Meet the mum who left school with no GCSEs and started a multi-million pound company from her bedroom
Victoria Molyneux, 27, is the founder of online fashion brand Want That Trend and offers entrepreneurial Sun Mums her top tips for starting out
JUGGLING work with being a new mum is a tough call, but for founder Victoria Molyneux it's not just a job - it's a multi-million pound company.
The 27-year-old from Crowton, Cheshire, who left school without a single GCSE to her name, launched the popular online clothing business in April last year from her bedroom.
Having worked in a call centre selling advertising and social media, she decided to put her knowledge of these industries to good use.
She put her passion for fashion together with her £1,000 savings and set up Want That Trend, using Facebook as a platform to showcase her clothing designs by posting selfies of her wearing them online.
Now the company has nearly 1.25 million Facebook followers and last year had a turnover of £7 million.
Speaking to The Sun Online, Victoria admitted she had no idea it would take off like it has.
She said: "I don’t think I realise sometimes what I’ve done.
"People come up to you and say, ‘Oh what do you do?’ and I say, ‘I sell dresses, I design them’, and they’re like, ‘How do you sell them?’ and I say, ‘I just take a picture and put them online’.
"I think if I thought too much about it, it’d scare me!"
Having done childcare at college after leaving school without qualifications, Victoria decided she didn't want to work with children just as she was due to qualify as a nursery nurse.
She recalled: "My mum went mad, but then I got myself working in the big wide world and after going between jobs I started selling social media.
"And then I realised how good social media was and thought, ‘I want to sell dresses, I’ll do that instead!’
"I didn’t get one GCSE, I was that embarrassed I didn’t go to pick up my GCSE results from school.
"I used to get bullied a lot in school for the way I looked so I think I didn’t enjoy my childhood. That can knock your confidence and I didn’t like going in.
"But I think if you work hard and you have an idea you can always do well if you believe in it.
"All my family, they’ve all been to university, they’ve got degrees, and my uncle used to say to me, ‘What call centre are you working in now?’ But he doesn’t say that to me now."
Victoria said her business idea came about from her own struggle to find nice dresses in shops that fitted well without costing the earth.
She explained: "I’ve always loved clothes, I used to look on places like Coast but they were always between £120 and £180 - when you can only afford £20 it’s a bit disheartening!
"I’ve probably always dressed older than my age; I used to always love Karen Millen if there was a sale, or I’d drive to an outlet to try and find a bargain.
"I’m quite lucky, I am quite slim and stuff, but sometimes I don’t like my arms on display or I don’t like too much cleavage popping out, or near the belly area, and some of the stuff that’s more affordable just wouldn’t have sat right on me.
"I didn’t realise as much as I have now that there’s a massive market for it, but I found it hard to find stuff I liked.
"I’ve never really been one to wear things quite short or ‘booby’, and there’s a lack of it about, so I thought, I want to sell dresses."
Victoria admitted finding manufacturers willing to make her designs was trickier than she expected.
She said: "The frustrating thing I found when I went to the wholesalers is that the industry is run by men.
"When I used to go in on my own and ask if I could I give them ideas and designs to make, they’d say, ‘Your ideas won’t sell, this is what’s selling on the market’, which was all quite short and booby.
"I said, ‘That might sell but it’s not what I want or what I’d want to wear’.
"Eventually I bumped into a manufacturer, probably by luck, who listened to me. I told him what I wanted and within a week he was giving me samples of them."
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Victoria markets her dresses by taking selfies of herself wearing them in her bedroom as she believes it helps her customers get a more reliable impression of what the clothes are like.
She said: "I want it to look realistic online, there’s no photoshop involved.
"It’s not models, it’s just a normal girl taking a picture in her bedroom.
"People can relate to it, what you see is what you get. You’re not airbrushing the colours, I stand right up to the mirror so you can see it dead close.
"Sometimes online dresses look completely different because the photo's been taken from far away, or they’ve used a size eight model, or the colours don’t stand out with all the lightning."
Five months after starting up the business, Victoria gave birth to a baby girl called Isabella.
She admitted she's lucky she has her mum, nana and supportive partner Yan on hand to help out.
Victoria explained: "They've been great, because I’ve not really had a maternity.
"Three days after giving birth I was retaking all the selfies again so it was all back to normal! Straight back into action!"
Being a mum, she's keen for all her designs to be flattering on all women of different shapes and sizes.
She explained: "We’ve worked on sizes a lot, but the dresses do have a little stretch, because I know myself since having a baby I can convince myself that sometimes I’m a size 10 but probably I might be a size 12.
"So the material we use does have that little bit of give, because sometimes we can go up and down in size."
Victoria usually takes the photo from the neck down so people don't see her face.
She explained: "Being a mum, sometimes I’m so busy I literally just put a bit of foundation on my chin and a bit of lipstick, so I’ve probably got no make-up on!
"Plus if I did include my face the picture would be further out so you wouldn’t see the detail on the dress so much. And it means you can hide your double chin sometimes if you’re not in the mood!
"I’m just in the process of starting to do videos – I can’t dance to save my life so that’s quite interesting!"
Yan and Victoria had planned on getting married, but with the new baby and the company having taken off so dramatically the wedding is on hold for the time being.
She joked: "I’m not stressing myself out with another thing to plan!"
Want That Trend turned over £7 million in its first year and Victoria is already on track to achieve her goal of £10 million this year - in fact, she's a little bit ahead.
She also has a celebrity ambassador - Holly Hagan, from Geordie Shore - who has launched her own Want That Trend collection.
The company is also extending its range to include dresses up to size 30, but intend on keeping the price the same, unlike many other plus-size brands.
Victoria admitted: "I initially thought I’d sell maybe 30 dresses a week. But it’s given me enough to live!
"Never ever did I expect this to happen.
"It just goes to show, if you’ve got an idea, go with it and work hard."
Victoria's five tips to inspire mums looking to go into business
1. Believe in yourself
Nothing worth having comes easily and there will definitely be times where you will be tearing your hair out. If you maintain that confidence and self belief you can ride any storm. Whilst still pregnant and setting up the Want That Trend website and Facebook page, I had many wobbles and set backs, however, I pressed on and my passion for knowing that I really wanted to do this overrode any negative thoughts.
2. Talk to others in the industry
Before you dive in, it really helps to get advice and knowledge from others who have built a business. They will have first-hand experience of what works and what doesn't and will save you hours trying to work it all out yourself. I couldn't afford to waste any time and so their knowledge and experience was vital to me.
3. Enlist the help of close family and friends
Starting up your own business, of course, has its challenges. Beginning the business with a baby on the way is a whole different ball game and I couldn't have done it without the help of my close family and my amazing partner, Yan - they were my life line.
Not only are they valuable in childcare emergencies and last-minute meetings but they also offer the much needed advice on those tough days.
4. Do your maths
It's vital that you know your numbers in business. From the beginning, keep an eye on your expenses and outgoings.
Having a healthy turnover is fantastic but it's the profit that counts. Do your research and have a business plan. Money will make you worry no matter what so you will feel so much better if it's all in order.
You will have to work hard as well as juggling being a mother or prospective mother. But, trust me, it's all worth it once it starts to pay off.
5. Have passion for your business
I'm not going to lie, starting your own business is really tough. If I didn't have the love for fashion and clothing that I do then I would have given up a long time ago.
It was my drive and my passion for the industry which kept me going. Building a business takes away most of your free time, however, if you genuinely enjoy the industry it will feel more like a hobby than work.