Differentiating your brand in a crowded market is super important - what can we learn from Cucumber Clothing?

Did ladies’ fashion really need another clothing brand? Yes, it seems so.

Being able to differentiate yourself in a cluttered busy marketplace is tough. So the competitive world of ladies’ clothing isn’t the easiest environment for a new fashion start-up.

Despite this, long-term friends Nancy Zeffman and Eileen Willett have turned a side hustle into a successful sustainable clothing brand.

The business started as something fun the ladies could do together, and fit around their existing lives (if you’re a founder, you’ll know that’s not how it turned out). They both enjoyed the comfort of wearing athletic gear, and wanted to have that same comfort in their day-to-day clothing when going out to meet friends, or just being at home.

That was the origin of Cucumber Clothing - everyday luxury clothing that uses performance fabrics, so you have all the benefits athletic gear (keeping cool, it's easy to take care of, it lasts forever) and it looks really great and feels amazing next to your skin. 

After a successful launch, thanks, in part, to early enthusiastic newspaper coverage, the business-couple decided to apply for Dragons' Den, appearing in an episode aired earlier this year.

By spotting a gap in the market, and positioning their new brand in a unique way, Cucumber Clothing has gained national media coverage, rapid sales growth, and attracted an enthusiastic community of shoppers.

I invited Nancy and Eileen to the Starting To Scale podcast so we could talk about how their original dream of a small part-time business has morphed into one of the hottest new sustainable clothing brands for women including:

• The role design consultants play in helping them execute their vision
• How they’ve created a distinctive brand in a crowded market place
• How customer research both before and after launch has influenced their business decisions and product range
• The lucky break at launch that kickstarted their early sales
• The early distribution challenges that lead to them bringing fulfilment in-house

And they shared the inside story of their experience of being on Dragons' Den, including what was involved at each stage, and the benefits they’ve enjoyed, despite being turned down for funding.

You can listen to the podcast in full here:

And tell me in the comments, was your start-up inspired by a need you noticed for yourself, like Nancy and Eileen? Did you wish for a product that didn’t yet exist?

?If you’re a startup Founder, serious about scaling but feeling overwhelmed about the road ahead right now, follow me on LinkedIn, subscribe to my newsletter for useful information and support.

Click here to download my new expert guide NO-STRESS SCALING: HOW TO GO FROM PRE-SEED FUNDING TO ‘SERIES A’ AND BEYOND