The rise of Gen Z-owned small businesses in lockdown
The pandemic has seen an upsurge in Gen Z-owned small businesses. Let’s take a look at the reasons why, and meet the young entrepreneurs behind two successful start-ups.
The past year has seen all manner of trends, from making banana bread until we’re sick of the sight of it to lugging our mirrors into the garden for a blue-sky-and-impressive-outfit selfie, downloading Couch to 5K in a bid to up our fitness levels, reacquainting ourselves with Animal Crossing and tie-dying clothes until tie dye kits sold out faster than a post-lockdown restaurant table gets booked up. But these aren’t the only things that the pandemic has bred. Gen Z-owned small businesses have also been on the rise—and not just by a small amount.
In 2020, 72 per cent more 16-20-year-olds in the UK set up a business than in the previous year. Younger and older Gen Zers have also been busy launching their own. But what caused this spike? Well, there’s no single answer.
First and foremost, Covid brought about the worst recession on record which resulted in job losses left, right and centre, leaving some Gen Zers—roughly, those born from 1995 to 2010—with little option but to set up their own business in order to make ends meet. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), 813,000 employees were removed from payrolls between March 2020 and March 2021—of which 335,000 (41.2 per cent) were employees working in the hospitality sector, 223,000 (27.4 per cent) were employees living in London and 436,000 (53.7 per cent) were Gen Z.
‘Gen Z accounted for a 72 per cent increase in start-ups in the UK in 2020’
On top of this, jobs have been a lot harder to secure due to the pandemic, and graduates have been disproportionately affected by this. According to a survey carried out by leading graduate careers site Milkround and the UK’s leading sampling and research company Dig-In, only a mere 18 per cent of graduates managed to secure a job in the past year compared to 60 per cent in the previous year. So, to combat boredom, make an income and best deal with their precarious future, some turned to setting up their own business whilst they wait to land their dream job.
Mental health struggles have also been a driving factor. According to Mental Movement Magazine—a multi-award winning practical lifestyle magazine dedicated to exploring ways in which we can improve our mental health—new research commissioned for Mental Health Awareness Week revealed that more than half of respondents (55 per cent) admitted to struggling with their mental health over the past year. Being cooped up indoors for so long, dealing with the uncertainty of their future and seeing/listening to a constant barrage of negative news drove some to find distractions such as turning passion projects into businesses.
‘30.9 per cent of businesses which started in the UK in 2020 began on Instagram and 31.2 per cent began on Facebook’
And some will have simply been driven by their entrepreneurial spirit. In comparison to previous generations—Millennials (1977 to 1995), Generation X (1965 to 1976) and Baby Boomers (1946 to 1964)—Gen Z are renowned for this entrepreneurial trait as they value creativity, transparency and stability more so than anything else. This is not at all shocking seeing as they have been witness to the effects of the 2008 Great Recession on their parents and bore the brunt of the student loan crisis, leading them to forge brighter, more stable futures for themselves by establishing their own businesses rather than suffering from a mountain of student debt. And with the emergence of social media, there are also far more opportunities for tech-savvy Gen Zers to set a business up these days, which explains the fact that 30.9 per cent of businesses which started in the UK in 2020 began on Instagram and 31.2 per cent began on Facebook.
Here are a couple of successful, lockdown-bred small businesses:
clueluce
Born out of a craving for creativity, clueluce is a resin ring business which was founded by soon-to-be University of the Arts London (UAL) journalism graduate Lucy Pemberton back in November 2020. It has been a huge hit since its launch, as chunky, funky resin rings have been all the rage since the likes of Bella Hadid and Dua Lipa started donning La Manso‘s rings in their Instagram posts over the past year.
“My heart and soul are in it, which I think is what makes things special these days”
Pemberton never actually intended to sell her rings. She started making them purely as a distraction from the creative rut she found herself in. But once she started wearing them in some of her Instagram posts, friends were quick to compliment them so she saw a great opportunity to make a business out of them. And after watching the film clueless, the name clueluce came about.
‘All the rings are made to order and leftovers are made into rings’
Within the short space of six months, clueluce has garnered a whopping 7,000 followers and seen hundreds of people gunning for its rings. “It has been crazy! I always catch myself thinking ‘wow, people want to buy my rings’,” Pemberton tells me. “My heart and soul are in it, which I think is what makes things special these days.”
