GETTING your business brand ‘pitch perfect’ can be an onerous task. But it is paying off for 28-year-old entrepreneur Shauna Gallagher who has secured a partnership with Not On The High Street (NOTHS) after a re-brand of her business and a nerve-wracking pitch to the online giant.

Entrepreneur magazine says that branding “is one of the most important aspects of any business … Simply put, your brand is your promise to your customer. It tells them what they can expect from your products and services, and it differentiates your offering from your competitors’.”
With that in mind, Shauna Gallagher decided that after eight years operating as ‘Nature’s Inspiration’ it was time for an overhaul of the business and its brand.

“I wanted to wholesale (sell her products in shops) so I started thinking about what needed to change,” said Shauna, from Irvinestown. “When I first started making my own skin products nine years ago, my packaging was new. Now there’s lots of artisan skin care providers popping up, and, while there’s room out there for everyone, I don’t want everyone’s pots and jars to be the same as mine – a glass jar with an aluminium lid,” she explained.

Along with her graphic designer, Shauna decided on a new name for her business, ‘The Natural Beauty Pot’. She sourced alternative packaging and moved to a new unit in Enniskillen’s Buttermarket, where she benefits from having a large shop window. All her products (cleanser, toner, moisturiser, lip balm, body scrub, bath salts, baby massage oils and makeup) are handmade using natural products. In a bid to tap into the potentially lucrative vegan market, Shauna is currently researching ways to replace the beeswax.

Her move to a larger unit in January last year has resulted in an increase in footfall and sales but, with the added shop space, Shauna decided to stock other hand made products from across Ireland: soaps from Sligo, pencil cases and make-up bags by Jane Hayden designs, soy candles from Newry and books from Lisburn.

Explaining why, she said: “Some people who come into the store don’t necessarily want a skin product. Also, we get a lot of tourists and they may not be able to take liquids in their hand luggage so it’s important to have a range of items in store to create different price points and to entice customers to take something away with them.”

The next part of her re-branding exercise was to try and boost her online sales. She had always sold through her own website but, because “everyone has their own website”, Shauna felt that an outlet such as NOTHS would be an ideal platform.

“I applied to Not On The High Street in the early days via their email application process and got a ‘No’. They don’t offer feedback,” said Shauna. “I applied again after my re-brand and got another ‘No’. It was very disheartening and I wished there was some way of knowing where I was going wrong.”

Another local business owner who sells on NOTHS told Shauna that the problem lay in the images of her products. “I was surprised that it could come down to the photography but they don’t get to feel or smell the product so they need high-end photos,” Shauna said.
Her next investment was in a photo shoot with local photographer Ciara Jones.

“When you see Ciara’s photos next to mine you realise that hers are more lush and high end; that’s what creates your impulse buy,” said Shauna.

“I still hadn’t re-applied and one evening as I was scrolling through Instagram I saw that Not On The High Street was having a Pitch Up in Edinburgh. It was a bit like fate,” Shauna explained.
She booked a flight to Edinburgh and showed up at a non-descript building on Infirmary Road with an iPad, a few products, and a memorised sales pitch. “I was so nervous. I went in and there were a number of circular tables with people chatting and drinking coffee. I was called to the table which was dealing with beauty and fashion,” Shauna explained. “The lady I had to pitch to was from Northern Ireland. I gave her my iPad so she could look through the photo gallery as I took out my products. I took her through my products and explained why I had decided to rebrand. I was only about three minutes in when she stopped me mid-sentence. She said she wanted to put my mind at rest because they were going to make me a partner. I was so delighted I didn’t know what to say next!”

Not On The High Street says it is home to more than 5,000 of the UK’s “best small creative businesses”. 

Reflecting on her presence on the site, Shauna said: “This could be a real game changer. I know from other people who sell on the site what an impact it can have. It’s definitely a move in the right direction.”
Shauna believes that being an entrepreneur is “a constant learning process”. She advised: “You have to be able to change and go with the flow – be stubborn about your goals but flexible with your methods.”