Member of the Month: Martha Keith

Congratulations to our Member of the Month for February, Martha Keith, founder of the personalised stationery company, Martha Brook.

Martha and Chris agree that being a couple who runs a business together is not for everyone. Yet after over a decade since the launch of Martha Brook in 2013, it is safe to say that they've successfully cracked that code.

What was supposed to be a six-month sabbatical for Chris in 2016 to help transition the business out of their home and into a studio turned into a permanent head of operations role at Martha Brook. And what's the secret to their success?

Martha explains:

"Chris and I work well because we come from different points of view. I look at it from the point that is this right for our community. Chris comes at it with the math – is it profitable? This is the constant dynamic between us and it is sometimes a clash but together it works well. We get to a point where we have an idea that we're excited about but it is also scalable and profitable.

"Working together is not for every couple. We work because, at the end of the day, we are really good friends and like talking to each other. We appreciate each other's advice and have quite similar personalities. We did have a few difficult years but now we’ve gotten much better at understanding each other's roles."

Did you always want to start a business?

Martha: I never set out to be an entrepreneur but was always obsessed with stationery. I did start a card company when I was 10 but was always told that the creative thing was never a career. So, I went to university and started working for a large healthcare company. That is where I met Chris and got married. However, that creative niggling never really went away.

Chris has always supported “following your heart” but when I hit 30, I had this now or never moment. I then took a week off work to write a business plan, embraced it and walked into the office with my resignation letter in hand.

I started as just one girl and a printer in my bedroom and it grew from there. Within two years, we were sending out thousands of orders.

When did you know this was a viable business?

Martha: It was Valentine's week and Chris was using his holiday days to just get the orders out. It was the Monday before Valentine's Day and we had done double shifts. He would leave post-it notes around saying: “You can do this!”

So after this crazy busy period, Chris and I sat down to discuss how seriously we were going to take this as this was my dream. We both realised that we had a lot of energy around the idea of the business.

Chris: Initially, I was going to take a six-month sabbatical to help transition into a studio. This was about two and a half years since the launch of the business in 2013. The idea was to scale and trail us working together but then I never went back.

What were some of the challenges you faced as a first-time entrepreneur?

Martha: Working as a couple has been brilliant but the pandemic was a real tipping point for the business. Until that point, we were both working together every day in the office and what the pandemic forced us to do was to split our roles more clearly. Chris transitioned more into this head of operations role, keeping the production running and ensuring that everyone was happy and I looked after the marketing.

Chris: I would come to the office to make sure our team got the orders out while Martha often worked from home and that was much healthier for our relationship.

The other challenge was people. People are the best thing about a business. Our team is the best and I enjoy working with them, but building a successful team and recruiting the right people is extremely tough.

When you have a small team, it is even more important to get the right people in. We have a rigorous recruitment process, which has now led to a fantastic team.

Martha: I've got two different challenges. Coming from a healthcare background, we knew all about marketing and business, but there was a lot we didn’t know. We weren’t in retail or a consumer business and this was all self-taught. It has been a real learning curve.

The second learning curve has been cash flow. We raised our first round of investment during the pandemic. I tried to go to VCs and angel investors and was surprised at the reaction I got as a woman.

It's a sad fact that only 1% of investment in the UK goes to women and I saw why firsthand when I was pitching. The condescending nature towards women who have a business idea is shocking. One infamous conversation was when I was pitching and the investor said to me: ‘At your age, I wouldn't suggest doing this business now.’ Can you imagine them saying that to a man?!

I found the process difficult and so in the end, we tended to crowdfund. We were thrilled to hit our target in less than 24 hours with the strength of our community and the support from Enterprise Nation.

What is your benchmark to decide to move to the next level?

Martha: That's been a real learning curve as well – to get the right level of resources for small businesses is difficult, especially when you are a seasonal business. We may be overstaffed at certain times.

Chris: We did the classic small business thing, where beforehand, we would judge hiring people based on turnover, but now we very much think about it in terms of profitability. It's easy when you're growing to focus on sales. You don't focus as much on costs and profitability, but we've changed our mindset now.

Martha: We’ve become good at forecasting periods of growth and where the opportunities are. While in the past we may have chased every opportunity, now we are more thoughtful about whether it is going to be profitable. We’ve gotten much better at understanding our brand and have built a much stronger foundation within our customer base, which has given us more flexibility.

When you start a business, you can get distracted by things that seem exciting and can bring in lots of revenue but they're not particularly profitable.

Why do you make a good team?

Martha: Chris and I work well because we come from different points of view. I look at it from the point that is this right for our community. Does this excite us? Does this fit with our strategy? Chris comes at it with the math – is it profitable?

This is the constant dynamic between us and it is sometimes a clash but together it works well. We get to a point where we have an idea that we're excited about but it is also scalable and profitable.

Working together is not for every couple. We work because, at the end of the day, we are really good friends and like talking to each other. We appreciate each other's advice and have quite similar personalities. We did have a few difficult years but now we’ve gotten much better at understanding each other's roles.

What makes you'll successful business owners?

Chris: When you speak to Martha, you can tell it is her passion and energy. She has been focused on the business and clear on what the brand is, which is that we are a stationery company and that's what we need to be known for. She's done extremely well with branding and marketing.

Martha: Chris is incredible at making things happen. I have always had these big ideas but not always seen them through to completion but Chris is good at getting things done and is good with people. He is good at juggling lots of things and not getting overwhelmed.

Although personality-wise, we are similar, we each bring a different set of skills to the business.

What’s next for Martha Brook?

Chris: We opened a studio in Melbourne three years ago. That has been an interesting outcome as the first couple of years were quite challenging given the smaller population. However, in the last year, it started to take off.

Martha: We've got some great products coming up and will be trying out one or two new channels.

Chris: But as a small business you also don’t want to spread yourself too thin across too many social media channels. Our big focus has always been Instagram and Martha has done extremely well on there, hitting over 100,000 followers recently. We now have room to take advantage of another channel.

Martha: In the last few years, we focused on the brand and have got a better understanding of who we are. For us, it's about scaling and sustainably reaching more customers.

When did you first come across Enterprise Nation?

Martha: I love Enterprise Nation and tell every business owner about the platform. When I just started, I came along to a PR course run by Elizabeth Slee, Enterprise Nation's head of media, and I still use everything she taught me to this day. A key turning point for the business was two or three years in and I went to a social media workshop organised by Enterprise Nation. It was suggested that we start on Instagram, which has been an absolute game changer for us.

One of the challenges of being a small business owner is that you can't be an island. You have to find those connections and that’s what Enterprise Nation gave me in the early days. I feel hugely grateful and delighted to have brought the business to where it is today.

It's an honour to go back now and do my own talks and share my own experiences and what I've learnt because I know we've come such a long way since those early days.

Want to be part of the Enterprise Nation community like Martha? Sign up for free or upgrade to adviser membership.

Female Founder Toolkit

Download a free, practical guide that shines a light on resources that can help build an entrepreneurial nation of female founders. This toolkit pulls together tools, tips, contacts and inspiration to support you to thrive. Take me to the guide