I hated school so much nan gave me cash for my business – trolls doubted me, it’s worth £7.5m & I’ve bought mum a house
A 25-YEAR-OLD who launched a beauty business with just £530 that she borrowed from her Nana has told how it’s now set to make £7.5million this year.
After suffering with eczema, Chloe Walsh, from the Lake District turned to make-up as her saviour.
But the then make-up artist constantly found herself feeling disappointed when her clients would bring their own fake eyelashes – and that’s where Coco Cosmetics by Chloe was born.
Chloe had a lightbulb moment, and instead of ruining her client’s beautiful faces with eyelashes from Poundland, she would create her own.
In December, 2018, at the age of just 19, after investing £530 which she borrowed from her Nana, Coco Cosmetics by Chloe, a now premium beauty company and one of the fastest-growing beauty brands in the UK, was up and running.
Speaking exclusively to Fabulous for June’s Bossing It! Feature, Chloe explained: “I became a make-up artist because I had raging eczema. I couldn’t even smile or move my face, it was so sore. It was something that really affected my confidence.
“It got so bad to the point where I didn’t want to go to school and the only thing that could help me was make-up, so I started learning how to do it.
“I loved the confidence it gave me and I wanted to give other people that so I became a make-up artist and grew my clientele.
“Coco Cosmetics by Chloe then started because people would come for their make-up and it would get to putting the lashes on and they would come with Poundland lashes and they might ruin the look.
“So I remember thinking, ‘I would love to start my own business’ but I had no money. Especially when Covid hit, I had to get put on Universal Credit because obviously I couldn’t do anyone’s make-up.
“Luckily my Nana gave me £530 to start. Obviously I gave it back but that’s what started the journey, with just 100 pairs of lashes. And it was very local until TikTok.”
In the early days of the business, Chloe was working as a hot tub cleaner. Not enjoying the job, she found herself sneaking away during work hours to focus on her business, so was not surprised when she was “let go.”
She said: “I was a hot tub cleaner before the business blew up. I was there for a month and then they got rid of me.
“I was on a probation period and they basically turned around and said ‘I don’t think this is for you.’ I agreed with them because I hated it and it’s not what I wanted to do.
“I used to mope around and then even when I should’ve been working, I would be sneaking out to do my work for Coco. They caught onto that and got fed up with me.
“But looking back I’m glad they got rid of me because then I had loads of spare time and that’s when Coco properly launched. Christmas was just around the corner and I had no money, so I started making TikToks.”
I never thought it would be a massive business. I didn’t have a business background, so I thought ‘that won’t happen to me.’
But Chloe admitted that people would ridicule her for making TikTok videos and she also received a lot of doubt about the success of her business.
She added: “A lot of my friends would say that I was cringe for making TikToks and people locally would laugh and say ‘who does she think she is?’, stuff like that.
“I had mixed opinions when I started the company too – some people were a bit weird about it. A lot of people were like ‘oh, another business, it’ll probably fail’.
“But I stayed consistent and I think that shocked a lot of people. I think people thought I would give up. But if I really love doing something, I won’t give up.
“Then there was one video that blew up – it was me packing an order and overnight it got thousands of views and I got thousands of followers and ever since then it’s been getting bigger and bigger and then obviously the Marshmallow Sponge came out and that’s when it went a bit crazy.”
Two years after the business’ launch, the infamous Marshmallow Sponge was released, which quickly became a hit with beauty fanatics and influencers around the globe, including James Charles, Nikki Tutorials and Holly Boon.
I knew as soon as I saw the sample that it was going to be big.
Chloe continued: “We started off with a private label, but it was a different shape, different material and came in different packaging.
“To have your own product, you have to have a certain order quantity. I was only buying 100 sponges to begin with and I was saving my money because I knew it wanted to be different and I knew I wanted to invest into it.
“I wanted a really, really soft sponge. I said to my supplier, ‘I want it unbelievably soft, the softest material you’ve ever done a sponge with.’
“I went through loads of different samples and materials. I was about to give up – they all had that fuzzy, felt material that just wasn’t soft. And then an accidental sample came. They said it was really hard to do, but I said ‘no, you need to do these, these are incredible.’
“I knew as soon as I saw the sample that it was going to be big, because I’ve tried every single make-up sponge under the sun and all of them were average. But the Marshmallow Sponge isn’t just a sponge, the way it affects your make-up is so much better than any old sponge.
“As soon as I started doing videos showing the difference it makes, that’s when it started blowing up. We’re years down the line now and it’s just getting bigger and bigger.”
The young entrepreneur explained that she started the business with no experience and found herself working 14 hour days.
She revealed: “I never thought it would be a massive business. I didn’t have a business background, so I thought ‘that won’t happen to me.’ It all seemed very confusing to me at the start.
