Rags to riches or just sheer guts and determination?  I wonder what you think.  I believe it was sheer guts that drove this company through all the obstacles it had to overcome to reach the point of succes it has achieve now and are now looking forward to in the future with more success.

Following is an extract from the report …

Rags to Riches in the Clothing Business

“IT BEGAN as a one-man business, selling polo shirts at country shows.

But 17 years on, Harborough success-story Joules is celebrating its third appearance in The Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100 – a list of this country’s fastest growing businesses over the last three years.

The family-run business was ranked 82nd in this year’s list, published at the weekend, with a sales growth of 54 per cent a year – from £14.1m in 2007 to £51.2m in 2010.

The company has come a long way since chief executive officer Tom Joule began selling polo shirts at country shows in 1994.”

http://www.lutterworthmail.co.uk/news/business/clothing_firm_s_rags_to_riches_story_1_3320596

 

I was particularly interested in this acticle because of the date that the company started.  It started just a few short years after the last major recession and therefore had a good run of financial stablity for a few years, thus giving it a chance to survive.  At least until the farming disaster of 2001.  With that event, it surely belongs to the rags to riches category?

It appears, that no matter what business you go into, there are bound to be times when you think it would be best to jump ship before you sink with your business.  This is a story which survived and as such, always nice to read about.  The more rags to riches stories that we can find, the better, for the inspiration that it gives to up-and-coming companies.

Surviving through a recession is a major feat and when I look back at the last recession, all the designers of my time and at my level of business disappeared because of the financial restraints and also because of the change in the fashion trends back then.   It my case it was designer knitwear.  Seeing the return of designer knitwear in such a big way, during this recession almost tempted me to take out my knitting machines and start designing again.  Instead, I am now happy to see others get the opportunity that I had and am doing this in the form of education.

If you know anyone who wants to start a fashion business and export worldwide, from their kitchen table, please direct them to my  link on fashion business and who knows, maybe one day, they will be reported in the news as a rags to riches story in fashion.

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