Lucie Macleod | How to sell through viral social media: The Hair Syrup story

Welcome to How To Start Up, the podcast for anyone looking to start & scale their own business. I"m Juliet Fallowfield & today we’re discussing viral marketing with Lucie Macleod, founder of the TikTok sensation, Hair Syrup. Founded in 2020 with no prior entrepreneurial experience, Lucie combined her understanding of consumer behavior with social media creativity, to turn a handmade hair oil into THE beauty must-have with over 350,000 engaged TikTok followers & rapid, 1,000% year-on-year growth.  After an appearance on BBC Dragon’s Den, the brand is now on track to hit £6.5 million in revenue by 2026. To hear our next guest’s answer to Lucie’s question at the end of this ep, just click follow in your podcast directory of choice & you’ll receive a notification from us when it is ready for you to listen.  Lucie"s advice:Don’t invest hugely to begin with; start cautiouslyDon’t build on ‘pinterest appeal’ with pretty packaging; functionality is what countsBelieve in your productStick at it when things get difficult; be doggedTiktok can be good if you strike luckyBe very careful spending on advertising as you can lose a lot of money if you’re badly advisedAlso be very careful about the people you surround yourself with; if you wouldn’t be happy with a particular person being in your house, then don’t employ them in your businessTrust trumps skillLearn to step away from your business and fully relax FF&M enables you to own your own PR & produces podcasts. Recorded, edited & published by Juliet Fallowfield, 2024 MD & Founder of PR & Communications consultancy for startups Fallow, Field & Mason.  Email us at hello@fallowfieldmason.com or DM us on instagram @fallowfieldmason.  FF&M recommends: LastPass the password-keeping site that syncs between devices.Google Workspace is brilliant for small businessesBuzzsprout podcast "how to" & hosting directoryCanva has proved invaluable for creating all the social media assets and audio bites. MUSIC CREDIT Funk Game Loop by Kevin MacLeod.  Link &  Licence Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we"d love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail Support the show Text us your questions for future founders. Plus we'd love to get your feedback, text in via Fan Mail Support the show