All the rings are named after her closest friends, making them all the more special. And in a bid to keep waste at a minimum, all the rings are made to order and leftovers are made into rings. These particular rings—the Lonely Loves collection—are sold for slightly less than the others and 10 per cent from each of them goes to a charity that her followers help her to choose.
Pemberton makes them all from her parents’ spare bedroom, wearing a gas mask and latex gloves to protect herself from the dangerous fumes that the resin gives off. She also kitted the room out with a vent and always keeps the windows open. Without a well-ventilated room, these fumes are extremely harmful when exposed to eyes or ingested. So for anyone who wants to give resin ring making a shot, make sure you have all the right protection.
“I think a lot of people aren’t really aware of the process because they pick up such a small thing that hasn’t really got any function”
Making the rings is quite a long-winded process, resulting in a few night shifts. After making up the resin mixes, putting them into their moulds and curing them under a UV light, there is also a few finishing touches such as sanding, glossing and inspecting to be done before sending them off to their new homes. “I think a lot of people aren’t really aware of the process because they pick up such a small thing that hasn’t really got any function,” she explains.
Interestingly, some of her moulds are taken from her childhood best friends’ mum’s rings, because she used to be such a fan of her jewellery collection when she was growing up, adding another lovely, personal touch to them. “She [Pemberton’s childhood best friends’ mum] used to be one of those art teachers who used to wear so many rings and had the most amazing jewellery box so I texted her asking if I could take some moulds of them,” she tells me. “So it is crazy to think people in America or wherever are wearing a ring that I grew up loving.”
Pemberton has reaped the rewards of setting up her own small business, which she admits to: “I think the best thing about having my own small business is having total control over when I want to create and sell. And I don’t have to put strict deadlines on myself. I’ve had a lot of jobs and worked for a lot of people and I think that has made me realise that I don’t want to work for anyone. I just love working by myself.” It has also given her the opportunity to connect with other ring businesses which she has loved.
“The best thing about having my own small business is having total control over when I want to create and sell”
It has by no means been an easy feat, though. Juggling clueluce alongside writing a dissertation and other assignments proved to be quite a tricky task, causing the business to be put on the backburner for a little while.
It has also been a learning experience. At the beginning, she found people copying her rings quite hard to stomach, but she now sees it as a compliment. She also used to be super protective of clueluce and thought she could do everything herself, but she admits that it isn’t physically possible to do every aspect in some jobs so now she has brought her mum onboard to help out with postage and packaging.
“I’ve got lots of exciting plans—they literally keep me up at night”
From all that she has learnt, Pemberton couldn’t recommend setting up a small business more: “You’ve got nothing to lose especially with creative stuff.” But as someone who is guilty of doing things for the wrong reasons in the past—such as for likes and followers—she also suggests doing it for the right reasons and to not try and set yourself too many targets so soon.
As for the future of clueluce, there are lots of plans in the pipeline. “I’ve got lots of exciting plans—they literally keep me up at night at the moment,” she reveals. “I don’t want to do just rings. I would love to do clothing and other accessories. I would also love to get more people onboard. It would be cool if clueluce was a shopping site and other small brands could come in and put their stuff up. More of a boutique.”
Quite Nice Clothing (QNC)
Born out of boredom, QNC is home to a vast array of products with deconstructed meals and drinks on them. The Instagram-based business was founded by performance design and practice graduate Milli Collins two months into the first lockdown. After Covid prevented her from being able to go into her job as an art therapist, she set about putting her creative skills to good use and hasn’t looked back since.
“I couldn’t work from home, so I was very bored. I was doing a lot of drawing and trying to stay creative when the idea just came to me. I just thought it would be really funny to have people wearing deconstructed chicken pies on their T-shirts. I started designing, set up an Instagram and gave it a shot,” Collins tells me. “To be honest, I hadn’t prepared at all and I only expected my family and friends to be interested but it took off and people were into it so I went for it!”
“I just thought it would be really funny to have people wear deconstructed chicken pies on their T-shirts”
What started off as just a clothing business is now a business that is home to a whole host of products such as placemats, coasters, prints, tote bags, T-shirts, long sleeve T-shirts, hoodies, tea towels and reusable food wraps which can all be found on QNC’s website.
