Founder and managing director Mel Smith set up ‘Winter in Venice’ over nine years ago in her pursuit to capture the very essence of the human heart. “The ability to give wholeheartedly and love unconditionally is the true art of living,” she says. Smith discusses with Home Business Magazine the nature and success of a business rooted in the philosophy of spreading love and nurturing oneself and others.
HBM: What inspired you to start your business?
Smith: “I am 35 and I have worked almost twenty years of my life. I spent eleven of them learning that I can’t work for anyone else and nine years running my own business.
My journey stems from an insatiable appetite to use my abilities to make a difference, not just to pay the bills and carry an expensive handbag but to sit with a beggar in the cold streets of Bath and sip a cup of coffee and listen to their story.
I founded Winter in Venice In 2006, a brand of luxury gifts and toiletries with sixty pounds and a phone book. In its first year I turned over a million pounds. I began Winter in Venice, driven with a strong desire to make a difference through the work I do, and set about a chain of events that made a difference to all involved. From creating the designs, to hand finishing each product – over 2000 people benefit from the baby I lovingly created.”
HBM: What did you do prior?
Smith: “‘What haven’t I done’ is more the question. I have had varied interests in business, finance and child psychology. I have worked in telecoms, in insurance, property investment and general sales. At 21, I was involved heavily in strategic planning and corporate training for companies through a Norwegian NGO. I had absolutely no background in toiletries or Chemistry.”
HBM: How would you describe your business?
Smith: “Winter in Venice is a brand that is defined by the art of nurturing. It is founded on the ethos of creating avenues to nurture and be nurtured or feel nurtured and loved. Great emphasis is placed on the reusability of items so that the gift is a constant reminder of the person who gave it to you. None of the packaging gets thrown away. The packaging can be re-used thus creating a product that serves as constant reminders of the gift received and this plays a great role in triggering memories and feelings.
Winter in Venice is based on the concept of choosing to create a continuum and nostalgic reminders of loved ones, using scents, which trigger memories of days gone by affecting your senses in the most profound manner. This is why a great deal of care has gone into selecting the scents used in Winter in Venice. As I mentioned earlier, 10 years have gone by since I set up Winter in Venice, and today I’m proud to say we sell products to over 1200 retail stores in the UK and EU. We now supply some of the largest retailers in the world. Our products are also retailed in Australia, Japan, Mexico, Spain, Sweden, Algeria and even in Asaberjan.”
HBM: What were the steps you took and skills you possess to attain a high income level working from home?
Smith: “Five years ago we operated from a large office and warehousing unit which was the size of two football fields. Today the structure is much flatter and we have various offices dotted around the UK and an office in China. We have just started to set up a customer response centre in Sri Lanka. I can work from several offices but very often chose to work from the comfort of my home. My mother, a lawyer banker, had little choice in where she worked and this meant that I spent many afternoons sitting in a boardroom after school. It’s something I never wanted my family or children to endure. I never came home to a stereotypical mother stirring a pot of delicious lamb stew. Instead, I was picked up by and chauffeured around by a host of PA’s and nanny’s alike. So it was so important to me to create a lifestyle that gave me the ability to work from the nest and be a woman who was there to welcome her children from school. I know it sounds quite idealist and very few people have this opportunity. However, it is something I have always wanted: to be a wife and mother first before a business tycoon.”
HBM: What are some lessons you have learned through running a business?
Smith: “I learnt that trying to please everyone is definitely not the way to finding your truth. Go against the grain – just because you can. I embraced failure because it’s the only way you learn how to be a great entrepreneur and carve out a path most unique and lead with greater might and clarity. Failure gives you greater insight into how NOT to do things. Learning to trust your gut comes with making mistakes and having a catalogue of them to refer back to is essential. Unsurprisingly failure has a great part to play in this journey. To feel fulfilled you need to face what scares you the most.
I realized that the ability to carve your own path, which is different to the rest, takes enormous strength. The ability to stay focused and consistently confident in your beliefs when the world thinks otherwise takes determination. As a leader, I believe that you need to be a person first, then a boss. This involves creating a culture where you stand equally and shoulder to shoulder. As a leader, when you leave the ego behind and lead almost as a parent would in protecting and taking care of your team, you seldom go wrong.
If your start with a desire to make a difference and create good for not just yourself, then you are bound to succeed. It’s the universal laws that conspire to give you everything you desire.”
HBM: What do you consider your best business achievement?
Smith: “Having started the company with a phone book and my cat Tom sitting peacefully in my in-tray, Winter in Venice has certainly come along way. Today, we have offices in the UK and in China and soon Sri Lanka. We source components in China and work with over 300 component suppliers in China whilst we also manufacture in the UK. Our distribution centres are based in Wales and we are in the process of expanding our brand into lifestyle products that cover all items in your bed and bathroom. Ten years on, Winter in Venice has grown from strength to strength enabling me to use this platform to help the various charities associated with the brand.
The generosity of our company and the people who make this happen permeates into our products and how we run ‘Winter in Venice’. This is my biggest achievement. Whilst we ensure strict codes of conduct and good manufacturing practices we don’t all clamber in suites and have long board meetings. When you stop chasing profits and focus on making the experience ‘a good one’ then the profits come hand in hand with delivering great products and exceptional customer service. It’s why we enjoy over 90% repeat customer purchase. And if that wasn’t enough of an incentive, we get excited about finding ways to give it back to those who need the most comfort and support.
I am no longer hungry for fame and glory but I am on a different path to find a balance where success is defined not by the money you make but how you live your life to serve a greater purpose.”
HBM: What sets your company apart from the rest?
Smith: “This is a business where the people can work from home if they so choose to. We are globally set and run a 24-hour operation, thus we adhere to all good business practices. Corporate in stature but not corporate in culture – this has been my goal.
The well-being of the people who work in the company take precedence over making money, however, because of this money just flows. Customers like to work with us because our staff are effective and highly motivated. There is great merit in putting people first. No one has a job in our company – it’s a way of life. A lifestyle we have all chosen to lead where we work and play and live not just to do a job and run in the rat race but to create a different level of magic where we feel that each of us is performing to our fullest potential. I truly believe that Winter in Venice is a new age company and has broken the rule book.
We don’t have the large offices and fancy expensive corporate outfits/buildings that most companies do of our size. We spend that money doing so much more by making products more affordable and sharing the profits with our charities.” HBM
For more information about Winter in Venice, visit winterinvenice.co.uk/, and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
