Latest / Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast) / How a 20k investment turned into 4.4 million in just 3 years, with Hayley Worley, Founder of bedding mecca The Sheet Society

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How a 20k investment turned into 4.4 million in just 3 years, with Hayley Worley, Founder of bedding mecca The Sheet Society · Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast)

• 0:00
  This is Hayley Worley for Female Startup Club. Hi guys, welcome back to another episode of Female Startup Club. I'm your host, Doona Rasheen, and today I'm chatting with Hayley Worley, the woman behind the Sheet Society.
• 0:23
  The Sheet Society is in the business of forging sweet dreams and disrupting the global sleep industry, growing over a staggering 300% in just 12 months. Born out of a desire to make purchasing bed linen uncomplicated and accessible, while also giving customers an extension of their personal style and making sheet shopping sexy, Hayley and her husband Andy started the Sheet Society in 2017 with just $20,000.
• 0:50
  Fast forward to 2020 and the betting mecca is set to turn over $4.4 million this financial year. This is Hayley for Female Startup Club. Amazing. Well, thanks for being on the show. I would love to hear about the origins of the Sheet Society and when you had that light bulb moment that you wanted to do this company.
• 1:13
  Yeah, I guess I worked for a small business before I started the Sheik Society. And I just loved that every day was different. I was doing design, I was doing production, but I was opening a store and kind of just loved that hustling environment. And so I just knew that I didn't want to just be pigeonholed into the one job. So I kind of always knew that starting a business was for me. So yeah, I guess I just took the leap and made it happen.
• 1:44
  How come you went into betting though? Like, did you have an interest in that category or had you noticed a gap in the market? What led you there? Yeah, probably a gap in the market. So I've always been in clothing and production and sort of around colors and fabrics. And I just completely fell out of love of the fashion game. We were working for a fast fashion retailer and it was always like, you know, who were the celebrities? What are the celebrities wearing? And I remember the moment exactly. It was right after the Met Ball and the girls at work were like, oh my God, did you see what Gigi had did?
• 2:17
  And I just knew that I needed to get out of there. It wasn't for me anymore. And so, yeah, I was just kind of, I wanted to be in fabrics and colors and still around that environment. And I just kind of thought, yeah, I could probably do that in the bedding space. And no one was really catering for, I guess, dressing your bed and kind of, it was around about the time when blush pink was really cool.
• 2:40
  And I remember I bought like blush shoes, blush t-shirt, and I just wanted to have blush sheets. And I was like, well, no one's really doing like this on-trend bedding. So I kind of just had that light bulb moment. And I remember telling a few of my friends and they're like, what? You're going to make bed sheets? That's weird.
• 2:59
  And I was like, guys, just wait, it's going to be really cool. Just just stay with me. And I remember we launched with like that beautiful blush pink and we had like a really lovely blush suede. And we had this beautiful terracotta color, which I got from inspired by the Timberland boot that everyone was wearing at that stage.
• 3:17
  And so, yeah, just brought it to life, really, in terms of like our marketing campaigns. We were showing like messy beds and guys with shirts off. And yeah, it wasn't until I guess I had all the product and the imagery that I could really articulate it to people about what the brand actually was.
• 3:36
  And I guess you also had that price point difference where you weren't kind of like you were creating a premium product but not at the premium price point. It was like affordable. Well, I mean, if you look at the sheet industry, it's so broken. I mean, you've got like products.
• 3:51
  big plays in the industry that are saying that a set of sheets should be $500, but it's reduced down to $170. And there was just this, I guess, discount mentality around buying sheets. And a lot of people just wouldn't buy them unless they're on clearance, unless they're on sale. And
• 4:07
  And so we just wanted to kind of throw that out the window. And a big part of what's made our brand successful is that we don't sell them in sets. Like I would buy a set of sheets and I'd never use a flat sheet because I couldn't be bothered washing it. Or I remember buying a quilt cover and doing a set and I took it away on holiday. And then I think I lost a pillow. And then it meant I couldn't ever use that again because it wasn't matching anymore. And so we sell everything as separates. And it's kind of like...
