How to build a fashion brand - Simon Brown, Joe Browns

Leeds Business Podcast

This week we speak to Simon Brown, founder of fashion and lifestyle brand, Joe Browns.

Simons tells us where the inspiration for the brand came from, shares with us the business ups and the personal downs of Covid, being told that he was unemployable, the three ‘i’s the brand lives by and a great checklist for starting your own business. Rasputin and Ivan the Terrible get name checks too.

INTRODUCING SIMON BROWN

Born in Leeds and raised in Bramhope. Simon Brown founded Joe Browns in 1998, inspired by a group of friends enjoying a beer in a beach bar called The Ty Coch Inn in Morfa Nefyn, North Wales

25+years later, he’s the proud founder of Joe Browns, the Leeds based fashion and homeware brand centred around creating remarkable product. The brand is on a mission to make people feel great while injecting as much individuality and colour into as many wardrobes and homes as possible. Simon lives by the motto ‘Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride’ words you’ll see in lights in our White Rose Shopping Centre store, which opened on 2nd December 2023.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

[00:01:00] Introducing Simon Brown and the route to Joe Browns

[00:08:00] The source and essence of Joe Browns

[00:11:20] The early days of the Joe Browns business

[00:16:00] Raising investment and a change in strategy

[00:20:00] Getting into third party catalogues and working with third parties

[00:27:00] Why expand into ‘bricks & mortar’ stores

[00:31:30] A trip to Russia…

[00:34:00] How was Covid for Joe Browns and Simon Brown

[00:39:00] Forward plan for Joe Browns

[00:42:00] How does it feel bringing in staff ‘above’ the founder?

[00:45:00] How to set up a business and what to consider

[00:50:00] The importance of being remarkable

KEY TAKEAWAYS & BUSINESS LEARNINGS

• The power of silence; first one to speak loses the deal

• Why borrow if you don’t have to borrow?

• The easy solution isn’t always the right solution

• Curiosity and creativity go hand-in-hand

• Never ever give up

• You have to understand the numbers

BEST MOMENTS

“When you stop enjoying something you have to move on

“We’re not putting you on the books, you’re unemployable”

“If we’d gone with that deal, we’d have been bankrupted

“I want my stores to be interesting, intriguing, inspiring”

VALUABLE RESOURCES FOR YOU

Website: www.leedsbusinesspodcast.com

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/leeds-business-podcast/

Website: https://www.joebrowns.co.uk/

Shout out: https://www.theheroesjourney.com/

Negotiate to Close - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Negotiate-Close-Make-Successful-Deals/dp/0002176289

Success is a choice - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Success-Choice-Make-Choices-Successful/dp/078523859X/

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YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

As mentioned by Simon;

https://leedsbusinesspodcast.com/podcast/christine-yorath/

https://leedsbusinesspodcast.com/podcast/jamie-peacock/

https://leedsbusinesspodcast.com/podcast/james-brown/

ABOUT YOUR HOST

Phil Fraser went from an accidental kitchen table start up, with no investment, all the way to multi-million pound sale to a PLC 18 years later. He’s travelled the full SME business journey of launch, growth, scale and exit.

As well as hosting the Leeds Business Podcast, Phil now works with ambitious SME-owners as a Business Sounding Board (think somewhere between Business Coach and Business Mentor). In simple terms, he’s ‘a pair of ears and an extra pair eyes’ for SME Owners helping them to be better at what they do. Phil’s mantra is It doesn’t need to be ‘lonely at the top’. He helps Business Owners to be better business owners, by helping with their clarity and focus.

As a Business Sounding Board, he gives SME Owners the time & space to regularly discuss their challenges and opportunities, with no sense of judgement or bias, and in complete confidence. This allows them to explore their options in full, culminating with a list of issues to address/clarify, a clear target in mind, a roadmap to success, and a renewed enthusiasm and confidence for the challenges ahead.

Phil has appeared as a guest on over 60 podcasts, webinars and interviews, from around the whole globe, talking on a variety of business subjects. You can view them all at https://philfraser.co.uk/watch-hear-phil/.

LEEDS BUSINESS PODCAST

Next, Jacamo, Cecil Gee, Freemans Grattan, Leeds, Leeds Business, Business in Leeds, Nous of Fraser, Business Sounding Board, Business Coach, Business Mentor,

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