8 years on, notonthehighstreet.com is thriving.
Started by Holly Tucker and Sophie Cornish, the marketplace empowers SMEs to sell their products like never before.
It puts small shops in touch with shoppers in one place, giving everyone the opportunity to be seen.
We sat down with Holly Tucker at Richard Branson’s Pitch2Rich competition to discuss the businesses success.
It’s about the brand
Tucker believes that the brands that succeed will be those that have successfully built up a brand that means something to its clients or users.
Great that you’ve got a platform, great that you’ve got everything sorted.
But when the chips are down and you have competition, you have to have more than your platform.
Tucker explained that notonthehighstreet.com are supporting small British businesses and it is for the reason that many people connect with the brand.
Core mission
She also believes it is crucial to stay true to the core beliefs of a business.
Write down what your core mission is and remind yourself what it is when you have to make big decisions.
Discussing food startup Hubbub and its similarities to her marketplace, she thinks that people are now going back to tradition.
People like to have heritage and the discussion is now about how technology and those new demands mix.