5 March 2021|Latest Posts, Meet the Successful Founder
Room to Grow is one of the UK’s leading children’s bedroom specialists. Committed to providing furniture solutions for parents and inspiring, fabulously fun bedrooms for children, Room to Grow offers a beautiful collection of beds, furniture and accessories. Anne Davies, owner of Room to Grow, took the company online in 2012 and broadened the brand’s horizons outside of a little shop in Yorkshire to the whole of the UK. As a mother to a young daughter, Anne has never looked back, and nurtured the online business into what it is today.
What would you love to share to encourage other women to start their own business?
My number one piece of advice for female entrepreneurs would be – do to not let other people convince you either way. Listen to your gut. You know if you have a good idea, you know how hard you can work to make it happen, you know the risks and what you could lose but I believe the worst thing would be to look back on your life with regret. It’s important to believe in yourself, listen to others and learn. Soaking up knowledge about your market, your competitors and your customers is vital. Always strive to better yourself and your business.
I have learnt this myself over the years, looking back on my first day as the owner of Room to Grow my naivety was huge but my passion was greater. I thought I was prepared, ready and I had done the groundwork, but I only learnt by taking those steps forward and actually doing the job. There were people who told me not to take the risk. I had a young daughter and needed to care for her, but what I tried to explain to them was it was HER I was doing all of this for. I was more afraid of not doing it than doing it. I had weighed up what could go wrong and was more scared of not taking the risk than of failing.
What are your 5 top tips for entrepreneurial success?
1) Listen to others. You never know where great ideas can come from – your colleagues, friends, business advisors or your children.
2) Be honest. If you don’t know how to do something, ask! There is no shame in approaching someone more knowledgeable than yourself and nothing worse than trying to blag it.
3) Never ask someone to do something in your business you are not prepared to do yourself. Roll up your sleeves and get stuck in!
4) Learn from failure, it will make you more resilient.
5) Always prepare for change – it’s inevitable.
Who are the five women who inspire you the most?
1) Chrissie Rucker – The White Company
2) Dame Sharon White – John Lewis
3) Anita Roddick – The Body Shop
4) Holly Tucker – Not on the High Street
5) Whitney Wolfe Herd – Bumble
What is your favourite saying/inspirational quote?
The only constant in life (and business) is change.
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