Spotlight on NoHouseRules
Today's Spotlight is on two of my favourite girls Peach and Rocks of No House Rules. I'm particularly happy to share this journey because I was with them on a train, back on 9th September 2017 (my birthday), when they told me all about their plans, on our way down to another event in London. I guess you could say unlike other business spotlights on here, I knew about this business, way before it was ever announced and it has been amazing to watch them flourish.
Peach & Rocks shared a common desire to turn their passions for of all things Interiors with their desire to meet the faces behind the Instagram squares and so No House Rules was born. But it is more than that, it is a desire to bring big brands up North to create interiors events that the South has on tap.
And that is important to so many of us living in the North, the number of invitations to events in London is staggering, yet we all have careers, houses, kids, that simply means we can't go to events with a fair travel distance every week. So instead, with No House Rules, the events stay in the North and the brands come to us. That was the plan and that is what has happened, with No House Rules hosting a number of events over recent months and more in the pipeline.
No House Rules launched with a BANG, with a launch party filled with like minded interiors enthusiasts and brands, mixing together. The response was fantastic and in fact it was such a good night I wrote about it here. I have been to several events since!
They followed quickly with the launch of The Mob, a membership club where you can get access to:
Discount & Priority tickets for future events
Monthly magazine-style newsletter
Monthly giveaways or discount codes for top brands
Exclusive access to our forum
So, it is safe to say that these ladies know how to host a party and all the events I've attended have been fantastic, so read on to find out, in their words, how No House Rules came about, what they have achieved this last nearly 12 months and their successes and challenges.
This really is one cool interiors club to belong to.
1. What was the reason behind you starting your business?
We met through a shared love and passion for Interiors and were desperate to fill a gap for events and noise in the North. We wanted to create the kind of events we would like to attend.
2. How did you start up?, kitchen table? Mum’s garage, renting premises?
Both kitchen tables! Well actually a combination of kitchen tables, soft play centres and coffee shops, often with children & dogs in tow!
3. How did you fund your business?
So far, we have ink spent money on our website and this was paid with money generated through our first couple of events. We are keen to limit the investment to our time alone in the early days whilst we investigated whether there was a market for the kind of business we were looking to create.
4. What was the most difficult part of starting up your business? Access to money, advice, finding people to buy, marketing etc?
Finding time and making time. It is very difficult to prioritise spending time on a business that has no guarantee of success or revenue when you also have other careers, children and a house to occupy your time. We had a clear route to market through Instagram as we had both grown healthy followings on our personal accounts but we have had to acknowledge a need to develop other routes to market and alternative ways to spread our message.
5. What help was missing for you?
Childcare Seriously we have not missed much so far as the Instagram community has been incredibly supportive and there all sorts of experts out there who are more than willing to help. We have taken inspiration from so many small creative businesses that have been built up recently.
6. What went wrong in your first year? Few months if you haven’t been trading that long?
Not enough planning! Everything we have done has been reactionary, rather than planned and with a long-term plan in mind. We have also been incredibly surprised by the response to our mission to bring exciting Interiors events and noise to the North so keeping up with expectation and demand has been challenging.
7. What have you learnt?
To plan, to prioritise, to say no (sometimes)
8. What is the most important piece of advice that you could give others thinking about starting a business?
Do something you are passionate about so that when the going gets tough, you still enjoy what you are doing. If possible find a partner- the very best thing about our business is working together. We have made great friends of each other and whilst we don’t always agree with each other we constantly challenge each other and offer different skills to the partnership.
9. And what do you enjoy the most?
Working together and meeting other likeminded Interior enthusiasts. We have built a network of amazing individuals and we learn something new every day.
10. On a scale of 1-10 how hard do you find it to run your own business?
7-8 but we wouldn’t want it any other way. If it was easy we would get bored and stop being creative and innovative! Our No House Rules members and wider network constantly keep us on our toes and we are eternally grateful for their support!
The Girl with The Green Sofa
