Peach Blossom

Alyssa launched her business, Peach Blossom, in March 2015. She works at the business full-time and currently employs an assistant on a part-time basis.

Prior to starting her business Alyssa worked in a number of retail and office environments which gave her valuable customer service experience, team organisation skills and insight into how a small business runs and can grow from just an idea. Alyssa had always wanted to be involved with event planning and, having organised events in the past, she was seeking further work experience within the industry. Whilst doing research into the products for an event, she couldn’t find the style of products she would want to use. So she began looking for and making products which she would want to decorate a party with.

In her first year, Alyssa made sales of over £120,000 and now, with the help of a Start Up Loan, she plans to expand into a bricks and mortar space.

The biggest challenge Alyssa has had to overcome was her own fears of taking big steps within the business, whether it’s renting a premises or taking on an employee. When it came to securing a store location, Alyssa encountered a lot of competition and had to strike a balance between providing a good deal to the landlord and making sure she came out of the negotiations well too.