The role licensing has played in the growth of Crafter’s Companion, the business founded by Sara Davies MBE – the youngest female investor on BBC 1’s Dragon’s Den – was the main focuses of her keynote address at last week’s Brand Licensing Europe 2024.
Sara took to the stage to share some top tips, as well as the story of how she started Crafter’s Companion while still at university, after recognising the untapped opportunities in the crafting supplies sector. Explained Sara: “When I first started, we were a tiny little business, and it wasn’t until about five or six years in that licensing really came up on my radar as an opportunity.”
The opportunity in question was the chance to produce Flower Fairies branded products, which Sara sold primarily through TV shopping channels. “I’d signed a £1,000 minimum guarantee with the brand, so they clearly weren’t expecting me to make a lot of money. Yet the first royalty cheque I remember writing for them was for around £24,000.”
What made the licensing partnership so successful was “authenticity” – Sara’s number one consideration when choosing which brands to collaborate with. “I remember standing there with my Flower Fairies products, getting out my Flower Fairies book and saying to everybody that this was the book that my mum used to read to me when I was a little girl, and it’s the book that her mum used to read to her. I made it personal to me, and that story was authentic. The customer bought into that authenticity.”
Sara continued, “with licensing, you can add two and two and make more than five. I know we can develop the best product, but by bringing a licence to it, we can tap into a whole new customer base that wasn’t open to us before – people who would never have considered craft or looked at our products, will now because of their interest in the brand.”
She added: “Too many companies try to dive into licensing too quickly, but putting in the groundwork is crucial. It’s about managing expectations.”
She highlighted Mood Bears, a brand she invests in, as an example of a company that is going about licensing in the right way. “They’re not just going with the massive, big companies to start with. They’re growing their licensing business as their business grows,” she explained.
Sara added that in difficult trading circumstances, licensing can be the “fastest and easiest way to unlock new customer bases.” “I recognise the opportunity that I’ve been given to go out and sell crafts to the world, not just Crafter’s Companion products,” she says. “I’m no longer fighting for my slice of the pie. When you get the biggest seat at the table, your job is to make the whole pie bigger.”
Top: ‘Dragon’ Sara Davies MBE was among the keynote speakers at last week’s Brand Licensing Europe. She is shown having fun with the Mood Bears on the Lisle Licensing stand, which represent the brand.