“I’m more of a night owl so I would wake up at 9am and then work all the way through until 3/4am in the morning, non-stop packing orders. I slept over on the floor of the office literally every night.
“The hours were crazy. My mum, who works for me now, worked full-time before she got made redundant and at the time would help at weekends and early in the morning before she went to work, but it was mainly me and then some friends would come and help.
“The business started off in my bedroom and then it moved to a spare room at a salon. But then that got too small, so we moved salons and I had another spare room, but that ended up being too small too, so then after that I got my first formal office, which again we grew out of way too quickly.”
Chloe explained that when the company would do a restock of their products, items would sell out rapidly.
The turnover of the company has grown tenfold since January 2021 and this year’s forecast is £7.5million.
She explained: “The demand was crazy. We would sell out every restock and the website would crash. We would make £10,000-£20,000 on a restock, which would happen every four months. We would have to triple our stock every time.
“There was always a two month wait for people to get the products, so the hype and demand was so high. We would get messages every day from people asking when the restock date would be and as soon as we announced the date, it would be crazy.
“I would order 10,000 sponges in every restock and then we would get 10,000 orders in a day.
“Now, we order around 100,000 sponges on every restock. I’ve got no room for them now.
“Recently I did a 50% sale. There’s a limit on TikTo sales and we were hitting the limit at 3am, every day, within three hours.
“TikTok has been massive for the business. It’s been great for forming a community. The average monthly sales are around £250,000 just from TikTok.
“I’m not money motivated, I haven’t come from money, but my accountant said that we did £2.4million last year and that was us always being out of stock. The turnover of the company has grown tenfold since January 2021 and this year’s forecast is £7.5million.”
But things haven’t always been easy for Chloe, as she opened up about making mistakes and struggling with a work/life balance.
I’m young, female and own a multi-million pound business and people still don’t take me seriously – that’s been hard.
She admitted: “Honestly, the biggest difficulty has been not really knowing that much about business and having to learn it, and knowing that you’ve got to make mistakes and just having to wait for them.
“Recently, I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but every single one has taught me a lesson and made me into a bigger person in the business world.
“I’ve been single for five/six years now. The stress of dating when I’m busy with work isn’t worth it. I don’t have the time for a man. I know where my priorities lie. I don’t want distractions and I feel like men are distracting.
“It’s been hard with friends too. Sometimes you don’t know what their intentions are or their agenda is. I can’t trust anyone now.
“I’ve had to learn everything along the way and to trust in myself.
“I’m young, female and own a multi-million pound business and people still don’t take me seriously – that’s been hard.”
Despite the huge success of the company, Chloe shared that lives on a minimum wage and is investing back into the brand. However, she did make two very large purchases recently.
She said: “I’m on the minimum wage because I want to reinvest into the brand.
“I get just over £1,000 a month. My whole life is my business. Personally, I don’t need money in my bank. I don’t buy myself handbags. It’s only really food I buy.
“But I did buy my mum’s house for her. She has rented it for 28 years and could never get a mortgage because she didn’t earn that much and my dad wasn’t around. But the landlord died and the family got in contact and said they were going to sell it.
“She means the world to me, so I bought that for her and I just bought her a new bathroom. I just bought my own house too.”
Chloe's five business tips
Be consistent. I posted on social media four times a day, religiously, even if I didn’t know what to post.
Believe in yourself. At the start you might think ‘that would never happen to me, you’ve got to be born into a rich family’, but I’m proof that that’s not always true. Don’t put yourself down.
Remember to take time for yourself. I ran myself down to the point where I was ridiculously ill, but there’s only so much you can take on as one person. Give yourself time to yourself and don’t feel guilty for taking time off.
Don’t be harsh on yourself when you fall out of routine. When you’re prioritising the business,, you might stop going to the gym or stop eating healthy because you’re so busy. Don’t take it out on yourself. It’s only temporary.
You’ve got to sacrifice a lot. There’ll be something you need to sacrifice, whether that be friends, family, relationships.
Although Chloe doesn’t splash the cash on luxuries, she said that it’s nice to not have to worry about counting pennies any more.
She said: “When I went to the petrol station, before my brand, I used to always have to check my bank account first. I would always have £10 or less in my account.
“I was skint all the time. I’d have to watch the meter to make sure it didn’t go over because I couldn’t afford it.
“It’s nice having the freedom of not having to worry so much. Obviously I still have worries, money can go as quick as it can come, but it’s not a case that I’m worrying about paying for my phone bill.”
In terms of the future of the brand, Chloe has big aspirations.
She noted: “I want to have a lot more product ranges and I want to support so many other people and charities.
“We recently raised £20,000 for The Azalia Foundation and I’m such an animal person so with my Bella Bronzer that’s coming out soon, a percentage of profits will go to animal shelters.
“I want to be as big as Charlotte Tilbury and Huda Beauty – they’re who I look up to.”
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