• 4:34
  carefree approach to buying bedding, honest pricing, and then that mix and match mentality too. So you can really dress your bed like you would yourself. All our colours go together and you can really piece together your bed like you would an outfit. Wow. And were you able to take your background from the fashion label and like take the production and the manufacturing learnings that you'd had there and implement them into the new business?
• 5:02
  Yeah, definitely to an extent. I mean, sheets are all about the fabric, so that was really key for me. And that was kind of the easy bit. I guess if I look at launching a brand that design and productions time, that was, you know, my bread and butter. So that happened quite quickly. It wasn't until I got the product here that I was like, crap, I don't even know how to do any marketing. Like what do I do now?
• 5:27
  I've got all these sheets here, but like what happens now? Oh my gosh. How many sheets did you have? I think there were like five pallets of sheets that arrived. Because they're so big and bulky, right? And I was like, oh, how do I sell these? What do I do now? And I guess for me, that was when the fun really kicked off. And I remember I was working two jobs at the time.
• 5:49
  you know, get my online orders. I would go to Officeworks in the morning. I would print out my labels. I would go to the storage shed and I would pack up the orders and put them in my car, go to work. On my lunch break, I would go up to the post office and post them. And then it would kind of all just repeat again like that. And I think after two months of just doing that and juggling, I was like, oh, I just can't do this anymore. I've got to, I've like invested all my money into buying these sheets. I need to invest all my time into really selling them and growing the business.
• 6:18
  So I remember the day that I quit my job and I came home and told my husband and he was like, what? You can still pay rent, right? And I was like, yeah, I'll figure that out. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Big moment. Big moment for you.
• 6:34
  Um, I read that you started the business with $20,000 in capital. I imagine that would have gone to getting the product or that kind of thing, but did it also go towards marketing and what were you doing in those early days to find your customers?
• 6:49
  Yeah, like none of that money went towards marketing because I didn't really know what marketing was. So, I mean, they say, you know, you've got you've got to invest startup capital. And I guess that word is just so OK. It's so definitive, right? This is the money you need to start. And so I spent all that money on product and I got the product here and I was like.
• 7:07
  okay, I probably need more money to then try and sell it. So it made me really lean in that regard. I kind of had a digital marketing strategy and I really just had to go in there myself. And I remember setting up a Facebook ad account and, you know, running my own ads in the beginning. And it's just such a powerful tool. Like anyone anywhere can jump onto business manager and, you know,
• 7:32
  you know, post some photos, boost them or, you know, build out a little sales funnel. And we were just monitoring it daily. I would put in, you know, $100 and then at the end of the day, okay, how much did I get back? Okay, that didn't work. Try something again tomorrow. Try a different tactic. Try a different audience.
• 7:49
  And I was just living like hand to mouth, like every bit of money I put into this platform, I needed to get it out. And I think that's really given us a good sounding board for how we can scale because all of our marketing money is accountable. It's not like a marketing budget where you spend that and then you hope it comes back. It's like daily. Okay. It did
• 8:13
  didn't it work? What didn't it work? You know, let's try and find more money to spend more money tomorrow. So yeah, it's, it's been really fun. It's so it's almost like gambling in a way, trying to find different customers on Facebook, but when it works, it's really, really fun. What were the kinds of things in those early days that were, you know, the big levers like that you would wake up and be like, oh my gosh, we had hundreds of orders or, or, and you know, you saw that change in the business. What were the kinds of things that led to that?
• 8:43
  Yeah, I think it was our social media. Like in the back of your mind, I think everyone in our demographic is like, fuck, I probably should wash my sheets. Like how long has it been? I need to be a proper adult. And so I guess no one's been marketing sheets to that demographic. So when you're showing our audience a picture of a beautiful bed or like a puppy on a bed, it's kind of like that moment like, oh,
• 9:07
  oh, okay, I probably should buy this now. So it's kind of like right place, right time with our marketing and just being really responsive to that is what made it work in the early days.
