Samantha and Margot have recently launched Curate Beauty - a digital beauty wholesale market place for indie brands. It’s a new and unique concept revolutionising the beauty retail industry and has been an incredible resource for indie beauty brands and small retailers during the Covid-19 outbreak.

SF: Curate Beauty was started by myself, an ex-beauty editor with over 12 years of experience within the industry, I take up the role of CEO. My partner Margot Vitale, our COO, has a background in luxury buying and merchandising as well as working as an Amazon growth specialist for luxury beauty brands. My industry knowledge and marketing experience paired with her logistic and analytical skills have proven to be the perfect complementary skill sets to get Curate Beauty off the ground.

What inspired you to launch your business and what is the end goal?

SF: I was working at Grazia as their Beauty Editor witnessing first hand the explosion of indie brands entering the scene. I spent a lot of time speaking to the brand founders and quickly discovered that a lot of them struggled to find great stockists. So I left Grazia and set out to bridge the gap between retailers and brands. I began consulting for different retailers looking to add a complementary beauty category for them and quickly realised there was such a great appetite for brands, boutiques, and even beauty salons, to add a beauty element. But many of them lacked expertise, time and money to do so. So as well as consulting I became a freelance beauty buyer for them. As the company grew and I took on more retailers and brands, I realised how inefficient and time intensive the wholesale process was. It was at this time I met Margot and together we wanted to come up with a digital solution to make beauty buying more accessible, manageable and cost-efficient. That’s when Curate Beauty was born!

How do you set yourself apart from other businesses in your industry?

MV: Because our concept is still fairly new to many businesses, we’ve placed a great focus on communicating our value proposition and helping our brands and retailers understand how they can best utilise our website. As we’re constantly in communication with our customers on both sides of the marketplace, we’ve taken advantage of that open dialogue and always ask for feedback on what features they want us to build, what brands they want to see on the site, and any way we can improve our service. We’re also committed to being completely transparent about our commission, policies, and processes, and to always put our customers first.

Keeping an eye on the numbers in any business is important. How do you ensure that you’re always up to date?

MV: Setting up a system! Putting everything on a schedule has been incredibly helpful so I know what needs to be analysed daily, weekly, or monthly. I think it’s also really important to plan ahead and collect data earlier than you think you might need to, it might seem insignificant but even small amounts of information are useful for future planning and tweaking strategy as you go.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as an entrepreneur?

SF: I think when you start out you have to have your hand on everything - marketing, sales, financials, legals, web design - and of course it’s impossible to be great at everything. So I think surrounding yourself with other individuals who can pick up where you lack is key. When I met Margot our skill sets were so polar opposite, she handles all of the tech, operations and finances, while I work on building the brand strategy, marketing and sales. It can be overwhelming at the start, but when you find the right people that complement you, it all becomes clear.

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With all the success stories around entrepreneurship and how innovative people have to be to take the leap. How do you think you’ve innovated your sector and why?

SF: The wholesale model is extremely antiquated and hasn’t had a makeover for a while. Wholesale marketplaces are great for creating a tradeshow-like environment in the digital world, and we are proud to currently be the UK’s only wholesale marketplace concentrating solely on indie beauty brands. Other wholesale marketplaces tend to be multi-category and may have beauty, they don’t have our insider expertise, or a real understanding of what retailers should be offering their customers. We’ve also partnered with a machine intelligence platform to ensure that the collections and brands we bring to our retailers are thriving. This point of difference is really key for us, validating every sale.

What are your thoughts on failure?

MV: Inevitable! I think resilience is the most important quality to have as an entrepreneur, but also as a person. So much of my personal and professional growth has come from failure, as it’s always made me take a step back, reevaluate, and get creative, whether that is in a challenge at work or a personal challenge. I think it’s also just an unavoidable part of life, something I’m prone to forget and come down too hard on myself.

Do you have a morning routine or ritual to get your day started on the right foot?

MV: Reading an article or two in bed, then two cups of jasmine green tea. I love sleeping in, but I’m most productive in the mornings so I usually get straight to work, and don’t do too much before jumping right in.

What are your top tips for entrepreneurs wanting to get their business out there?

SF: Firstly, do it! There is no ‘perfect time’ to take the leap but if you don’t do it sooner rather than later you could regret it. Having a great USP is key, and having extreme passion for what you want to achieve will definitely determine your success factor.

