Luke Pearce: Radical Tea Towels in American Homes

An episode of the Moving to the United States podcast, hosted by Soho Podcasts, titled "Luke Pearce: Radical Tea Towels in American Homes" was published on November 25, 2019 and runs 28 minutes.

November 25, 2019 ·28m · Moving to the United States

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Summary

Today we meet with Luke Pearce, the co-founder of Radical Tea Towel, a company that makes political and social statements for the home. He talks with us about how his company came into fruition and how it operates now. Keeping the manufacturing process in England, keeping quality control high and being part of a niche market made the company very successful. And after having tea towel success in England, Luke decided to bring the company across to do business in America too. With a different continent come different challenges, and Luke was surprised to find out he even had to explain what a tea towel was to a lot of Americans. But each problem he overcame and here, he tells us exactly how. He also shares some solid advice for anyone who’s thinking of making the move across the pond... ”Other people’s problems represent great business solutions. This is where business can step in and help people out.” - Luke Pearce Time Stamps: 00:32 - What Radical Tea Towels are. 01:19 - Where the idea for Radical Tea Towels came from. 03:18 - The importance of having a niche product. 04:18 - How successful Radical Tea Towels are. 04:56 - Local manufacturing and importing materials. 06:24 - Why Luke moved to America, and what made it both easy and hard. 10:32 - How the logistics change when selling products in America. 12:34 - The beliefs behind Lukes company and the different politics in America. 16:25 - Where Luke sells (and doesn’t sell) his product and why. 19:58 - Who Luke’s customer demographic is. 22:06 - Lukes advice for people thinking of moving their business to America. 23:45 - How to not get overwhelmed by America’s different complex policies. 24:46 - The benefits of operating in Philadelphia. 25:58 - Networking in the US. 27:18 - The initial feedback Luke received about his tea towels. Resources: https://radicalteatowel.co.uk www.mtbonnell.com Podcast Transcript Connect with Luke Pearce: LinkedIn Email us at - [email protected] Twitter - @mtbonnell Connect with Sebastian Sauerborn: Website

Episode Description

Keeping the manufacturing process in England, keeping quality control high and being part of a niche market made the company very successful. And after having tea towel success in England, Luke decided to bring the company across to do business in America too.

With a different continent come different challenges, and Luke was surprised to find out he even had to explain what a tea towel was to a lot of Americans. But each problem he overcame and here, he tells us exactly how.

He also shares some solid advice for anyone who’s thinking of making the move across the pond...

”Other people’s problems represent great business solutions. This is where business can step in and help people out.” - Luke Pearce

Time Stamps:

00:32 - What Radical Tea Towels are.
01:19 - Where the idea for Radical Tea Towels came from.
03:18 - The importance of having a niche product.
04:18 - How successful Radical Tea Towels are.
04:56 - Local manufacturing and importing materials.
06:24 - Why Luke moved to America, and what made it both easy and hard.
10:32 - How the logistics change when selling products in America.
12:34 - The beliefs behind Lukes company and the different politics in America.
16:25 - Where Luke sells (and doesn’t sell) his product and why.
19:58 - Who Luke’s customer demographic is.
22:06 - Lukes advice for people thinking of moving their business to America.
23:45 - How to not get overwhelmed by America’s different complex policies.
24:46 - The benefits of operating in Philadelphia.
25:58 - Networking in the US.
27:18 - The initial feedback Luke received about his tea towels.