Yarwood-White BrideStyle

Seeking a New Owner for Yarwood-White

Some of you know that last year I took a difficult decision to step back from running Yarwood-White because of the demands of a young family and some ongoing issues with my health.

A few months on, I can now see that Yarwood-White still needs more love and attention than I will be able to give it over the next few years, so I have decided to look for a buyer for the company.

I know that somewhere out there is a bright, energetic individual who is wondering what their next challenge will be and would leap at the chance to be part of the happy, heady world of weddings.

So my mission now is to find the person to whom I can hand over the reins of my beloved business, a business that has brought me so much happiness over the last nine years.

If you would like to receive a copy of our Key Features of Sale document, please email me at discover@yarwood-white.com, and in the meantime, please indulge me while I revisit some of my favourite pics from over the years!

All set to go at the Designer Wedding Show 2011

Clare Yarwood-White (centre) with Ellie Sanderson and her photographer husband David Bostock, at the Bridal Buyer Awards in 2011.

Yummy Olly Murs wearing a bespoke Yarwood-White Poppy in 2009 (a career highlight?!)

The gorgeous Yarwood-White team at the Wedding Ideas Awards in 2009

Some amazing industry friends, L to R: Alexis Daly, hair and make-up artist; Clare Yarwood-White; Rachel Attwell, Luella's Boudoir; Freya Rose, shoe designer.

 

Creating a Craft Business - May Workshop Dates Announced

I am delighted to announce the dates for my next workshop "Creating a Craft Business - How to turn your hobby into a profitable business". This 2 day workshop will run on:

Thursday 24th and Friday 25th May 2012
Location: Cobham, Surrey

Who should attend?
If you have a passion for your craft or hobby, and dream of making your living from it one day, you should be there.

I have met so many talented artists, designers and crafts people, who are held back from becoming super sucessful by only a lack of business experience and a lack of confidence.  So, I have devised a 2 day workshop to share what I have learnt over the years, and hopefully provide the foundations to turn dreams into reality.

I have a whole bagfull of dos and don'ts to share, and lots of tips for getting to the top.

What does the workshop cover?
The course focuses on business planning and marketing, which are the key areas that many talented creatives fall down in.  We take a practical, informal approach with lots of discussions and exercises which means you will go home with written plans to get started on, and hopefully a new found confidence.

AGENDA

Day 1

09.15-09.30              Coffee and Welcome
09.30-10.00              Exercise: Introduce your craft
10.00-12.30              Business Planning: Managing your money, what should you charge?
12.30-13.00              Lunch
13.00-15.00              Business Planning: The market, competition, selling yourself
15.00-15.15              Coffee Break
15.30-16.30              Exercise: Get planning

Day 2

09.15-09.30              Coffee and Welcome
09.30-10.00              Group discussion: Overnight thoughts
10.00-12.30              Marketing: Building a brand, getting famous, relationship marketing
12.30-13.00              Lunch
13.00-15.00              Marketing: Websites, social media, advertising, exhibitions and promotions
15.00-15.15              Coffee Break
15.30-16.30              Exercise: Your USP

Cost: £230, or £195 for early birds (book by 9th May)

As the course is only a month away, don't delay in booking your place if you want 2012 to be the turning point for your business.  Book by 9th May and save £35 on your place, which makes good business sense by any standard!

Previous attendees have described the workshop as "really inspiring and creative", "fantastic, packed full of ideas and delivered very well", "filled in all the gaps for me", "I loved it!".

To reserve your place email Clare at discover@yarwood-white.com.  The class is kept small to maximise the benefit to you so places are limited.

Bride of the Month: Gemma

Gemma and Andrew tied the knot in September, with a quirky wedding style with lots of vintage touches.

Gemma came across her amazing feathered dress in O'Keefe in Esher, not the obvious place to look for a wedding dress, but it became the inspiration for a wedding that was anything but cookie-cutter!

Gemma and her bridesmaids carried fun button bouquets instead of flowers which set a light-hearted tone to the outfits.

The wedding took place at St Pauls church in East Molesey, and the reception was at Molesey Boat Club.

Gemma wore a vintage-style Modern Heirloom Side Tiara by Yarwood-White, which she bought from The Dress in Teddington at one of their fabulous accessory evenings.  Gemma and her mum spent the evening sipping champagne and browsing the beautiful handmade accessories.  She completed the look with simple pearl studs, pendant and bracelet, which allowed the dress and headdress to shine.

Thanks to Gemma for sharing her beautiful pictures with us and we wish her and Andrew a wonderful and very happy life together!

