The ‘Keeping mum’ Breakfast

Emma Draper owns Velvet, a mini department store in central Hove, that’s just seen its most successful year yet.

But this success hasn’t come overnight. Talking at our December Chamber Breakfast, Emma talked about the highs and lows of running your own business; their growth in the past seven years; and what the key to their success has been for her team. 

Change is scary

Although Velvet has just had its best year yet, Emma took us back to eight years ago, introducing us to Sad Emma. Her husband had just left, and her business was surviving – but not thriving. And it wasn’t making enough to pay the mortgage and look after the family home.

After one (maybe two, perhaps three…) glasses of wine and lots of reflection, Emma decided it was time to change the business. Working from the top down, she changed suppliers, repainted, retrained, and restructured.

She admits this was scary, but it’s what she had to do to get the business thriving. Slowly, it started to work. 

“If I can single parent three boys, then I can run this business”

Everything changed, but Emma kept the focus on the unique selling point of the business. When customers walk into her store, she wants them to go ‘oooo’. She wants people to feel loved, welcomed, and that they can afford to shop at Velvet.

Gradually, she turned from Sad Emma with an ‘okay’ business that turned over half a million pounds a year, to Confident Emma – running a thriving business that (in just two years) now turned over 1.5 million. 

Then, 2020 happened.

Their shop had never closed before, but in the face of yet another big challenge, Emma thought “If I can single parent three boys, then I can run this business”. They used support like furlough and continued to engage with their customers online – she says it was stressful, but better than homeschooling!

When restrictions eventually eased, the first day they opened their doors there was a queue around the block. They took more money that day than they had ever taken in a weekday. Emma was clear that this was because they’ve continued talking to and engaging with their customers, even though Velvet wasn’t open. And Velvet has continued on its path to success ever since. 

Emma’s three learnings from growing the business

So, what were the most important lessons Emma learnt during that journey? It was all about those incremental steps, chipping away day by day. Her three things to remember if you’re growing your own business: 

1. Surround yourself with good people

The team have grown because they have chosen people who care – they’re passionate about women, and 95% of their customers are women. The team want to make people feel happy. Emma says there’s a lot of talk about boobs and bums; holding babies and dogs while people try things on – ultimately, it’s about being a personal, independent store.

Building that culture in the store and their team has been a daily practice. But listening, caring about people and empowering them have been vital to their success. 

2. Resilience – it’s not A&E!

Running a business is often easier than what happens in your personal life. One of Emma’s children was life threateningly ill, and she thought once you’ve dealt with that, you can deal with anything.

If it goes wrong, who cares if it fails? A phrase she repeats to her staff often is: ‘It’s not A&E!’

3. Keep an eye on the vision

Emma says it’s been important to remember to look above the business – and remember the vision. It can be easy to get bogged down in the nitty gritty stuff and lose sight of your vision and purpose. 

And remember, it’s a journey

Sad Emma still comes up some days – but now she is Bigger Emma. She is growing her business, and her life outside of that as well. Emma’s been building a property portfolio, and asked herself why don’t women share successes like this? So, that’s what she’s doing.

She wants to inspire other women who have been in a similar situation – you’re always stronger than you think you are.

With a prompt from Emma, we finished off our last Chamber Breakfast of 2023 talking to each other about what’s going to make us stronger in 2024. From delegating, to doing the scary things, to saying no to stuff, it was a room full of ambition for the new year!

Emma has plans for Velvet to grow – but not ready to be revealed yet. Watch this space…

Emma Draper runs Velvet - find out more on their website here (or pop your head in to visit!) With big thanks to Emma for being our December Chamber Breakfast speaker. 

For more events to network, get inspired and meet like-minded business people, head over to our events calendar.

If you want to contribute to the Chamber blog, contact us on hannah@brightonchamber.co.uk