Niki Munro runs House of Rothach, a fabulous candle and home fragrance company based in Scotland. She describes herself as founder, owner, maker, everything'er which is probably one of the reasons she has been recognised as part of the #SmallBiz100 2020! When you read Niki's post it is clear that she really is running a business built on passion.
House of Rothach - Niki Munro
Tell us a little bit about your business.
House of Rothach is a candle and home fragrance company based in Ayrshire, Scotland. Our founder Niki works from her home workshop where she plans, designs, and creates our products whilst keeping focused on using sustainably and ethically sourced ingredients when and where possible. We have a beautiful range of timeless and classic and unique scents which have been designed to lift, level, and calm the senses regardless of gender, age or style.
What inspired you to set up your business?
I’m quite a creative person and knew I wanted to set up a business from that. I wasn’t sure what type of business it would be though – I had been playing around with a few ideas.
What I had been doing for some time is making candles at home just for me as I was never entirely happy with the ones I was buying….and I spent a lot of money on candles as I burn them every night. I have always been fascinated the way scent plays a part in our emotions and memories, so I started giving them out to friends and family to get some feedback - the response I got was amazing. Then the lightbulb moment happened!
What gave you the final nudge/ push to go for it?
I made up a small batch of candles to take to a local market to see if anyone would stop and want to smell them but was overjoyed that people actually wanted to buy them. I knew then that if people liked what I put out on that day (looking back it was very….erm, rustic) then I could work on the products, style and overall brand to improve and make a proper business out of it. I decided that day that I was going for it!
What has been your biggest challenge to date?
One of the biggest challenges is finding time to fit everything in. I have three jobs at the moment; 2.5 days a week (business administrator for an aerospace company), 1 day a week because I’ve been doing it for 23 years (self-employed foot care professional - qualified as a chiropodist in 2007) and House of Rothach the rest of the time – this one’s growing in the right direction and at a steady pace….and I’m absolutely loving it and running with it every moment of spare time I have!
My diary is my best friend as it reminds me what hat I’ve got on when I get up in the morning!
Describe your greatest success/ the thing you are most proud of?
I knew when I started that I wanted to try and offer something which is unique to House of Rothach, so I set about creating three scents based upon memories of places and smells of places in and around Scotland. I am so proud to say that these fragrances now outsell the other generic scents. It took weeks and weeks to settle on the names and they are: The Rural Glens, The Urban Parks, and The Country Gardens.
What motivates you to keep forging ahead with your business?
The feedback and reviews I receive from my customers, the lovely comments I get when out at events and the support and encouragement from fellow small businesses is just the best ever. I’m still amazed and completely overwhelmed when posting the orders out that people have actually chosen to spend their money on MY products, and I will never stop feeling that.
Thank you so much to Niki for sharing her story with us here at Cat's Pajamas. We always feel inspired hearing about the journeys of others.
If you would like to find out more about House of Rothach you can visit:
Instagram - @houseofrothach
Facebook - @houseofrothach
Twitter - @HORothach
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