Photos (C) Edward (Ted) Palmer www.photoed.co.uk

Mentoring Auction in aid of Nema

Just wanted to let you all know that I have donated a 1 hour mentoring session for Mummy Mentoring Week, to raise money for Nema, a charity which helps women in rural Mozambique to educate and look after their families.

Bidding starts at only £10, so if you feel like you could do with some inspiration or motivation to get your business up a gear, it might be your chance to grab a bargain!  You can find out more and place a bid here: http://www.motivatingmum.co.uk/mentoring-mum/mummy-mentoring-month

Good luck!

More Rising Stars Turning Talent into Profit

I feel so lucky to have been able to work with four brilliant women last week.  My second Creating a Craft Business Workshop took place, and over two days we thrashed out all the thorny issues and overcame many of the hurdles that were stopping these talented crafts people moving forward with their businesses.

Joining me from left to right:

Kelly from www.cabbagewhitejewellery.co.uk, who designs really beautiful and simple silver and gold vermeil jewellery inspired by nature.  Check out her gorgeous little Love Bird earrings.

Maggie, an extremely talented artist whose uplifting illustrations adorn bespoke splashbacks in some of the most prestigious kitchens, but you or I can indulge with a charming mug or jug to own a piece of the magic. www.maggiemumford.com.

Abby, a qualified historian who is bringing her expertise to the wedding industry, by creating truly unique up-cycled antique and vintage headpieces.  I've seen many wedding headdress designers in my time in the business, and I really think Abby has something special.  One to watch at www.cherishedvintage.co.uk.

Finally, it was wonderful to welcome Julia onto the course, who with her fledgling gift business www.elephanttradingcompany.com was able to contribute a new perspective as a buyer of crafts to the group.

What all these businesses have in common is that their founders have worked tirelessly to get the businesses up and running.  They were all established and trading already, but now needed the tools and know how to grow into something bigger and more profitable.

On day one as usual we tackled finance and pricing, and were able to set some simple goals for each business to improve the way they manage and use their financial data.  Never forget, knowledge is power, and if you don't have financial data at your finger tips, you don't have the power to make effective changes in your business.

On day two we talked alot about the importance of branding and having a clear USP.  We were able to distill the work the women had done so far to create a set of brand values for each company, which makes it so much easier to have a clear point of difference and therefore to decide what to communicate in your marketing.

I'm really excited about the decisions that Kelly, Maggie, Abby and Julia have taken for their businesses, that are going to help push them ahead of their competition.  2012 is going to be a turning point, and I am going to be watching closely to see what these rising stars will be doing next.

Good luck girls!

I will be running this course again at the end of Jan/early February, so if you are interested in attending please email me on clare@yarwood-white.com and I will let you know the dates as soon as we have them confirmed.  You can see the full agenda for the course here.

The course takes place in Cobham, Surrey.

I'm Setting Goals for 2012

I have been thinking about goals a lot over the past month.

Having made the tough decision to take a break from running Yarwood-White last Autumn, I have had a few months to spend focusing on putting my children and my health first.  I am happy to report that I feel so much better, and with hindsight I can see it was the right thing to do.

But with the start of a new year, I have been thinking about what I want from the business and what I want for my personal life in 2012.  I think instead of making new year's resolutions (which often involve stopping or giving up something) we should all take some time in January to set goals for the year - what do we want to make happen this year? What achievements will we look back on in December to make us feel happy and proud?

On a personal level, I will be turning 40 later this year.  One of my goals is to plan (and save for) a special family holiday to celebrate, where we get to spend quality time together, just like in the adverts! In recent years holidays have taken a bit of a backseat because of business commitments, or using the excuse that the children are too young.  No more excuses!

On a business level, I have been working out how Yarwood-White will look this year, and what our customers can expect from us next (we can't stay in limbo forever!) There will be more about that in the near future, but suffice to say I have been setting some fresh new goals for Yarwood-White to aim for in 2012.

You might be reading my blog for a number of reasons and will have different priorities for goal setting: you are attending one of my craft workshops (where we will be setting your business goals for this year), you are recently married (then set some happiness goals for your first year as newlyweds!), or you may be planning a wedding (in which case you may want to set some financial goals or some health goals).

Whatever stage of life you are at, you will always benefit from looking to the future, and painting yourself a picture of what you would like it to look like.

I used to work with an American guy who was full of cheesy anecdotes, but was very inspirational. He used to say "If you don't have a goal, you can't score".  He may have pinched it from somewhere, but you can't argue with his logic.

Happy scoring!