Fairytale rise to success takes hard work and determination

Twenty seven year old Linda Beacom’s fairytale rise to success began two years ago and has required determination, hard work and a passion for business.

“I’ve always wanted to open my own business,” comments Linda, who opened Serendipity on Fivemiletown’s Main Street in 2012. Her mother of the bride shop soon followed, with Queen Bee opening last September.

“When I first envisaged Serendipity Bridal Boutique, I wanted to design a space, not only to be a bridal boutique, but to revolutionise bridal shopping and bringing it bang up to date, enabling brides to have creative couture available to them, in a calm and modern environment,” she explains.

It was the disappointing experience of buying her own wedding dress that sparked the business idea. “Bridal stores should make sure that every bride goes out happy; I never felt that the shop I went to cared about me. I had a bad experience and there wasn’t much in this area when I was looking for a dress. That made me decide that this could be done better. I saw an opening in the market and began to attend trade shows and think seriously about opening my own store.” Originally from Derrylin, Linda (nee Wilson) attended Lisnaskea High School before taking up a degree in Retail at Loughry College. “I quickly became bored and wanted to get out into the world of work,” she explains. “I left the degree and began working in McDaid’s Centra in Derrylin. I became manager of that store when I was 18 until I was 25 and I don’t believe that if I’d finished my degree I’d have learned as much as I did in McDaid’s. I learned key skills such as staff management, management accounting, cash flow analysis; it’s very important in a new business to keep on top of that.” Marrying a Fivemiletown farmer in 2011 meant relocating to the Clogher Valley. After toying with her business idea for two years, Linda decided to “be brave and jump in.” She approached the bank which was supportive of her venture, despite the recession.

“All my savings went into the business. I rented the premises for Serendipity but I put £30,000 into totally refurbishing it and modernising the store before I opened. The bank was encouraging because it’s such a niche market and there was very little like it in the area. Once I had the finance sorted I could place orders and get the premises sorted,” Linda recalls.

Fivemiletown is the prefect fit for her store because “it’s opposite the Valley which means the store frontage is good; people sit in the Valley and look across at the store. That will lead to word of mouth advertising.” In addition, “girls will travel to buy their wedding dress” and “lots of brides from up north get married in the Lough Erne Resort, the Killyhevlin and the Manor which we are close to.” Linda also notes that Fivemiletown is only around 60 minutes from Belfast, and 30-45 minutes from Monaghan and Cavan. Rents and rates are “considerably lower” than Enniskillen or Omagh and she was told by a local estate agent that “more traffic passes through Fivemiletown each day than Enniskillen.” Her customers mainly come from the Republic of Ireland and Belfast. Last week she sold a dress to a bride from Fivemiletown who commented on the novelty of buying her wedding dress in her home town.

Dresses come from all over the world, with Linda regularly attending trade shows in Britain and Spain. This year she hopes to place some orders at a New York trade show.

“As girls try on, you get a feel for what they’re looking for,” Linda comments. “Lace is still prominent but because many girls have friends who are getting married at the same time, they want something different. Satin, Mikado and 1940s beaded Gatsby wedding dresses are popular at the moment.

“In the future there’s going to be a twist towards the classic Audrey Hepburn style dresses,” Linda predicts.

When the owners of the fashion store next door (which had previously belonged to Joan Boyd) wanted to retire, they approached Linda. “I thought it would be ideal to sell mother of the bride alongside the bridal. I was constantly being asked by the mums why I wasn’t doing clothes for them too!” Linda recounts.

“Once again there was an opening there, so I bought the building and spent around £20,000 modernising it before opening Queen Bee in September 2014.” The latest venture “is going really well; it’s rocketed altogether”. Two weeks ago Linda had to order in new stock mid-season which, she says, is unusual.

With two full-time and one part-time members of staff, Linda has plans for expansion of her store and the bridal range. However she will stay put, stating: “I am happy to stay in Fivemiletown; it’s a great wee town to be in.” The highlight for the young businesswoman is travelling to the trade shows and “waiting to see the new collections.” “Last weekend I was in Alicante, two weeks ago I was in Barcelona and two weeks before that I was in London placing orders for our Spring/Summer 2016 collection which should arrive here in January.” Her advice to budding entrepreneurs is: “Good customer service is vital; get on top of social media; try to bond with your customers; be prepared to work long hours and have good staff.” On being a woman in business she comments: “It is hard to juggle home life with business, if children came along things would have to change.

“I am proud of what I’ve achieved; never in a million years did I think I’d have done as well as I have.”