• 9:19
  Yeah, your sheets and your content on social media is absolutely stunning. It looks so comfy. I was looking at, you know, those pictures that you have online where the beds are towards the windows and you can see out and it's really light and really soft and fluffy. I'm like, oh, yeah, that looks good. Yeah, definitely. It's like where you'd rather be. Yeah.
• 9:42
  I want to talk about something that a lot of people, well, I assume a lot of people struggle with, and that's the tax side of things in the early days. I read that you had found a really great accountant that was good at small business. And I want to talk about your experience in finding someone who could help you in those early days, set up the business properly, get the right numbers, all that kind of thing.
• 10:06
  Yeah, cool. I guess we were lucky when we were looking for an accountant, we were really sure that we needed to find someone that knows the online space and knows how e-com businesses spend money and make money. Because it's a completely different ballgame. I guess your old school accountants wouldn't really understand that.
• 10:28
  you know, how dynamic it can be. You know, you spend, I don't know, $2,000 or $3,000 on Facebook ads that week and then you get the money two days later from your Shopify store. So it just, the pace in which it moves can be really fast. So it's been really integral finding a financial advisor that has that experience. So yeah.
• 10:48
  He's worked with a few e-commerce brands and he's been really great to our success and helping us understand things too. Even in the first year, I remember doing our first financial year accounting and I was like, why don't I have any money? I feel like things are going so well. And he was like, Hayley, all the money you're putting in, you're buying stock. So although you don't have anything to show for it, you've actually got this stock here. And I promise one day it will kind of level out.
• 11:18
  Thank you.
• 11:22
  you know, at the start when we were looking at capital, it was like, okay, let's spend this $20,000 on product. For example, we could make $40,000 off that product, but the reality is you probably only sell half of it. So you're back at 20,000 again, but you need about, you need, you know, $40,000 to buy more. So it's like, where do you get this money from? And when do you hit that ceiling? So just helping us understand the bigger picture and that it's not an overnight success and, you know,
• 11:50
  And you do need to keep putting more money into it. Like startup capital is such a lie because it's like it's ongoing capital and it's like growth capital that you need. It's not this pool of money that you start with and then you won't need to borrow more to scale.
• 12:08
  Yeah. Wow. And did you have to get, you know, loans or angel investment or anything to keep that growth capital pool going? Yeah, definitely. We managed it on a really good combination of different credit cards for a while. There was one stage where I sold my car to fund some stock and was driving around in my mum's car for a few months. But we were really adamant that we didn't want to take investment.
• 12:36
  And I'm really glad that we didn't because I just love that freedom of being able to make our own decisions. And, you know, I guess people taking capital, it comes with that mentoring and there are definitely benefits to it. But with us, yeah, I just love that we're so dynamic. And now that we kind of do have a bit more money behind us, it's up to us how we want to spend it. And, you know, if we want to grow internationally or invest more in, you know, different stores,
• 13:03
  pull those levers now. So yeah, I wouldn't change anything. That's amazing. And I want to quickly just backtrack for one second. What advice do you have for someone looking for an accountant, a good accountant? Like how should people be finding an accountant in the early days? Yeah.
• 13:21
  Definitely word of mouth. I would reach out to, I guess, anyone who's in a similar business or in a similar growth stage of business. And then, yeah, ask them who they use. And then even like interviewing them, you know, talking to them about e-commerce and, you know, how they'd reconcile, you know, digital marketing spends and things like that. And, yeah, having a really good understanding of,
• 13:48
  that they get what your end goal is too. I guess a lot of people start a business because they want to take money out. A lot of people want to start a business because they want to kind of work in the business and watch it grow. So, yeah, it's all about kind of knowing what your goal is and making sure that that's aligned. Yeah, really cool, really interesting.
