Sian Gabbidon is a British businesswoman, e-commerce brand owner, marketing agency co-founder and speaker. She also won series 14 of the BBC’s The Apprentice, taking home an incredible partnership with tycoon Lord Alan Sugar as her prize.
Sian launched SNME via Instagram while studying at university, and in partnership with Lord Sugar, it became a global loungewear brand with seven-figure retail partnerships including Walmart and Frasers.
Although Sian has enjoyed huge success with her multiple businesses, she had humble beginnings. As a young working-class woman from Leeds in the north of England, her journey is an inspiration to all generations, particularly young people for whom she regularly lectures, and says: I feel like I’m very close to them. »
Luck Covid
The pandemic has been a worrying time for entrepreneurs and many businesses have gone bankrupt, but those that have managed to adapt have been strengthened. SNME The Label was originally a swimwear brand. Although the conversation started about how to make the brand successful in the cooler seasons (the UK is famous for its rains and lack of hot weather), Covid-19 has caused the conversation to stop. ‘accelerated.
The UK imposed lockdown restrictions in March 2020 and Sian had to make a decision. There was nowhere for swimsuits to thrive; international travel stopped and even spas were closed.
The fact is, “It doesn’t matter who’s behind us and how much money is in the bank, if we don’t have any sales coming in, it doesn’t matter; we will sink. So I very quickly moved towards loungewear. It was like, okay, what is everyone wearing right now? What product can we also sell all year round? »
The move to loungewear propelled SNME The Label massively, and was a blessing in disguise “My mother would never have worn our swimsuits. It was reversible and meant for girls who were partying at the pool. My mom became my biggest loungewear ambassador – she always wore my tracksuits. It just opened us up to new audiences and markets, and it also made us more attractive to retail.
Retail Information
When nine million people watch the finale of a show you win, your brand grows. For Sian, this meant retailers were contacting her to stock SNME. Working with retailers like ASOS has been a fantastic opportunity for press and credibility, but it hasn’t come without its challenges.
However, the benefit of being in-store is that customers had the chance to see a product in real life, which helped build trust. Speaking on the matter, Sian said: “The fact that people can come into the store and feel the product and the quality has really helped us. We are on par with high-end luxury brands. But I didn’t want to charge people that price, I wanted people to buy things at a fair price but that lasted a long time.
For entrepreneurs aiming to get into retail, Sian offers an insight into her journey, bolstered by the fact that for her brand, online has always been a more effective way to sell.
“It’s amazing to be at retailers to get the recognition and partnership, but as a business it’s not always a necessity or an essential part of making that business successful. You have to look at your margins. Your margins are essential, much more than being connected to a retailer – depending on who you are, your product and your position in the market. Do you want to earn money? It’s not essential to be in retail, especially as a fashion brand. It depends on who you are trying to be and how you are trying to grow. I’m much more involved in direct-to-consumer than I am in retail.
Money Lessons
After an influencer post featuring SNME The Label clothing went viral, Sian realized that DM (direct message) sales on Instagram were no longer sustainable and she needed a website. Quotes ranged between £10,000 and £15,000, which was out of budget for what was then a small operation. Sian decided to invest in herself: “I took a £500 WordPress course and built a very basic website from the start. He did what he had to do. As I progressed, we moved to Shopify. Much simpler to use platform, great for selling products and very user friendly in the backend. If you don’t have anyone to manage it for you, you can manage it yourself with Shopify.
Entrepreneurship is a roller coaster and learning from mistakes is just as valuable as the big wins. Sian described one of her biggest wastes of money being an agency deal: “I had a PR agency for a while that focused on international outreach, when I think about it now, the company was not in a position at the time to have an international public relations agency. They should have said you weren’t ready for this yet. It was very expensive and I had to sign up for 6 months, so I was stuck. I can look back now and laugh, but at the time it was really frustrating. It builds you as a businessman or entrepreneur.
Cowboy Marketing
Burned by numerous negative agency experiences and armed with a first degree in fashion with marketing and production, Sian’s mission is to make digital marketing less shady. Anyone can call themselves an expert, offer a service and engage a client in a long-term contract. The agency she co-founded, Twenty Twenty Digital, provides high-quality e-commerce services in paid advertising, website design and creation, CRM, social media, SEO, content and much more.
As with many business ideas, Sian saw a problem and facilitated its solution: “I’ve always found it frustrating to work with agencies who offer you the absolute world and very rarely deliver on that promise. A very good friend and I teamed up because we had both run brands and understood the stress of agencies. We joined forces to build one that could do what it says, where we employ true experts in their field to truly help businesses reach their potential and succeed.
Leveraging Social Media
SNME The Label got its first breakthrough through Instagram, and we’ve previously covered how influencer marketing took the brand from a DM (direct message) sales business to an established online store. Further along the brand’s journey, popular British influencer Molly-Mae Hague was seen wearing the clothes.
Let’s explore how this collaboration came to be and how entrepreneurs are benefiting from influencer marketing like Sian has done in recent years: “You have to have a strategy, be consistent, be on trend and you have to track performance. When I first started, we tried to give gifts when possible. Molly-Mae was a perfect example. We got his collaboration fee schedule and I almost collapsed. But we eventually managed to gift her some of our loungewear and luckily she eventually wore a few items and tagged us on social media.
The landscape has changed further with the growing popularity of TikTok as another way for startup entrepreneurs to tap into markets without having to spend too much: “Influencers and content creators are everywhere. I talk about TikTok a lot because you can do a lot of things using trends and working in the creator marketplace without having to pay anything. It’s all commission-based, so it’s a win-win for all parties: if a post does well, everyone gets paid, which can be a really beneficial platform if you use it correctly.
See below for Sian’s online platforms;
Twenty twenty digital, SNME The Label And Personal website of Sian Gabbidon.