WHEN Tessa Reed had a brilliant idea for a business over dinner with her partner, she never expected it would become such a successful business.
But within a few months she has turned the idea into a £1,500-a-week side job, all from her own kitchen table.
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Tessa, 30, made a simple tahini dressing from scratch to serve with the roast chicken. It tasted so good she knew she had to put it in a jar.
And at that time her business was booming, All dressed upwas born.
Almost overnight, Tessa started experimenting with different flavour combinations in her London kitchen and asking her friends to try them out.
“I made little bottles and gave them to my friends when I went out to dinner with them,” she says.
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Once Tessa was happy with the flavors, she decided on the branding and made hundreds of bottles of dressing in her kitchen, selling them on Instagram.
“We sold about 350 bottles in about two weeks, purely through word of mouth and online orders,” she adds.
She then asked the people who had bought her pads to give detailed feedback on what they liked and didn’t like about the product. After people said it looked too ‘childish’, she decided to completely revamp the packaging.
When her sales started to grow, Tessa decided to outsource the production of the dressings, as she was still working full-time as a chef.
“It was very chaotic to organize everything, and I often worked late at night, early in the morning and on weekends,” she explains.
After finding a manufacturer, Tessa was able to scale her business and her products are now available in stores such as Wholefoods and Bayley and Sage.
Her dressings cost £5.99 and include tahini, lime and spicy harissa.
According to Tessa, the unique thing about All Dressed Up is that the brand profiles itself as the tastiest salad dressing on the market.
How to start your own business?
Dragon’s Den star Theo Paphitis revealed his tips for budding entrepreneurs:
- One of the biggest barriers that aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners face is a lack of self-confidence. You have to believe in your idea — and more than that, be the one to bore your friends to death with it.
- Never be afraid to make decisions. Once you have an idea, the confidence to make decisions is crucial to starting and maintaining a business.
- If you don’t take calculated risks, you’re standing still. If a decision turns out to be wrong, identify it quickly and act on it if you can. If you can’t, find someone else who can.
- It’s okay not to get it right the first time. My experience of making bad decisions has helped build my confidence and made me who I am today.
- Never underestimate the power of social media and remember that the internet is an equal opportunity for small businesses.
- Don’t forget to dream. A machine can’t do that!
She adds: “It’s quite an innovative range, incorporating a lot of trendy products.”
The owner says it was also important to her to make sure the dressings are healthy so they can enjoy them every day.
She explains: “Ironically, many salad dressings are quite bad for you.
“I wanted my dressings to taste good and be good for you, so they’re refined sugar-free and, as an added bonus, dairy-free and gluten-free.”
She added that her favorite creation so far is her Miso Sesame Dressing because it’s “super versatile.”
“I never thought this would be possible, it’s like a dream.”
Tessa
She says: “It’s something that I as a consumer would love to have in my fridge.
“I use it every day.”
All Dressed Up only officially launched in April this year and is already generating a turnover of £1,500 a week.
Tessa works about 20 hours a week on the company and combines this with her day job.
She hopes that in the future she can convert her profitable side job into a full-time job.
She says: “I never thought this would be possible, it’s like a dream.
“I hope this will become my permanent job, because I really enjoy doing it.”
Tessa offers advice to anyone considering starting their own side hustle: “I think if you really believe in your product, it will sell itself to some extent.
“But you have to persevere and not be afraid to make mistakes.
“Don’t give up at the first hurdle, because it’s going to be a rollercoaster.”
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