• 14:11
  I want to switch topics to talk a bit more about your marketing now. I know that you guys have done super well. You're on track to doing nearly four and a half million this year, which is, you know, three years in. That's absolutely incredible. Congratulations, by the way. What are the kind of things you're doing now to acquire customers at scale? Yeah.
• 14:34
  Yeah, I think it's a really interesting one because, you know, people talk about marketing as in like, OK, what little tactics are you doing? Like, how are you optimizing your ads? You know, how are you using email marketing? And all of those things are really great leaders to pull. But I kind of came to me one day when we were trying to optimize copy on our ads and.
• 14:53
  And I was like, do you know what? What if we had just a better product to sell rather than talking about it in a different light? So for us, it's been really important to improve the product as much as we could. And that in itself is really why our marketing is so successful.
• 15:12
  So, you know, our cook covers have a zipper on it, which people love. Like we've got a really thick elastic on our fitted sheet, which people just are obsessed over. Like our pillowcases have an extra deep flap and all of those little things make the customer experience more valuable, which means they talk about it with their friends. And I think that word of mouthpiece has just been so important for us.
• 15:34
  rate is around about, I think, 25%. So, you know, people are loving us and people are coming back. And that's been really successful in our marketing, just having a really good product to sell. Yeah.
• 15:48
  You guys have like a million five-star reviews. It's pretty cool. It's so cool. I was like 300 pages of five-star reviews. All right. I know. And like it's so funny just to see people so passionate about sheets because it's just it's so heartwarming, like those little things in your life that you can get
• 16:07
  just makes so much better, just makes such a huge difference. So, yeah, for us, it's been about improving the product and then the marketing comes from that too. Like if we look at our products, we kind of run our margins a little bit differently because we're fully online online.
• 16:24
  So instead of, I guess, factoring in marketing cost below the line, so after we calculate our margin, we put it at the top. So our first margin is how much we pay for the goods and how much it costs us to sell the goods. And that's our margin. So we always factor in that cost of selling the product into our first margin. So if we can get a word of mouth sale and we haven't had to pay to get them in, that's just so much more valuable for our business. Mm hmm.
• 16:53
  Yeah, I think it's definitely key to be making sure that I think it actually gets lost sometimes that people aren't focused on the building the best possible product that people want to shout about. A lot of people on the podcast actually very much talk about the word of mouth, like success that they've had and because they've built such amazing products. But yeah, I think sometimes people or companies can forget that key part of it.
• 17:17
  Yeah. And I mean, there's so much to think about too, when you go to meetups and talk to other people and, you know, some people will say like email marketing, like you need to focus on this and you need to get this open rate. And that's so important. And then your digital people will say like, Oh, CPC, that's all that matters. And you can just get bogged down in all these different metrics. And as a, as a founder, you're kind of like, okay, well, where do I go? But I think, you know, as a founder, you've got to stay true to yourself and your product. And that's the thing that really should get you over the line. Yeah.
• 17:48
  For sure. What are some of the challenges that you face as a founder at this stage of your business? I guess like from the last few years to now, I've been able to make things happen just by doing more. And I guess being so agile, you know, if I was shooting something and we wanted the shoot to be really successful, I could roll up my sleeves and I could get it done. And, you know,
• 18:10
  And I guess that's what having a startup is all about. But at the moment, like the biggest challenge I've got is kind of growing out a team. And instead of doing, it's switched to leading and making sure that I'm, you know, giving the right messages to my staff and empowering them to make the right decisions and, you know,
• 18:28
  making sure that they can support us on our journey of growing the business. So I never kind of set out to be a leader, which is so crazy to think about. I started the business just because I loved working and I wanted to do what I loved. But it gets to a stage where you're like, OK, I can't just roll up my sleeves and
• 18:48
  anymore. I've got to make sure that everyone else knows what they're doing and I've got to have a clear enough vision to project that. So yeah, I'm finding that really hard, but I'm excited to focus on it and make it better. And, you know, I'm really humble about that too, you know, especially when talking to my team, I'm like, okay guys, I'm not sure what the right thing to do is, but like, what do you guys think? How can I support you? Have you got everything you need? So yeah, I'm really challenged, but I'm also really excited about learning more in that space.