What plans do you have for Curate Beauty over the next two years?

MV: Everything we do is with the goal of helping independents thrive. Right now we are focused on streamlining the buying process mainly for UK based retailers, but in the next two years we plan to expand into other regions, as well as adding to our service and product offering. Getting to know these independent brands and retailers it’s become obvious how important community is for their brand values. We hope that creating one centralised community of independents where information and resources can be more easily shared will benefit everyone in acting on their values as well as increasing their sales.

How important is company culture and what is your top tip to get it right?

MV: Massively, and always exemplify the qualities you want to see in your workplace. Along with leading by example I think it’s important to be vocal and honest when things aren’t going as planned. It’s super important to me to cultivate an environment where people feel comfortable speaking up and sharing their ideas, issues, or concerns no matter the topic.

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Any new product launches we should know about?

SF: So many! We now have 100 brands on Curate Beauty and each of them is so special! A few that stand out to me are Nursem, a hand care brand that was launched by a nurse having let her hands go to shreds from constant hand washing (sound familiar?!). She’s developed a gentle hand wash, lotion and uber luxe TLC cream to revive hard working hands. I love the branding, the products are great but what’s even better is they donate a set of products to an NHS nurse or midwife for every one sold.

We also have a great Sexual Wellness category that has really opened up our eyes! We’ve got everything from sustainable condoms to organic cotton tampons, crystal sex toys and even skincare for down there.

And finally, our Conscious Beauty category is ever evolving, and we’ve got some brilliantly smart brands that are combining science with nature to create the next-gen of organic skincare, packaged in sustainable packaging and ensuring their carbon footprint is as low as possible.

What’s the single most important decision that you made that contributed to your business?

MV: We were selected to be a part of a startup accelerator program called Huckletree Alpha, which has made a huge impact on our business. So definitely applying for that. It’s helped us grow our network in the startup world, build a community of other beauty tech founders, and keep motivated, structured, and accountable during lockdown.

How did you fund the launch of your business and what creative strategies did you use to execute a minimal cash flow?

MV: We invested our own money, so budgets have obviously been very tight. For anything you are going to pay for, always get a few quotes, and if you know anyone who does what you need make sure to ask their thoughts on what a reasonable price would be. Also, always negotiate. Being a startup gives you some leverage and a lot of companies do have special startup rates. Also, if you do outsource tasks, make sure you understand what they’re doing, ask a lot of questions, because if you have to do it again, you might be able to just do it yourself for free.

How did you conquer those moments of doubt that so often affect entrepreneurs or stop many with great ideas – what pushes you through?

SF: My dad was a huge driving force for us starting this business. He mentored me and Margot as we started, and would give us the most invaluable advice. He unexpectedly and very suddenly passed away in October 2019, just before we were due to launch which was a huge shock. For me, it’s definitely given me fire in my belly to not fail, to not lose sight of our goals and always ensure we’re on track for success.

What would be your top marketing tip, to grow a business that is so niche, yet incredibly timeless?

SF: Building a great community is so key, and for us we have two sides of that to think about - our brands and our retailers. We value our brands so much, they are what makes Curate Beauty possible, and we’re constantly thinking of ways we can keep them engaged and enable them to feel part of a community. For our retailers we’ve tried to keep communications flowing through the outbreak of Covid and ensure they know we’re here for them and thinking of them, without pushing sales too much. Honesty and authenticity are key I think in today’s world, for any brand in any sector and that’s something we try to relay in all our communications.

Were you nervous at the outset?

MV: Of course! It’s a big commitment to start a company, both professionally and financially. But I did a lot of thinking through the pros and cons and it became overwhelmingly clear that even in the worst case scenario of the business, I would come out the other side so much more valuable to any other company or venture. I was also privileged enough to have the financial means to potentially lose that initial investment, so the risk was worth it. I am a fairly risk averse person generally though, so even though rationally it made sense to do and I did it, it was definitely nerve wracking to take the leap.

What do you think gives a brand longevity?

SF: I think being able to adapt to what is happening in the world, your sector and business is key. Being a new business we’re able to be as nimble as possible, providing our customers with exactly what they need, when they need it. When Covid broke out we created new categories for Self Care products, and we weren’t surprised to see that from March to April this category saw a 600% increase in clicks.