What distinguishes your business from competitors?
Our tan is designed for really pale Irish skin. We developed it six years ago and at the time there was very little on the market suitable for Irish skin tones.

We also have a flight-friendly version of our product which is quite unique. It is one of our biggest sellers as it’s just 100ml so perfect for carry-on luggage.

We always wanted to bring tan with us on trips abroad and were sick of having to discard the larger bottles at airport security.

What's been the biggest challenge you have had to face?
We used to manufacture our product in the UK and were advised to make it more "Irishy". We pulled all the manufacturing from the UK and put shamrocks on our packaging. This went against us in the UK as we had a lot of salon customers there, so we had to make the packaging more generic.

Cash-flow has also been a challenge for us, as you need to have enough money to honour big orders. A few years ago we had a very large order and we didn't have enough cash to pay for the products to be manufactured so we had to get the money from the company upfront.
And your major success to date?
Getting our product into pharmacies nationwide.

We entered the market as a professional product targeting salons, and now we are in 600 pharmacies across the country as well as salons in the UK.

What's the biggest mistake you've made in business?
We got 10,000 boxes printed and there was a typo. It was supposed to say "friendly" but it said "fliendly". It was a pricey mistake as we were just starting out and had to get all the boxes printed again. It was completely my fault and I triple check everything now.

What was the best piece of business advice you've ever received?
My Dad told me not to spend outside what I have, and not to borrow too much. As a result, Fran and I started small and built the business slowly. We only launched one product at a time.

Who do you most admire in business and why?
I read fashion designer Cath Kitson's biography recently which detailed her business strategy.

She started out small and overcame a lot of obstacles to create a huge international brand, which I really admire.

Judy Naaké, who is best-known for bringing the St Tropez self-tanning range to Europe, is also very inspiring. She started off by selling fake tan from her car boot and built the brand into a market leader in the UK. She later sold the business for £70 million.

What piece of advice would you give to the Government to stimulate the economy?
There should be more courses and advice available, not only on starting up businesses, but also regarding the day-to-day running of them.

We got some surprise bills when we first set up the business, which we were not expecting.

There are a lot of hidden costs involved in setting up a business. We went from working as beauty therapists to running our own business, dealing with designers and manufacturers, product testing, marketing and doing taxes. There was a lot to learn in a short space of time.

Do you think the banks are open for business at the moment?
If you are struggling in any way they don't want to help.

When I first opened a salon eight years ago it was much easier to talk to someone in the bank and build a relationship with them. Now it’s much harder as everyone keeps moving around.

We have always tried to avoid bank loans. When we bring our product to America we will probably need financial help. I think we might go down the investor route instead of to the bank though.

How do you see the short-term future for your business?
Our product is very well-known thankfully, as the market is now flooded with tanning brands. It would be very difficult to come in with a new product now.

We have gone back to basics and are currently concentrating on getting more salon accounts.

We also want to get into pharmacies in the UK. The fact we are in so many salons there should help as we have built up a good reputation.

We hope to be selling our product in America within the next year. We are getting a lot of interest from the US as our branding is very American.

How much is your business worth and would you sell it?
I'm not sure what it's worth but it's definitely worth a lot more now than it was five years ago.

If it got too big we would probably sell it as it would be too much pressure. We would also need a huge cash-flow to manage large orders.

In conversation with Pamela Newenham