• 19:18
  For sure. Sounds like you'll be a great leader. I want to ask you what your advice is for any women who are looking to start a business or who have a big idea.
• 19:30
  Yeah, I think knowing the market, and that's quite a broad thing to say, but part of the reason why I guess our brand has been so successful is that we've got less barriers to purchase. Like everyone in Australia has a bed. So essentially everyone in the world or in Australia at the moment is our customer.
• 19:54
  I think it's really important to know what your pool of potential customers is and what those barriers would be. So, for example, in fashion, you know, you've got to design something and it's got to be the right style. It's got to be the right fit. It's got to be the right size. You know, you've got all these different barriers, whereas with our product, it's...
• 20:17
  queen bed that's not a queen bed. It never really doesn't look good on you. It's not really the style. So I think by kind of like breaking down those barriers, you know, that's why our business has been so successful. So I think if you're able to think about that really conceptually and understand, you know, what barriers you can jump over before even launching, I think that's really valuable. For sure. Absolutely.
• 20:47
  Oh, amazing. We're up to the six quick questions. Cool. Question number one is what's your why?
• 20:56
  This is such a hard one. I'm probably the worst at articulating. So if I can probably tell you a sentence and it's that feeling that you get after having a long day and you get into your bed and you're like, oh, like there is nowhere else I want to be right now. And you're just so incredibly happy. You know, you might have freshly washed sheets on and it's just like if Duna's giving you a bit of a cuddle and you're like, yes, I'm happy. Yeah.
• 21:26
  And it's just that feeling that's why we do it. And, you know, just that little pleasure you get at the end of the day. And then also on the other end, like when you wake up and you've had a good night's sleep and you wake up and you're like, yeah.
• 21:40
  today um so it's a very long answer but no I love it and I so agree betting is so important betting is like mandatory you can't have crappy betting it's the worst different I totally get it giving that feeling to people all around the country is amazing question number two is what was the number one marketing moment that made your business pop
• 22:09
  I think for me, it was about understanding digital marketing. You know, I don't have a marketing background at all. So, you know, entering into an e-commerce business, I was kind of like, wow, like what is, what's the cost per conversion? Like, what does ROAS mean? Like.
• 22:24
  I can't go a minute further without knowing this. So I think educating myself in that area has just been a game changer. And essentially earlier on running my own ads and understanding what levers I can pull and if results were actually good results.
• 22:42
  has just made such a difference. And even now, I mean, we've got an agency that manage our digital marketing, but knowing, you know, when I have discussions with them, you know, they can't pull the wool over my eyes. And I think a lot of people, you know, are involved in digital marketing and can just get swamped over by all this information. And there's so many metrics that you can look at on, you know, time on site and, you know, conversion rate and where you've
• 23:08
  should switch your focus but yeah just really understanding that has been so important
• 23:15
  Yeah, it's a great skill to have, even if it's not going to be you actually executing. It's really important to understand and to understand the possibilities and as well to kind of figure out that, you know, the loop of you put money in, you get money back, you reinvest it. It's like going around in that amazing, amazing cycle. Yeah. And like the why too, like why is it working and how can I make this better? Yes, 100%, 100%.
• 23:42
  Question number three is where do you hang out to get smarter? Yeah, I don't know. A lot of people say, you know, go to meetups and talk to as many people as you can. And I tried that for a while, but I kind of just felt like all these conversations I was having were so surface level. So I've got a really good group of friends that have e-commerce businesses that aren't competing with mine. So we can have really meaningful conversations about what's working in their business, what's not working in their business. And yeah.
