TBtB Meets ... Helen Rich

In our latest TGt Meets, we've been speaking to the lovely Helen Rich, food enthusiast and founder of Taste of Bath.

Where is home and why?

Bath is my home, recently returning from 7 years in Bristol, where my husband and I thought we would try something different when we got married. I love Bath, it’s full of independent businesses, creative events and great restaurants. Bath is a place people chose to live after stints in the bigger cities, I find the people of Bath very friendly and community minded. Somewhat returning to the fold, both of our families live here, and we have a great network of friends to keep us young and on our toes.

What do you think attracts business people to Bath?

I think people get frustrated working in corporate London and big cities, people come to Bath to start a creative business and seek the perfect work life balance. In most business circles I find people come to Bath to do something for them, start that business they always dreamed of, get their creative juices flowing. With this comes a passion and vigour I haven’t experienced in other cities.

Describe your business in 3 words…

Bath Artisan Online

What advice would you give anyone looking to do the same?

Before you start, ask yourself, are you passionate about this… because during the 100 hour weeks at Christmas you need to be. Your business will succeed so much more if you’re passionate about it, during the highs and the lows. More to the point, the main reason you work for yourself is to enjoy it, keep the passion alive.

If you were to design the perfect team of 4 people to help you run your company, what characteristics would those four people have?

The Logical person: Someone who can see through creativity and grand ideas and make rational decisions. They will help you with your time management and strategy.

The Technical person: I couldn’t do without my IT wizard, you need someone who can troubleshoot key IT issues, design PDFs and adverts… plus it takes the stress away from everyone else in the team.

The sales person: Nobody can sell your product better than you, but have a wing man to take the pressure off you certainly helps. The can drive sales, help maintain motivation to sell and ease pressure on your to continuously perform.

The Wordsmith: Having a writer/social person who can write your content, manage social media and design marketing campaigns really helps. This pushes the business forward and helps engage new customers.

How do you like to spend your time off?

I love nothing better than pottering about in the sunshine, with a glass of wine in hand and sharing great times with friends and family. Good wholesome time with friends, with laughter and good food… unless they’re rubbish cooks, in which case eating out it is!

What is the single most critical talent you possess in your role as a business owner?

I have boundless energy and enthusiasm, I love nothing more than sharing amazing customer service with my clients. I am not motivated by money, I’m motivated by delivering exceptional service. After 12 years of retail troubleshooting, I know customer is king and I will treat them as such.

Your 2pm meeting has been cancelled, meaning you now have a two-hour lunch break. What do you do?

Long lunch, in a fabulous quiet foodie spot in Bath… tapping away at emails and twitter. When you run your own business, there is no such thing as lunch breaks, just working whilst munching fab food.

Describe Bath in three words....

Foodie, Creative & Engaging (just like me)

What has been your biggest achievement to date?

Launching Taste of Bath 6 weeks before Christmas… hardest time of my life, but exceptionally rewarding. There was no point launching a hamper business after Christmas! So by jove we just got stuck in and DID it. Plus the customers loved it, we sold 50+ hampers in 2 weeks.