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Emma Wimhurst Interview

Emma Wimhurst Interview by Scott English

After selling her cosmetics company DIVA Cosmetics in 2000 – following several lucrative years with turnover peaking at £4 million by year four – Emma Wimhurst is now passing on her business knowledge through her second venture, EMpwr: Smart Mentoring. EMpwr helps people focus their energies on planning for success then achieving it, with training delivered in an upbeat, high-energy, empowering style.

I met with Emma at the Strand Palace Hotel in London. Emma is preparing to launch her new book BOOM in a few weeks' time. It is designed to inspire entrepreneurs with regards to different principles within their business. I met with Emma to talk about her successful ventures and also her 'raw' experiences in business...

Beat the Boss is a television show about to be broadcast on ITV. What's that all about then Emma?

It's a bit of fun really, which sees me working with two other entrepreneurs, Imran Hakim and Edmund Booth. We are given a product brief and have to develop our product and pitch it to the potential manufacturer. But three kids are given the same brief and also have to pitch in competition with us. The idea is for them to see if they can beat the entrepreneurs – and vice-versa! It's great fun. But I know I'm gonna look cool in the eyes of my kids forever!

Obviously DIVA, which you sold a few years back, was a fantastic concept and you launched it from scratch. Clearly there was a massive gap in the cosmetics market. What were you doing when you were suddenly inspired to launch DIVA?

Well, I always wanted to work by myself. My dad was an entrepreneur and my paternal grandmother, Beatrice Wimhurst, was an extremely successful entrepreneur in the 1920s. But I really did not know what I wanted to get involved in, so I worked for 10 years in marketing and manufacturing with a mixture of companies working in London and Bournemouth. I was thinking to myself: With all this experience that I have, what could I come up with to combine these two things? I was working in the pharmaceutical industry at the time and when the Spice Girls hit the music scene, they really ignited a new type of trend for ladies' cosmetics. I thought: Where do young girls buy these products? So I went to New Look and persuaded them to start stocking these types of products.

So how quickly did DIVA cosmetics grow once you got them into New Look? Looking at the first year of trading, your turnover was £1million+ and that was with just you working in the business?

Well, I supplied New Look with just funky nail polish to begin with and it was a roaring success. Stock went in on the Wednesday, was on display on the Friday and they were sold out on the Monday! And I had sent in 25,000 units! We then went on to hair make-up and when hair mascara was launched, New Look sold 100,000 units within eight weeks. Then Wallis spoke to me, which was a major fashion retailer outlet in the late 1990s, and they wanted 200,000, so I was then dealing with two major national retail chains.

When this was all happening, I had my first child. So I had to take on another person and that is when I established DIVA. Then within that first year, in 2000, we did a million quid! Now, bearing in mind that one unit was priced at 47p, we were shifting major amounts of units! And that was just me and my colleague Nikki – we were managing a huge volume. We then got Claire's Accessories too.

We then bought offices, which was a great investment, and then that was it – it just went on and on and on. Monsoon Accessorize, River Island, BHS, Mothercare... we just got bigger and bigger and bigger and we were just targeted at high street stores.

In 2003, I fell pregnant with my second child, Charlie, and that was it. I would sometimes be away for weeks and weeks from my children and I thought: I can't do this anymore. It was a rising market and I thought: I'm going to sell it. We were handling 15 million units with a turnover of £4 million and I knew it was time to sell. I wanted to be exactly where I want to be. Because I am extremely good with detail, and that is part of where my coaching comes in, we managed to pass due diligence within the space of six months.

Is it difficult to be a single mum and run a successful business?

Yes. Ultimately, yes. I don't think it's impossible, but I also don't think that it's the easiest thing to do. Especially if you're really passionate about what you do. And I don't think you should ever do anything half-hearted. Especially when you have your kid in nursery and you're the first one in the office in the morning and the last one out at night. It is difficult, but you can't be successful in life unless you give it your all. I wanted to be a great mum and have a very successful business.

To be a single mum and manage to run a successful business is no easy feat, and you have to have support. However, it did not hold me back, as William was my motivation in the first place for becoming successful; for being able to provide financial security for his future – that was my goal and my vision. It was my inner desire to do the best at what I can do. That's what I did with that business and what I am now doing with EMpwr.

What do you think it is that has made you a success?

I think it's my passion and my attitude. You have to have tenacity. I do a lot of talks to roomfuls of people who want to work for themselves, and you can sometimes tell who is going to be successful and who is not, normally by the determination of their character. To me, I have always been clearly detailed and I always know exactly what I want. You have to be determined to achieve it, and then go get it. And you do get obstacles and make mistakes, but it's about getting back up and what you do to overcome the obstacles. In the DIVA days, I think I just wanted to be the best – I was just never gonna stop, and once I achieved each step – like New Look, for example – I thought: Right, well, I can do that. So whats next? And you just keep going!

Okay, so out of everything you have done so far, what would you say has been your biggest achievement to date?

Well, that would be taking a business from absolutely nothing to £4 million in under four years. And managing it every step of the way while also having three children as a single mum.

So what's bigger would you say – getting to that revenue achievement or looking after your children being a single mum?

Pretty equal, I would say! Just don't ask me what's harder! wouldn't have felt completely fulfilled without having had children and I wouldn't have been fulfilled without creating a successful business. It's really important to me to be able to keep the balance.

What is EMpwr and how does it actually work?

EMpwr started off as a mentoring business. After DIVA and becoming financially secure, having my three children at home was not as rosy as I thought it would be. But I also knew I couldn't set something up and start again and build a company like DIVA from scratch because I wanted to be at home sometimes. People would ask me how I made DIVA what I did, and could not believe that this scruffy mother standing outside the school gates actually ran and sold a successful, high-profile cosmetics business. They would turn around to me and say: You must be having a laugh! So I explained it to them and then I realised that I could apply to other businesses what I did to DIVA. I thought: You know what? I actually can! And I really enjoy inspiring other people. So that's how EMpwr came about – and I love helping other businesses.

So let's talk about some 'raw' adversity then. What's the biggest challenge in business you think you've ever faced?

Running your own business is full of challenges. I think the difference is how big you let them become. I think a big challenge for me was when we would order stock from the Far East and the payment terms were that we had to pay 50% to place the order and then 50% when they shipped. The impact that would have on cash flow was massive – to pay 50% of the order cost in May and by the time it had been produced manufactured and sent on the boat, and then delivered into BHS, Claire's Accessories, or wherever, I might not get paid until November. That would take up all the cash. I would then have to go to the bank and it was a massive challenge to get them to fund my business for the next four or five months. But that is the type of pressure and risk you have to face being in business. That was extremely challenging. I also think that recruitment was a massive challenge, as this was my baby and it is very difficult to find the right people.

With the market the way it is at the moment, what would you say to give our readers one piece of advice?

Be very clear on what it is you want to achieve and plan, plan and plan. Also, at the moment, make sure there is a massive point of difference between you and your competitors. You need to have a reason right now for actually being in the marketplace for your customers. Make sure that the productthat you're looking to launch or run has a wow factor. At the moment, customers have a choice, so you have got to have a clear benefit and a reason for them to buy your product right now.

With special thanks to Emma for sparing the time to speak to us