• 24:12
  you know, what their wins were. And I can also just be so open and share mine too. And I feel like that's where I've got the most valuable insights. Yeah, absolutely. For sure. I learned from all the people I speak to too. That's where I'm hanging out to get smarter. Question number four is how do you win the day? And that's around your AM and your PM rituals that keep you feeling happy, fulfilled, successful, productive, productive.
• 24:40
  Yeah, I think I would have answered this question completely different last year. I've just had a young boy. So I had my first son in May last year. So before that, I was kind of so focused in the business. And if you'd asked me, you know, how I win the day, I'd be like, all of my things have been ticked off. And I've like, had all these meetings, and I've just been so successful and really productive.
• 25:03
  all of these wins and I was just so high on achievements and then having a child and going on maternity leave it's just a complete game changer and you'd get to the end of the day and I'd be like oh I haven't achieved a single thing today you know I haven't done the washing I haven't done anything and and it's it's a different type of day and I just realized like I couldn't work
• 25:31
  And it just meant that, you know, winning the day was ending the day happy. And that's all that mattered. It didn't matter how many things you ticked off your to-do list or, you know, how successful you were. It was just that you had had a good day and you were able to appreciate what had happened and just taking it for what it is. And so winning the day is just about being happy no matter what has happened. Yeah.
• 25:59
  that's nice that's a nice way to look at it question number five is if you only had $1,000 left in your business bank account where would you spend it
• 26:10
  Definitely on Facebook ads. And I'd be confident in the return ratio. 100%. 100%. And final question is how do you deal with failure? And that can be around like a personal experience that you want to share or it can just be your general mindset and approach towards it. Yeah, I think in the first year, I mean, you're just working so hard at growing a business and like,
• 26:44
  like, you know, regular sales coming through. And it's so hard because that's the stage that you've worked the hardest. And I feel like you just every day, it's like, okay, you know, I tried really hard today and I just used to have this motto, like, cause the hours were just never enough. And it just used to get to the end of the day, you know, I'd be like, cool. I'll just try again tomorrow.
• 27:04
  And so I'd come home and my husband would be like, how was your day? And I was like, it was fine. I'm going to try again tomorrow. And just having that attitude to be like, cool, you know, today is done, but like tomorrow is a fresh outlook and I'll just keep trying. So it really set me up in a really good mindset to not discount anything as a loss, but just like setting up for, you know, a fresh clean slate the next day.
• 27:31
  Oh, yeah. Love it. One step at a time. Thank you so much for being on the podcast. I love talking to you and learning about your business today. Thank you. It's been really great. Thanks for having me.
• 27:50
  Hey, it's June here. Thanks for listening to this amazing episode of the Female Startup Club podcast. If you're a fan of the show and want even more of the good stuff, I'd recommend checking out femalestartupclub.com where you can subscribe to our free newsletter. We send it out weekly covering female founder business news, insights and learnings in D2C, and interesting business resources.
• 28:14
  And if you're a founder building an e-commerce brand, you can join our private network of entrepreneurs called Hype Club at femalestartupclub.com forward slash Hype Club. We have guests from the show joining us for intimate Ask Me Anythings, expert workshops, and a group of totally amazing, like-minded women building the future of D2C brands.
• 28:37
  As always, please do subscribe, rate and review the show and post your favorite episodes to Instagram stories. I am beyond grateful when you do that.
• 28:53
  Hey, it's June here. Thanks for listening to this amazing episode of the Female Startup Club podcast. If you're a fan of the show and want even more of the good stuff, I'd recommend checking out femalestartupclub.com where you can subscribe to our free newsletter. We send it out weekly covering female founder business news, insights and learnings in D2C, and interesting business resources.
• 29:18
  And if you're a founder building an e-commerce brand, you can join our private network of entrepreneurs called Hype Club at femalestartupclub.com forward slash Hype Club. We have guests from the show joining us for intimate Ask Me Anythings, expert workshops, and a group of totally amazing, like-minded women building the future of D2C brands.
• 29:40
  As always, please do subscribe, rate and review the show and post your favorite episodes to Instagram stories. I am beyond grateful when you do that.