What I learned from my business failing and suffering depression
Nick Story, founder of Supplies For Candles and The Soap Kitchen shares his story about loss, failure, depression and the lessons he learned to start again and pursue his business vision.
“Turning Failure into Fearless!” What I learned….
29 year-old Nicky Story, from Mexborough, South Yorkshire, started his business from his garage just 5 years ago. He’s now the proud owner of a multi-million-pound business empire, employing over 100 people and serving over 60,000 customers. As the CEO of Supplies For Candles and The Soap Kitchen - online suppliers of candle and soap making ingredients to a growing craft industry, Nicky is at the helm of the largest online company in Europe within the industry and, as such, has helped thousands of others become successful entrepreneurs too.
However, business for Nicky has not been an overnight success. Here he shares his story about loss, failure, depression and the lessons he learned to start again and pursue his business vision.
Nicky said; “I graduated in 2012 and set up my first business, Soap Supplies, from my dad’s garage the same year. Four years in I was getting nowhere and I’d made relatively big losses. I had no idea about e-commerce or marketing and made tonnes of mistakes.”
After 4 years of struggling to make things work, and concerns about his deteriorating mental health, Nicky was prescribed anti-depressants. He took a job for a manufacturing company in Leeds and attempted to run his flagging business during evenings and over weekends. “It was one of the darkest periods of my life, “ says Nicky. “Everything felt so fragile and I was petrified of sinking back into depression.”
But for Nicky, his year in employment was just the experience he needed. “It taught me how ‘not to be.’ My boss wasn’t a great leader and lots of the staff were really unhappy. I remember looking at my boss one day and thinking, ‘ when I run my own company, – I’ll never act like you do or treat my staff like you do.’ Even after four years of failure, I knew I didn’t want to work for anybody else.”
So, with a renewed determination and salary savings of £10k in his pocket, Nicky decided to take another shot at running his own business. “I quit my job, bought some wax, glass and fragrance and set up ‘Supplies for Candles’ in February 2016.”
After six months, with more sales than he could handle, Nicky started to employ help. Everything Nicky learnt in the first 4 years of a failing business and within his year in industry, he has applied to his business today.
“It was so painful at the time,” Nicky remembers, “but those lessons were crucial in helping me reach my potential. My message to other entrepreneurs is keep going! Business can be tough, but it can also be incredible. I lost £3K in 4 years with my first business but I made £11 million+ in 4 years with my second!”
Five years on, Nicky’s one plus one, garage-based start-up is now a multi-million pound business empire which continues to rapidly grow. Nicky is on a mission to share his journey and expertise to give others a helping hand.
“When I set up Supplies For Candles, it was evident that there wasn’t a lot of information out there which I felt I could make use of. This is the reason I want to share my lessons and know-how. I want to give others the tools to grow their own business and write their own success story.”
Nicky’s 5 Top tips for turning business failure around (and protecting your mental health in the process!)
Understand yourself and your market. Nicky said; “The market I went into initially wasn’t big enough and that’s why it didn’t make money… and I wasn’t in the right place myself either. That year in employment really helped me to see the kind of entrepreneur I wanted to be and why it was so important to me. We often forget about the ‘why’ in pursuit of the ‘what’ and for me, it’s not just about being successful, but bringing other people with me.”
Surround yourself with skilled people. “I’m clearly not brilliant at everything, but I’ve learned through experience that I don’t have to be. Instead I surround myself with people who have the right skillset and love what they do…. and that only comes with time. You have to give yourself time to grow your network.”
Turn your failure into ‘fearless.’ “One of the biggest lessons, second time around, was having the resilience and confidence to just go for it. I’d lost everything once already and decided it was time to use my learning and take some risks. For me this meant investing all my money into marketing to make Supplies for Candles work – I really drained it down to my last £1! Previously, I had played really safe. I was so scared of failing I was really conservative – but continued to fail anyway... this time I risked it all in order to gain.”
Have the right people in your corner! “I believe anyone is capable of achieving their dreams....but, it helps to have someone in your corner who has learnt a few of the hard lessons! Find yourself a mentor and also know your cheerleaders!”
Don’t be intimidated by failure! “I’ve come to understand that failure is a part of the learning journey, “ says Nicky, “and at the same time I want people to learn from my mistakes. They don’t have to go ahead and make the same ones. But I’m no longer intimidated and I don’t have to be perfect - noone and nothing ever is.”
