I launched a classy £250k hen do company from my spare room with just £30 – now Olivia Buckland and Vicky Pattison are fans
Mum-of-two Danielle Kendall, 36, from Milton Keynes, also counts Strictly's Katya Jones among her famous fans
WITH the average British bride now tying the knot just shy of 31 years old, most of us are after more than willy straws and a few shots of tequila at our hen dos.
And it's this attitude mum-of-two Danielle Kendall decided to profit on, when she launched her own hen do company with £30 of spare cash - which is now worth £250,000.
The 36-year-old was on maternity leave after the birth of her daughter Harriet, now six, when pal Kirsty Hone asked her to organise her hen weekend.
Danielle, from Milton Keynes, threw herself into the plans but hated the "tacky" products she found online - so decided to create her own.
She didn't see herself as creative, having worked in IT for years, but knew her way around a computer and designed a range of classy badges and gift bags - which were a hit on the Bath break.
Danielle spoke exclusively to Fabulous Digital for #BOSSINGIT, our new series about ordinary women who have launched incredible businesses.
She said: "I threw myself into the plans because it was quite boring being a stay-at-home mum.
"I was looking for favours and gift bags and everything was just gross and garish. Flashing head boppers and tutus, really awful.
"She was in her early 30s and it was just not the sort of look she was going for."
Danielle turned her idea into a booming business by selling the leftovers on Etsy and reinvesting the profits - and decided not to go back to work after her year off.
Things really took off when Team Hen was listed on Not On The High Street (NOTHS) in 2015 - when the already busy mum was pregnant with son Edward, three.
It was utterly insane. We were working all night, every night, out of the spare room. Anyone who was around had to come in to help.
Danielle Kendall, 36
Danielle said: "We turned over more in the first week on NOTHS than we would in a month on Etsy - that was when I realised it was a proper job.
"I was working out of the spare room and at busy times we'd have to get the whole family involved.
"Black Friday 2015 was utterly insane. We were working all night, every night, anyone who was around had to come in to help.
"I had to take all my orders down to the Post Office to deliver them myself, which was crazy with two tiny children. I don’t know how I did it at the time, it was a bit mad."
With the handmade aspect of her products a big selling point, Danielle found herself working around the clock.
She said: "When my son was just a few weeks old, I’d be at soft play with a newborn and my three-year-old and a whole box of wish bracelet making stuff.
"They're really popular, but have to be handmade. Looking back now it’s ridiculous, I don’t know what I was thinking.
"When Edward was three months old my husband Aaron, 37, persuaded me to take on some staff.
"I'd never employed anyone, I had zero experience of running a business, so I looked on our local mums Facebook group.
"I was bowled over by the amount of responses, I got about 100 emails from other mums who couldn't go back to work because of childcare.
"That's how I've always found my staff. We've got three employees at the moment and they're all from Facebook."
Initially the business was more of a hobby, bringing in £500-a-month in sales, but this all changed with NOTHS.
The company turned over £55,000 in year one, £150,000 in year two, £180,000 in year three and is on-track to make £250,000 this year.
Team Hen also has a booming celeb client base.
Love Island's Olivia Buckland used their products for her Mykonos hen trip back in June - ahead of her wedding to Alex Bowen.
While Katya Jones stocked up before her best mate's party and Millie Mackintosh, Vicky Pattison and Lucy Watson are also fans.
The business is now run out of a 500 sq ft outbuilding in Danielle's back garden, with separate access for her employees, but it's a constant juggling act with motherhood.
Danielle said: "It’s not easy, my youngest is now three and he’s asthmatic so if he gets a cough nobody gets any sleep.
"It is tough, but I think you just get used to it. I’m able to take the kids to school and pick them up afterwards, so it works for our family.
"Me and my employees all have kids around the same age, so we cover for each other if a child is sick or something.
"My staff are hugely flexible, which just supports the way we work."
Team Hen pride themselves on producing classy products - so you won't find any flashing head boppers on their site.
Danielle said: "Our products are for modern brides, they're not flashing and garish and pink and tacky and over-the-top.
"They’re subtle favours and sashes that you’d be happy to be seen in as a bride. It’s tasteful, not tack.
"People get married a bit later these days, they might already have children so it's not just a night out down your local nightclub.
"It may be a weekend away, even abroad, it's a big deal.
"People spend quite a lot of money on their hen do and they want to enjoy it and look nice and not be wearing flashing pink head boppers with a sash round your leg at 3am.
"I've been on quite a few hen dos so I am our customer, I designed a lot of the stuff and it's all my vision."
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With her staff taking care of the handmade products, Danielle's free to focus on designing new ones to help grow the business further.
She said: "I love everything about it, it can be stressful but it’s always fun.
"It’s worlds apart from my old job. I was the whole only female in the whole IT department. It was a very corporate, big American company.
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"Although I loved it, it’s absolutely worlds apart. My colleagues think it’s hilarious that I now run a hen do company.
"I absolutely never thought I’d start my own business. I loved my job, but I quickly realised I couldn’t work effectively with kids.
"I thought being a stay-at-home mum for a while would be brilliant, like winning the Lottery, but it wasn’t for me. It wasn’t until I stopped working that I realised that."