How did you set up your online business, did you have investment? How long did it take you to earn a living from your business?

I launched my-wardrobe.com in April 2006 and it's been an incredible journey. I started the business with my own personal money and then went through three rounds of investment to really drive the growth of the business and the international expansion. As an entrepreneur you have to make the decision of whether you will have a large piece of a small pie, or a small piece of a big pie and I always believed my-wardrobe.com could be a global brand. I have always had that inner belief and attitude that you can create your own luck.

Did you always know my wardrobe would be very successful eventually?

I always knew there was a gap in the market for my-wardrobe.com and the belief that I could make it a global brand drove me on.

What advice would you give to a recent graduate looking into working in fashion buying?

Experience is key and many retailers and brands offer work experience placements, where you can get great on the ground experience. Luck is An Attitude - if you have the right attitude you can make your own luck and succeed. It's definitely been how I have got my career from working at News International to launching my-wardrobe.com. If you believe in yourself as a buyer and have the passion and determination, you can do anything.

How do you go about hiring people for my-wardrobe.com? Do you look for fashion copywriters?

We are always looking for good talent. The business is growing very fast especially with our focus on international expansion. We have an area on our site with current vacancies and contacts to send a CV.

What would you say the most important thing is in running an online business? What's the greatest lesson you have learnt?

There are a few statements that always stay with me and they are "never say never", "never give up how ever hard it gets" and "you can do anything that you put your mind to". I have always believed in each one of them and it's amazing how true to life they are. The most important thing with running your own online business is understanding your product, your market and target audience and putting your customer at the heart of everything you do.

When you went for funding, did you have the right team in place? It is very challenging to find the right people if you are budget is very tight. Do you advice to give away equity to your employees?

First and foremost we invested in people and believe me that's a challenge as an entrepreneur as you have to give away control to experts in their field and often pay them more than you pay yourself. I always believed that if I was going to grow my-wardrobe.com to be a global brand I would need to bring in experts in each field to ensure that every department could be the best it could be. I'm very proud to say that those original members of the management team are all still here today.

I know what I want to do. I know I can do it. I know it can be successful. But I have no idea where to start, eg: a plan, tax all those kinda things. Its a minefield. Any advice?

It's incredible how many seminars you can go to, how many conferences there are. I wish that when I launched my-wardrobe.com all those years ago I could have had access to so much information that's out there now. I would attend as many events that focus on your area of business, so you can gather as much insight and information as possible. Even the ones that I speak at today I still learn so much.

How would you raise investment to get a fashion retail business off the ground if you were doing it now?

I would do it exactly the same way today as I did it all of those years ago, but what I did might not be right for you and your business. You need to do what adds value to you business and will help it to grow.

Branding And Marketing

How to set up an online fashion business