From Kitchen Table to Scalable Business

Kate Bell founder of Zip Us In has moved her business from being a successful home grown cottage industry to one that exports across Europe today and which is sold in outlets throughout the high street. Kate literally did start up her business on her kitchen table enlisting the support of her mother and her neighbours to manufacture an expandable jacket that allows pregnant women and young Mums to keep themselves and their young ones warm inside. The idea grew from one she had when she was a young Mum herself pregnant for a second time and unable to fit her baby bump inside her own jacket. Having a marketing background gave her the confidence to develop the concept, and without needing a business plan or a bank loan, she and her Mum and friends made the jackets to order, the brand name soon spread by word of mouth from Mum to Mum. It wasn’t until she won a Boots Mumpreneurs award that she was able to scale up her business and redesign the business model and her company. She became a Barclays Entrepreneur award winner for the South and from there found herself on a course at the Cambridge Judge Entrepreneurship Centre which she says has been “phenomenal”. She outsources much of the work today and runs a small team but she still answers all the queries on Amazon herself which she says keeps her “in touch” with the Brand. Now Kate has ambitions to grow her company globally, there are, she says ”mums everywhere” and to think more about social responsibility. Kate key quote: “Very, very, helpful. I was very lucky to be given the Barclays Entrepreneur of the year award for the South last year. They introduced me to the programme at Cambridge Judge Business School. At first I was reluctant about taking the course as it meant full days outside of the business. That was a huge choice for me to make. I wondered if there was more to learn. That was very naïve. The course has been phenominal in terms of the connections I have made, the people I have met, and the information I have learnt. I really didn’t know how much more I had to learn until I picked up that information. I feel that the business has better direction, it is a more strategic approach to growth over the coming years. I felt a little bit like I was winging it, and that the business was growing without my control. The demand had created the business growth. I now feel that I am back in control of that and that the decisions I’m making are the right decisions because they have been analysed and they are strategic.” Find out more about the Entrepreneurship Centre > https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/entrepreneurship/ Find out more about Barclays Scale-Up programme > https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/execed/barclays/barclays-scale-up-uk-programme/ Find out more about the SME Growth Challenge > https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/entrepreneurship/programmes/sme-growth/