Meet the co-founders of Peep Club
Peep Club is a natural solution for dry eyes featuring the innovative heated eye wand, which soothes, hydrates and smooths dry, tired eyes.
Peep Club is the brainchild of Nicola, an award-winning Optometrist, and Brand Strategist, Natasha - her school friend and patient.
What inspired you to launch your business and what is the end goal?
Like tens of millions of other women, we had suffered from dry eyes for years (a problem that disproportionately affects women due to hormonal changes like menopause, pregnancy, the pill but also affects screen-users!). After trying every treatment under the sun, we were constantly surprised to find just how low-tech and clunky the options out there were. We just didn’t feel seen by the industry. So we set out on a mission to fix it.
How do you set yourself apart from other businesses in your industry?
The eye health industry is very medical, clinical, complicated and cold. Our mission is to be a treat, not just a treatment, for dry eyes. We realised that there was a huge gap in the market for a chic, convenient solution that didn’t feel like a chore.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as an entrepreneur?
The biggest lesson we have learned is the importance of collaboration. We totally thrive off the joy of co-creation, making things happened as a team with a shared vision. Without people to bounce ideas off, inspire each other and hold us accountable, we don’t think we would get half the things done as we do.
What are your thoughts on failure?
Failure is a crucial part of learning and building a business. You can’t start your own company with a fear of failing, because along the way there is so much rejection and failure – it’s just part of the journey. We’re lucky enough to share the same attitude towards failure and try not to dwell on it – just take away learnings, pick ourselves up, try see the humour in the situation and move on.
Do you have a morning routine or ritual to get your day started on the right foot?
We have very different morning routines; Nicola is definitely a morning person, up normally at 5.30am with morning exercise, ideally outdoors in a park, and a wholesome breakfast whereas Tasha is definitely a night owl (she’s the one more likely to be up at 1am) so mornings are just some light stretching and a 3 minute headspace (and a quick Peep Club wand session, of course!) to start the day off with hydrated eyes and a clear head.
If you could be in a room with 4 entrepreneurs, who would they be and why?
We are both huge fans of LoveSeen lashes so would love to be in a room with Jenna Lyons, and when we first started Peep Club we were really inspired by an interview with Nancy Twine, the founder of Briogeo so would be amazing to actually meet her. Gwyneth Paltrow always marches to the beat of her own drum and we really respect that, it can’t have been easy carving out the path for goop – we’d love to hear her story. Finally, we would love to have the original entrepreneur who inspired so much of Peep Club, Nicola’s dad, a really innovative pioneer in the industry, the true inspiration for the company and the nicest man in optometry.
What are your top tips for entrepreneurs wanting to get their business out there?
Find a great partner, that you can truly trust and be vulnerable with. They are there to help you focus and will be there with you on the late nights and to have someone to share the highs with is special.
Make sure you’re looking at your industry with a unique perspective and voice; there is a lot of white noise out there so really hone in on what you’re bringing to the table.
Keep your overheads as low as possible for the first year, it allows you to be super flexible and adaptable which is your greatest strength as a start-up!
What plans do you have for your business over the next two years?
We are so excited about expanding our dry eye range later this year to include a new innovation for Dry Eyes that we really think will make a huge difference for other with eyes like ours! Beyond that, we are exploring tackling other common eye issues like allergies.
What’s the single most important decision that you made, that contributed to your business?
Natasha came up with our tag line; “A treat, not just a treatment for Dry Eyes” but this has turned into so much more than that – it is the north star that guides all of our strategy and product decisions and helps us determine what might be Peep Club worthy and what isn’t.
How did you fund the launch of your business and what creative strategies did you use to execute a minimal cash flow?
We both put in some savings to get Peep Club off the ground. We hadn’t planned to launch right just as the pandemic hit; so that was very unnerving and meant that we quickly had to switch our strategy from retail to direct to consumer. When we did get to launch, we didn’t have any budget for marketing so we really relied on building an organic word-of-mouth following.
One of the best decisions we made was partnering with some micro-influencers on platforms like Instagram – not only have they been incredibly loyal champions of Peep Club from day one but they’ve become our friends along the way! A huge part of our launch strategy was to have exceptional customer service; our customers talk to us all the time – they call us on our personal phones, direct message or email us and this was absolutely essential in creating early Peep Club fans. As a bonus, we learnt so much about how we could improve from speaking to our customers – everything from rewording copy on the packaging to influencing our product roadmap.
How did you conquer those moments of doubt that so often affect entrepreneurs or stop many with great ideas – what pushes you through?
Each other! We are so lucky in the partnership we bolster each other up. When one of us has doubts, the other is there to pull them through.
What’s the most important question entrepreneurs should be asking themselves?
Do I love this enough to do it after a long day’s work on a rainy Tuesday and do I have people around to help support me? Most of the entrepreneurship journey is extremely unglamourous – from packages ready, to tracing lost shipments and learning accounting 101. There have been occasions when we have literally had to sprint run packages across London to make sure they reach a customer in time for Mother’s Day when our logistics team couldn’t make it work or, in the early days, printing labels off a home printer that breaks down at midnight. It’s all worth it if you wouldn’t rather be anywhere else!
What would be your top marketing tip, to grow a business that is niche?
Have a super clear aesthetic and message that is woven into every part of your brand that a customer touches. Find you community, get on Instagram, search relevant hashtags and start chatting to people who might be interested. Talking directly to your customers gives you more insight than anything else.
Is word of mouth working to your advantage?
Totally! We have so many amazing loyal customers who are always spreading the word; an interesting trend we see is the amazing thing of mothers and daughters and sisters buying the product for each other which is so special.
What social media channel would you say has worked the best for your business and why?
Definitely Instagram, it has been an amazing place to build a community. To discover and interact with other small businesses, customers and other creators.
Any moments where you thought you’ve bitten off more than you can chew?
When we got our first piece of press coverage in a national newspaper we were so thrilled but then our phones went into meltdown over the number of orders and inquiries we were getting. So panic quickly set in! We ended up selling out in 24 hours (!) and there was a moment when we were worried we couldn’t pack and ship everything in time but a few late nights and some awesome support from friends and family meant we pulled it off!
What do you think gives a brand longevity?
Iconic brands are beloved because they know how to craft an emotional connection with their customers. Eyes are always in need of looking after and we believe that Peep Club’s approach of being a treat, not just a treatment will stand us in good stead to make all the forms of eye health accessible and enjoyable to people around the world.
