Jo Malone has made a career out of her talent for concocting and capturing unique fragrances. She talks to us about her latest business venture and shares the secrets of her success.

Jo created one of the world’s most desirable luxury fragrance brands, eponymous with her name. In 1999 she sold the company to Estée Lauder, where she remained creative director until she left in 2006. Last year, she returned to her passion for scent with the launch of JO LOVES, which create unique fragrances and candles.

Is running your own business something you’d always wanted to do?

Yes, I've always run my own business. I’m very entrepreneurial. I left school at 14 and had no qualifications, so I had to survive. I love the whole concept of creativity – creating things and selling them. I love that. It’s what I live for, to be honest.

‘’If you’re the
person behind the
product, you have to
stand behind it and
believe in everything
you are selling’’

When you first started Jo Malone, is it true that you had no business plan?

When we first started out it was like any small business – it was a hand-to-mouth existence and, to be honest, we were just happy if we were able to make the rent at the end of each month.I think that most people have some kind of business plan or know where they’re heading, but ours happened so quickly. We got to where we wanted to be in five years’ time in the space of six short months. My husband had come from the building industry so he was very disciplined in finance. We did have a structure in place, but we didn't have a five-year plan to speak of.

At what point did you realise you had a serious business on your hands?

When people bought the product in the early days, I was still a facialist. People would visit my apartment and I’d give them a facial and sell them my products. I could see there was a hunger for the product and a desire. I remember back in the early days with one of my fragrances, Lime, Basil and Mandarin, it was so unique and different that people said to me, ‘No one will buy that’. But, I've always been someone who has followed her gut instinct and was prepared to take a risk with creativity, and it paid off. It was so popular. I’d make 100 bottles a weekend and by Tuesday they’d all been sold. I knew then I was on to something special.

What was the most painful part of growing your business?

There were certainly a few difficult moments. Like the time we overfilled all the bath oils in the neck of the bottles and they all exploded. There was also a time when I forgot to get everyone to sign all their credit card slips for three days and we lost all of our takings. But overall we really enjoyed our success, and that’s one piece of advice I’d always give people – enjoy the moment, because success can be fleeting.

Businesses fail every day, so why do you think yours was a success?

We opened Jo Malone at a time when there was a recession, but we had a great product and a great attitude to it. We lived within our means. We provided an environment that people thrived in – which I think is very important. Also, I have this attitude that you should always strive to make things better. It doesn’t matter how high the bar is – if you hit it, you make it higher. Don’t just sit there and be complacent; you’ve got to keep moving.

What qualities should a business leader have?

You have to have integrity. If you’re the person behind the product, you have to stand behind it and believe in everything you are selling, not just to your consumer, to your team. You have to feel passionately about what you do.

I live and breathe my business. It makes me feel alive – and I love it. I think there are lots of business leaders who are out of touch with reality and they’re asking their teams to go out and do things that they wouldn't know how to do themselves. Even if I owned a huge firm, I’d still have to be able to go and sell on that shop floor. You need to provide environments where people thrive, where everyone feels that their dreams are being fulfilled – not just your own. Also, without a great product you can’t go anywhere. Business leaders need to start taking risks again with creativity.

What advice would you give to someone building a brand?

When you start out, I’d say be true to your product, be true to yourself and find the heartbeat of your business or your brand and create core values around that. JO LOVES has four core values – intimacy, integrity, innovation and excitement. If we’re looking at a new product, or when we have great ideas, we have to tie them back to these four key heartbeats. You also need discipline, motivation and a strong sense of security. Be realistic, too.

Learn your market inside and out. And be creative. If somebody won’t let you in the front door, there’s always a back door and there’s always a window open. You’ve got to be the one to go and find it.

Were you nervous about going back into business with JO LOVES? 

I’m still nervous about it because it’s a new business and it’s nothing to do with Jo Malone – although there’s still a brand out there that bears my name. The good thing is that I have a well-known name and history of success, so if I make a phone call to someone they’ll take it. We entered the market with four fragrances and two candles, and we did that to create a doorway to see if I had a right to come back. Would people identify JO LOVES with me again? And that’s starting to happen now. But, I’ve got to be honest, I’m nervous every day. It’s not a walk in the park.

Is there anything you’ll be doing differently this time round?

Yes, I’m not going to create another cosmetics line. That’s not what I’m about. I’m a fragrance artist. I paint with fragrance and cause people to look at it differently. We have a big new launch coming this summer – which will force people to look at fragrance in a different way. I’ll also engage in other senses and cause people to be creative. When you think about it, sometimes it’s not about recreating the wheel; it’s just about changing the spokes and doing things slightly differently.

How important are entrepreneurs in our current economic climate?

I believe they’re the heartbeat, the saving grace. There are lots of small and medium sized businesses in this country, and we need to create an environment for them to thrive. Governments and politicians don’t create jobs, entrepreneurs do. As a country, we need to start believing that it’s good to make money and build business again. Not everyone is an entrepreneur, but there are lots of firms that could employ one more person – if they have the environment to believe that they can.

There are 1.7 million young people who don’t have jobs, and that’s ridiculous. They could be doing work experience at small enterprising businesses that need people to help. The problem is solvable, but it’s about thinking with a different mind-set and individuals creating opportunities for themselves.

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