Small manufacturing brings big rewards

Despite the size of the industry, manufacturing doesn’t have to be large-scale – in fact the majority of northwest manufacturers employ less than 50 people – and most, far fewer than that. It means the doors are open for anyone with the right skills to set up on their own. But success takes more than knowledge.

Dorthe M Pratt, winner of the National Startups Business Award (2008), shares some thoughts about what it takes to succeed in business. She starts by suggesting: “An entrepreneur needs to be a strong-willed person who has the desire to succeed no matter what”. Having won the award just 12 months after setting up Sedburgh Soap she seems to take her own advice.

The key thing this Cumbrian innovator insists you need to start out in manufacturing is passion. “It doesn’t matter how much money you have,” smiles an infectious Dorthe. “What you need is bags of enthusiasm. If you aren’t passionate then, trust me, no-one else will be.”

A small business thinking big

“Armed with a great idea and relentless zeal, there was no reason why the smallest of production lines couldn’t be profitable.” Something Dorthe achieved, by adopting a bigger business attitude. “Although we are tiny it’s crucial that we have a good business model. We need to make sure we have the capacity needed to work in an efficient way, time and resources.”

Her business-like approach to workflow, productivity and marketing has seen Sedbergh grow fast, but there have been some hiccups on the way.

Like most small businesses, Dorthe was notoriously bad at paperwork and chasing money. “It’s the easiest way to go out of business,” she says, remembering how a backlog of invoices nearly sent the business into a back-spin. “We hadn’t invoiced for £15k at one stage!”

Unsurprisingly, Sedbergh didn’t have a huge turnover of cash and, consequently, couldn’t buy stock in bulk to reduce prices and improve profit margins. “I would have loved to get a better rate, but we needed to pay our bills. It meant the product cost more to make than it might – but, then again, one step at a time.”

Flexible business matters

Dorthe was also keen not to take on more orders than she could handle. “There are many advantages of starting small and staying that way. As a small business you are much more agile – for one thing the costs are lower.” Sedbergh has deliberately kept its overheads low and has the big advantage of not needing to lease its building, because it’s on Dorthe’s husband’s family farm.

Another advantage is there are less people to argue with. “I make decisions all the time. The only question I ask is ‘does it drive profit?’. If it doesn’t then the answers ‘no’.”

Perhaps the best part of being a small business is the personal touch: “I don’t have any background in retail or manufacturing but I always ask ‘how would I like to be treated?’ It’s so basic it’s painful. I know every one of wholesale customers personally. And can be more flexible compared to a conglomerate.”

“People think of manufacturing being really big,” reflects Dorthe. “That there are lots of people on a factory line, but it’s so different to that. Small doesn’t mean unimportant anymore.”


Did you know?
Dorthe was runner up in CN Group Business Awards 'Businesswoman of the Year 2008'.