popular non -popular clothing of all time, he remembers meetings in ordinary offices and the ties that stand out of the names of people.
The colorful character clearly has come a long way, and consumers have more ties than the jeans in the wardrobe, formerly the former stock broker knew that the entrepreneur would operate in a competitive British market.
Read more: ‘Our success of £ 30 million stems from making mothers’ dinner look great’
Thus, Dudley-Williams stood behind a table in gift fairs for about three years to run the work.
“It helps that everything is not flat sailing, or he confesses. “When I first started, there was a step, you open your website and you hope that people will come and hope that everything will happen.
“This is a hyper competition industry, but people will always return to the person they know and get value for money and quality.”
Dudley-Willlams sold more than 50 ties and made £ 4 thousand for two days in one of the first gift fairs.
Production, unpredictable problems, Before moving on to the tie of the city of Como in Italy, the screen -printed silk handmade and reef nodes began before seeing.
When the Dudley-Williams collected courage to go to a pubda Hermès tie with a business card, the first website sales other than the family and friends came through human interaction. “He reminded me of their future if you tell people that, or he says. The next morning he bought three vineyards.
Eighteen months after starting and the desire to continue to sell after the Gift Fair season, Dudley-Williams met with a business partner who made socks after a pop-up store success in Putney.
Following Crowdfund, £ 20,000, the double Leadenhall found an old washing with bells at the door. While the office had a low roof, where it was the only option, online stock was held in the basement.
When Covid was shot, Reef Knot’s work came from 40% bond and 30% from the London shop. The next 70% income decrease was a “traumatic period, but it turned the reef knot’s pivot into a wider men’s clothing brand.
Read more: Meet the UK’s ‘King of Advertising Panels’, which sells its business for £ 1 billion.
“I noticed that the creative side should come out of a brain, and this is not the majority of my year, or he says. “This was a part of the learning process from scratch, the second degree through Youtube, packaging and Google (Google) ad.”
Despite the risk of a tie attempt from the city, he thought that the entrepreneurial family was engraved in the DNA and the institutional world would never be the last call.
20 years ago, while working in the finance, Dudley-Williams tried to buy reflected aviator sunglasses. Soon he won more than his monthly salary after finding a distributor in China and selling over ebay. Other sellers were locked soon and called one day.
The founder of Reef Knots turned the backup into an opportunity with the handmade printed silk bonds initiative.
“While working in the finance, I traveled to the USA and saw how the vineyards were branded differently, or he says. “In the UK, it was a symbol of corporate torment, inheritance and airless brand messaging. I felt that we could do something fresh and fun.”
In 2014, he partnership with the Blue Marine Foundation, where Dudley-Williams opened doors for the sustainability brand. With the early tie designs with fish and sailing boats, Prince Harry and Richard Branson’s likes are seen to support the brand, while swimming shorts are made using recycled ocean plastic.
Dudley-Williams, a board member at the UK Fashion and Textile Association for seven years, said that Risif Knots was sometimes accused of not being a British brand with lifestyle products made in Portugal.
Read more: ‘Why did we set up a sustainable mobile operator to make people money’
“People can get a little closer to the independents and notice their work for the economy in the UK,” he argues. “The truth is that we do not have the advanced manufacturing industry we need to make British business as much as we want.
“We always do the right things and we try to put the customer in the first place and I will put our product in front of almost everyone in terms of quality and manufacturing.”
Today, there is a store in Salcombe, a center in Chippenham, and a staff of six people in Salcombe. In 2015, approximately 350,000 £ revenues, the reef knots are currently seven figures.
The reef nodes produce sustainable -oriented fabrics.
“We run a simple ship, or he adds. “Sometimes I look at these businesses and I don’t know what these people are doing. We make products, we do our operations and marketing. If you have good people who have enthusiasm to learn, you can do a lot.”
12 years later, Dudley-Williams packaged a lot to survive and develop as an independent clothing company, a world far from having three children under three years of age and returning to his old office to sell ties to his former colleagues.
“I told myself that if that’s what I’m going to do to live, I said I wouldn’t be ashamed to go back, or he says.
“There were moments I asked if I did the right thing. But I should have been on it.”
Managing cash flow
We never surprised the traps. The investors we talked about are surprised at the level of detail in our cash flow numbers. It is a difficult game to manage with preliminary costs for clothing, stock and cash flow and is the number one thing to enlarge the return customer base.
Strengthen growth
I have spent three hours on our Google ad campaigns recently. I have used many agencies over the years, they all promised to convert water into wine, and none of them. There are some things I need to master as a founder to grow fastest, and it is an important part to understand what directs our growth.
Tell our story
For a long time on social media, we had models while walking slowly when their tops were closed. There is a place for a particular customer, but people want to know what’s behind the company. The best performance ads, ads I discuss our journey and difficulties. It was really valuable.
Consumer word
Our job is always to deliver for customers. We tell people that our refunds are processed within a week, but we make sure that it is done in a day. In this way, we always defeat customer expectations, and that is how they become loyal. After all, this is what we create as a job.
