Entrepreneur John Darling relocated home lately when his next-door neighbor asked what he provided for a living. “It turns out that he sat on a Darlings of Chelsea sofa, so that was quite amusing,” grins Darling.
Given that his semi-eponymous developer couch and bed company has actually generated ₤ 140m in turn over because releasing in 2005– commemorating its 20th wedding anniversary this month– there is a likelihood one more neighbor can be in ownership of one as well.
Entrepreneurial spirit has actually been engraved in Darling’s DNA because maturing on a family members ranch inNorth Yorkshire “I bought an incubator, hatched out 20 duck eggs and started selling ducklings,” he remembers. “I also had 20 lambs at one point in the field and so I’ve always been dabbling.”
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After finishing from Newcastle University he transferred to London in 2000 and began benefit now-defunct internet search engine Excite, after that as an associate supervisor for Debenhams, prior to releasing his initial abroad home company.
Three years later on, he got a couch for his level after a display room browse through and, 6 months on, was still awaiting it to get here. “They told me it was on the ship from China and to be patient. It just got me thinking, ‘why is this just not made in the UK and shipped quickly?’”
Darling researched suppliers and manufacturers, one in Manchester he still works with today, and then started selling online.
“I had a small office, put a few sofas in and called it a showroom, but really it was only an office big enough for three sofas,” he claims. “People started turning up wanting to view and sit on them, so pretty quickly I had to get a proper showroom on a high street.
“It was popular from the start because I imagined other people had the same problem waiting for furniture that was coming from China and far-off places.”
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Darlings of Chelsea’s first shop was on Fulham High Street, while there are now branches in Surrey, Hertford and Birmingham. The business turned over £70,000 in the first month of trading and accrued close to £1m in its first year.
Despite the initial uptick, Darling says being a sole founder was “a big learning curve” as he juggled sales, accounting, marketing and deliveries. “I’ve put my life and soul into building Darlings of Chelsea and played every role along the way,” he admits.
It took Darling around 15 years to exit the operations side when he employed a COO for the first time, the business having already become a success online thanks to the founder’s digital advertising acumen from his days at Excite.
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