The products have been such a hit—so much so that she has gained just over 6000 followers in only 10 months. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise because as mentioned on QNC’s website “now more than ever people need a bit of playfulness in their lives, these products aim to put a smile on your face”, and QNC delivers this in spades.
Each design starts off as a rough sketch and is then carefully hand-drawn and designed on Photoshop. And Collins makes every effort to find interesting packaging and household names that are easily recognisable for us.
‘QNC is committed to being as climate neutral as possible’
“Food and drink are so personal to people and it is something we all have in common so I think most people can find something they relate to”
Importantly, QNC is committed to being as climate neutral as possible. In an effort to reduce transportation emissions, all the products are made in the UK. The tissue paper and mailing bags are both recyclable and compostable. The T-shirts and tea towels are made from organic cotton which is grown without damaging pesticides. The ink used is water soluble which is better for marine life, as there are no micro plastics. And garments are made from the best quality materials, so they last longer than your average fast fashion garment.
The products have received tonnes of love from customers all over the world, which Collins believes boils down to their nicheness and the fact that they make for great gifts. “They’re unusual so I think people respond well to that. And food and drink are so personal to people and it is something we all have in common, so I think that most people can find something they relate to. Maybe it makes them think of a memory, a friend or home,” she explains.
“Coming from an arty background, this is kind of the dream”
The success of it all has also led to several collaborations. In April 2021, she collaborated with Kitchen Pan, a food blog, on a T-shirt which managed to raise £4100 for the London Chinese Community Centre. Later that month, she collaborated with THE POP UP GIRLS, an Instagram platform showcasing the best independent female-led labels, to create a Pimms menu. And more recently she held her first market stall at London Makers Market, a market that brings talented independent designers together, which she describes as being so much fun as she got to talk to customers in real life for the first time.
Collins has loved being able to be get so creative as well as working for herself over the past year. “Coming from an arty background, this is kind of the dream. I am doing what I love and making (nearly) a living off it,” she lets on. Although, she does admit that her designs don’t offer much room for branching out: “I’ve had to choose a style and so I sort of have to stick with it which makes my design process easy on the one hand, but it can get a bit monotonous.
‘She hopes to have her own warehouse one day and potentially hire someone to help her out’
Reflecting on everything that she has learnt from setting up QNC, she suggests to anybody who wants to set up their own small business: “Prepare a bit before, get samples, test out suppliers, create content for socials in advance, and do a lot of market research because I did none of these things and I had to catch up quickly afterwards.”
“I think coming into it you want to know your product is the best quality it can be and that it’s something unique. I always save the pages which are doing/making something I have never seen before because I’m worried I might lose them online and not be able to find them again if not.”
As for future plans, Collins is hoping to continue the way she is going, keep creating new products and grow the businesses’ customer base. She also hopes to have her own warehouse one day and potentially hire someone to help her out with everything. And she is currently saving up to buy her own Direct To Garment (DTG) printer, enabling her to take on commissions—something her customers are eagerly awaiting.
If you’ve now got a buzz to set your own business up, why not give it a go? You haven’t got anything to lose. There’s never a right or wrong time. And it doesn’t have to be a mind-blowing invention nor costly—you can simply turn one of your hobbies into a business.
However, the thought of setting one up, let alone actually setting one up—especially if you are planning on being a one man band—can be quite daunting. But there are plenty of easy-to-use, free resources out there to help you go about it. Here are some good examples:
- Instagram – for some businesses an Instagram platform actually works better than a website because there is room to be more creative, businesses can promote products and services, they can create a more personal connection with their customers and stay up-to-date with consumer trends
- Wix and WordPress – for launching a free website, if you are not too bothered about not having a customisable domain name
- Namecheap – for creating hundreds of free logo designs which you can then view on an example T-shirt, website, business card and app
- Glide – for creating quick, free, no-code apps
- Carrd – for creating simple, free one-page sites for pretty much anything
- Typeform – for creating free form templates, quiz templates, survey templates, questionnaire templates and poll templates to help you best engage with your audience
- Miro – an online whiteboard and visual collaboration platform to brainstorm any ideas, making cross-functional teamwork as straightforward as possible
- Teams and Slack – two of the most popular and free business communication platforms over the past year for holding group calls and sharing documents with colleagues and teammates
- Canva – for creating free templates for digital graphics such as cover pictures, email graphics, flyers and posters