Mother of reinvention – Ruth Bradford on how she dared to try something different

“I had to remind myself that the business had proved itself, that most of what was happening was out of my control. If there is a day where I must close it all down, I just wanted to feel like I’d tried everything,” says Ruth Bradford on why she pivoted her business model. 

When Ruth Bradford launched The Little Black and White Book Project eight years ago, she was determined to turn a passion for smart design to support early-stage brain development for babies into a scalable business model. 

For years the Bristol-based graphic designer did exactly that. The mother of two saw sales fly over the pandemic and exported her range of books, flash cards and prints showcasing animals from different countries and habitats globally. 

But it all gradually changed once things opened back up and Ruth lost wholesale clients after shop closures and 50% of her revenue disappeared almost overnight and at the same time the cost of print and materials skyrocketed. 

Ruth said: “The world had changed – consumer behaviour, the economy, everything. Suddenly, I found myself in a perfect storm: less time, fewer clients, higher costs.  

“It was also a real catch 22 situation. I didn't have a penny to invest,  but needed to make sales.  At the same time, I was watching other brands seemingly grow fast but being frustrated that they're just churning out the same old, same old. 

“There have been a lot of tears about it all, a lot of frustration. If I'd been talking about this six months ago, I'd have just been really gutted that my business was going so badly. 

“It’s been very difficult.” 

Ruth admitted her business model – which was aimed at parents to newborns or gifting from for newborns from friends and family – was problematic. 

“It was a lot of hard, hard work. You can target the right people who love what you do – but they also have to have or know a new baby, you have to hit them at exactly the right moment - so it was a slog with very little chance of repeat custom. 

“The gifting market's a funny one because your lifetime customer doesn't massively exist.” 

So earlier this year, Ruth turned everything around – focused on building on a larger target market – early-stage brain development for three- to eight-year-olds via a podcast called The Wild Walk of Fame and a subscription-based monthly animal newsletter called The Wild Scoop about conservation. 

“I want to write a whole talk around this overlooked age group where brain development is off the charts in terms of how quickly it goes up.  

“I massively believe in the Little Black and White Book Project and massively believe in the animals. But what really lights me up and what I'm passionate about is conservation.   

“The heart of the business has always been this idea of inspiring the next generation of conservationists and wildlife lovers from as early an age as possible. So, what I've done is just a circle back to that.” 

Inspired by Emily Coxhead, founder of The Happy Newspaper - Ruth is already seeing subscriptions for The Wild Scoop soar alongside her existing products.  

She added: “I had to remind myself that the business had proved itself, that most of what was happening was out of my control. If there is a day where I must close it all down, I just want to feel like I tried everything. There's just a lot of frustration, a lot of heartache, but it's a process, right? And you go through the phases of grief, and you come out the other side. You can either just want to let it all go and put it behind you, or you can think - ‘what and how can I do well?’ 

You can read more about Ruth’s story here.