ET Games, of Dragon’s Den fame, produce handmade wooden games. The company was started on a shoe string by David Harvey in 2009, with Ben Lewis joining that Christmas. The pair now sells into design and gift shops across the UK, as well as from their own website and at Christmas fairs.
Ben Lewis talks to PayPal about running a small business for the PayPal Small Business Spotlight, which highlights some of PayPal's most successful businesses.
PayPal: What have been your greatest successes?
Ben Lewis: We’ve kept our values as we’ve grown, and are hugely proud of the ethical supply chain we’ve established. We have a good relationship with our fair trade suppliers in India who make our games but who also work to improve the work, education and health standards of the craftsmen and women that work on the games. Closer to home we are hugely proud of our UK supply chain for Bridget, our new strategy game. We use skilled artisans from all over the country to make the game, with the final stages of production
happening in two UK prisons.
PP: What advice would you give to other small businesses and those thinking of taking the plunge and creating a start-up?
BL: Start small and get it right before you build up your business. Our first order was for 200 games, which we mainly sold at Greenwich market and via a very simple website we had built. The packaging was very basic and we did the videos and photos for the website ourselves. With each new order we would tweak and develop the design and we slowly took on more fixed costs and outsourced more tasks as we grew.
PP: When did you start using PayPal Here?
BL: We started using
PayPal Here at our first big Christmas fair this year. We have tried other options but had previously been frustrated with PDQ machines; they rarely had signal and were slow and complicated to reconcile with our accounts. PayPal Here was a simple and cost effective alternative, with no mysterious fee add-ons. It's also reduced our fixed monthly costs, because the card reader is a one off payment. Plus it’s much more flexible as we can use it with multiple mobile phones which helps if one phone lacks signal or if we need to take multiple payments.
PP: How have customers reacted to PayPal Here?
BL: Customers have been very impressed by the new set up, especially as they have often had problems at previous stalls making payments with the PDQ machines. They also like the paperless receipts which mean they can keep their receipt on their phone or email.