Shirley Jaffrey

My story began a number of years before I started this business.

My partner and I took over an existing business - Residential Care Home on the Isle of Skye around ten years ago. We naively were partly duped by the previous owner the local GP and from circumstances affecting all local health authorities at that time.

After two years we had to declare ourselves bankrupt having had a ten year lease on the building and lost our properties in Aberdeen that we had set up as rentals.

Having virtually lost everything we moved back down towards Aberdeen settling in a small fishing village, Findochty on the Moray Coast. We had two daughters then aged 8 and 10. We rented a house - we were on housing benefit and income support.

For a few years we stayed in Findochty and I went back to college and trained as an Aromatherapist and took massage and reflexology classes. I was beginning to think that this would now be an employment option as I did not want to return my original job as NHS nurse. I had another child - my son Calum.

During that time my partner's brother died suddenly and as we were still on benefits I went to the bank to arrange an overdraft of £100 so we could get though to Aberdeen. The bank refused because we were previous bankrupts (although we were now released from bankruptcy). My previous blemish-free banking history was no longer considered.

A few weeks after that we decided that we would return to Aberdeen as that would increase our work opportunities. We set up another rental house and moved the family down.

My sister called to say for her 30th birthday she was going with a friend to get a tattoo. It was not something I had ever even thought about, but I found myself telling her I would come and I would also get a tattoo done.

So, in April 2000 I went for the first time in my life into a Tattoo Studio. I chose a small bit of flash art and had it tattooed on my arm. The artist recommended that I use a haemorrhoid cream to heal the skin. Whilst I was there another girl being tattooed asked if there was something else she could use as she was allergic to that ointment and was told that there was nothing else.

I came out of the studio wondering why on earth was he was recommending haemorrhoid cream when there are loads of things that could be used to treat the skin instead.

I went home and blended some oils and used these on my tattoo. It healed very quickly. I headed down to the local library and started going through Yellow Pages to see if I could get an idea of how many tattoo studios there were in the UK. After going through about 4 books I quickly realised that there was probably more than one tattoo studio in each town never mind the cities.

I also discovered that there was no company in the UK making a Tattoo Aftercare ointment and worldwide there were only a couple of companies actually making one. I also discovered that the UK tattooing scene was moving out from its back street image and was actually starting to become a lifestyle choice.

Having realised this gap in the market I knew I could make an aftercare ointment that was far superior to what was currently on offer, not only in the UK but worldwide.

My first challenge was coming up with a product recipe that would suit the skin during the healing process following tattooing. I worked away in my kitchen with various ingredients testing them on friends until I came up with the ideal recipe.

In August 2000 Tattoo Aftercare™ was developed. We were still on benefits and had absolutely no way of raising any cash so my first thought was to see if I could get a starter stock. I could then maybe supply local studios. I called an Aromatherapy wholesaler with a list of ingredients and basic packaging for a price quote. She sent out the order which arrived the next day. I called my dad to borrow £400 to pay for it but had a starter stock. On a home computer using just word and publisher my partner Jim and I came up with some marketing slogans and mailed theses off with samples to 50 studios. From that came 2 customers.

My daughter moved out of her bedroom into a box room so we could use her bedroom as an office. Every day the kitchen was cleared, cleaned and turned into a blending room. Both our girls would help with capping and labelling as everything was done by hand. My son was two years old and I struggled to juggle trying to get a business off the ground with no money and looking after him.

I eventually taught my partner how to do the blending and he took over that aspect. After about two years we had enough customers to move into premises, we were still hand-blending but had come off benefits.

Banks who previously would not talk to us were now starting to realise we had captured a new market in an industry that was just starting to blossom in the UK.

We were able to raise funds for a small loan which we used to upgrade our packaging.
We used high quality ingredients from the start. Eventually after blending by hand over 70,000 tubs we were able to move the manufacturing to a company who specialised in using natural ingredients and we moved down to Chester - a big move for our family.

We have been in Chester nearly three years now and our business has gone from strength to strength. We remain the only UK manufacturer of a Tattoo Aftercare ointment and consider our competition to be 3 main overseas companies. We supply over 300 UK tattoo studios, have 3 UK distributors and a number of distributors covering Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Germany, Czech Republic, Indonesia and US. We have just signed up another in Canada and Spain. I am hoping to go over to the US at the being of December on Trade mission to strengthen our US links as this is a major market for us.

We are looking to have Tattoo Aftercare™ also in a mainstream UK store next year. Our website deals with wholesale and retail orders worldwide and I take calls and emails from all over the world. Just last Friday I took a call from man in Gibraltar who called to place an order.

We consider ourselves ahead of the overseas competition as they all just deal with wholesale sales whereby we cover both markets.

I have said "we" most of the way through this piece. "We" would be my partner Jim and I. However, I know that Jim will agree that I am the managing director of the business and there are areas of the business I solely work on. He will also agree that it is me who has had to juggle more with family life commitments than him.

Our son is now 8 years old and has grown up with the business. It is a bit like a sister to him - annoying at times - but generally he benefits from mum running her own business. Both our daughters are enormously proud of what we have had to overcome and achieve emotionally and financially to get to where we are.

Our products are made from high quality 100% pure natural ingredients. They are approved under the Humane Cosmetics Standard. They are paraben free, chemical free and have revolutionised how skin is cared for following tattooing. Go to www.tattooaftercare.co.uk to find out more!

My advice to any mum who is looking to start her business is to keep a hold of the vision that gave you the idea to start. You can learn most other things along the way.
I was a nurse and knew nothing about selling, buyers, stock control just to mention a few things. Go on all the free courses you can. It may not always be relevant to your business but I can guarantee you will meet someone who will be. Don't give up. It is hard - if it wasn't everyone would be doing it. Each winter was a nightmare for us as the UK tattoo industry was seasonal and sales would drop way below even covering our costs but each year we got though it and learnt some valuable lessons with each hurdle. And finally - find your niche and stick with it :)"

For more information on Tattoo Aftercare™, visit www.tattooaftercare.co.uk or e-mail Shirley at info@thehempcompany.ws.

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