AN inspiring businesswoman has revealed how she went from being redundant to turning over a staggering £4million with her pet printing business.
UK-based Lucy Bowes, 28, shared how she started her successful Lucy and Lola brand without spending a single penny – and used an she had picked up from Marketplace.
Lucy Bowes is the proud founder and owner of Lucy and Lola, a pet printing businessCredit: Tiktok/thelucyandlolashop
She bought an embroidery machine and started printing pets on sweatshirtsCredit: Tiktok/thelucyandlolashop
She now has 20 staff members who help her with her successful brandCredit: Tiktok/thelucyandlolashop
Cambridge-based Lucy had been working as an accountant when she was let go in 2021 after her company was bought out.
In order to bring in some cash, she started drawing portraits for friends and family on her iPad which she described herself as being “truly awful.”
However, things changed after she got sausage dog Lola and started drawing her “obsessively.”
At first, she had the idea to print pet portraits on T-shirts using a print on demand company, but then decided a “sewn on design” would be cuter.
Speaking to Fabulous, she shared: “Once we decided to do embroidery, we invested about £1,000 in our first embroidery machine (on finance pay monthly) and materials, which at the time felt huge!
“We worked from our dining room table in our front room.
“I was an accountant, Andy had never sewn in his life, he YouTubed how to sew – I actually thought embroidery machines worked like printers (they don’t).
“I’d never run a business before or even used an embroidery machine before – I literally learned everything through Google and YouTube tutorials.”
Lucy started selling her designs on Etsy in the summer of 2021 and was delighted when the sales started coming in.
Speaking of her first order from a stranger from Etsy, the businesswoman shared: “I remember refreshing the page a hundred times because I couldn’t believe it was real.
She’s turned over £3million since launching in 2021, despite having no experienceCredit: Tiktok/thelucyandlolashop
“It’s still one of the best feelings ever.
“Me and my husband even danced around the kitchen the first time we ever took over £500 in a single day in sales.
“We thought we’d totally made it! We had no idea how we were going to manage, but we knew we would work it out as we went.”
Despite their initial joy, Lucy admitted running the from their “tiny home” was “pure chaos.”
Accountant Lucy was inspired to start her business after being made redundantCredit: Tiktok/thelucyandlolashop
Initially she started drawing portraits of friends and familyCredit: Tiktok/thelucyandlolashop
Once she started selling pet embroidery items on Etsy, business boomedCredit: Tiktok/thelucyandlolashop
She explained: “We were stitching from our front room, surrounded by boxes and thread everywhere.”
However, their hard work paid off, and by December that year they had made £50,000.
Then, after launching their website in February 2022, things “took off fast”, with the couple often staying up until 6am to keep up with orders.
Lucy shared: “When we had our second machine delivered it didn’t even fit through our front door.
“We had to unbox it in the street.
“Soon the boxes of sweatshirts and finished orders took up every inch of space in our house.”
BIG EXPANSION
Lucy made £50,000 during her first Christmas periodCredit: Tiktok/thelucyandlolashop
Jade Thirlwall has a hoodie blanket featuring her dogsCredit: Supplied
Clare Balding is also a fanCredit: Supplied
By the end of 2022 the couple had outgrown running the business from home and moved into their first studio space.
Lucy added: “We’ve moved into bigger studios twice since then – each move felt massive but even now we are growing out of our latest space.”
Now, two years later, they’ve turned over nearly £4million, without any investors or a business plan.
They’ve even created pieces for a few well-known faces, including Jade Thirlwall from and her boyfriend Jordan Stephens from Rizzle Kicks, and also a cushion for .
Lucy added: “We’ve always focused on the content side of things (I have always and still do make all the content for our social media @thelucyandlolashop ) and we now have over 450,000 followers across our socials.
“I think this is really why we have managed to scale up as much as we have.”
FESTIVE BOOM
They’ve expanded to include a range of clothing itemsCredit: Tiktok/thelucyandlolashop
is unsurprisingly their biggest season as “personalised gifts go wild.”
However, they keep momentum throughout the year with sales for memorial and rescue collections.
Their embroidered pet portrait hoodies and fleeces – which cost from £60 – are their bestsellers, and they also do printed options and other accessories.
Lucy shared: “Our best seller at this time of year is always our custom jumpers.
“We embroider people’s with cute Christmas hats and a festive message.”
From starting just as a pair, they now employ a “team of 20 incredible young women”, which includes designers, embroiderers, customer care and fulfilment staff.
Meanwhile, Lucy’s mum even books time off at Christmas so she is available to help out with some packing.
PET EVENTS
Lucy’s sausage dog was Lola was the inspiration behind the Lucy and Lola brand nameCredit: Refer to source
Part of their expansion has included attending dog and pet events all over the UK.
Lucy continued: “We even got into at the last minute that first year and turned up with a few fold up tables not expecting much, but we ended up taking over £12,000 worth of orders that weekend.
“We bought a used transit van that had been converted (again off Marketplace) and we would finish up at the studio, load up our van and drive to the middle of nowhere for these events, unload and work all weekend, then spend the night sleeping in the back of the van.”
Lucy hopes to inspire other people to start their own businesses, and said it can be done if you have a “wild idea” and put in “a lot of late nights.”
She concluded: “If you’ve got an idea, just make it exist, you can make it perfect later.”
How to start an Etsy business
1. Legal Check:
- If you are making money, register as a Self-Employed Sole Trader with HMRC (the UK tax body). This is your required legal foundation.
2. Build Your Shop:
- Go to Etsy, create your seller account, and choose your Shop Name.
- Connect your UK bank account for Etsy to deposit your sales money.
3. Create Listings:
- Prepare your products, take clear photos, and write basic descriptions.
- Decide on your selling price, making sure it covers all your costs, including materials, time, and the Etsy fees.
4. Post and Promote:
- Hit ‘Publish’ on your items to make them live.
- Share your shop link on social media to let friends and potential customers know you are open for business!
