Cridland told Business News Daily about the experience of founding his own company at age 23 and discussed his vision of where it is heading next.
Tom Cridland: Tom Cridland makes luxury clothing by hand.
BND: How long have you been in business?
Cridland: A year and a half.
BND: Did you start with a formal business plan? If not, how did you lay the groundwork for your business?
Cridland: I've only written one business plan ever, and this was to secure the paltry £6,000 ($9,120) that I started with from the government startup loan scheme — which is not to say that I'm not extremely grateful for the wonderful opportunity this small amount of money gave me.
BND: How did you finance your endeavors, both initially and as your business grew?
Cridland: I started, as I mentioned, with the startup loan, and then have simply reinvested money we've made along the way. I've been loath to give away any equity at all thus far.
BND: How much did you invest personally?
Cridland: As a recently graduated University of Bristol student, I had no money to invest personally, but as the Tom Cridland brand has grown organically through sales, I've always tried to reinvest as much profit as possible.
BND: Is your business today what you originally envisioned at the outset, or has it changed significantly over time?
Cridland: Tom Cridland started off as a brand specializing in trousers and pants. We are working up to a full line, but I don't want to rush into anything, and this is what we also planned to do. We spent a year meticulously developing our next products, The 30 Year Sweatshirt and T-Shirt. When it comes to designing the next product, which I'm working on now, the creative slate is always wiped clean, as it would be foolish to pre-plan our next projects too far in advance.
BND: What are some lessons you've learned? Is there anything you would've done differently?
Cridland: The biggest lesson I've learned is don't do serviced retail, such as paying a retailer to stock you regardless of sales. This effectively constitutes daylight robbery.
BND: What were the most important factors that contributed to your success?
Cridland: Loving what I do and having the freedom to set my own working hours are crucial. I've worked very hard on the Tom Cridland brand, and I still have fire in my belly to achieve more.
BND: What are the next steps you want to take as a business owner? How do you see yourself achieving those goals?
Cridland: I'm not looking further ahead than the end of 2016 at the moment, as we're still such a young brand, but that has been planned out. We're opening a shop in London, touring the U.S., hosting a high-profile charity event and releasing three new products, which I'm very excited about.
BND: What is your best advice to someone with a great business idea who is ready to give it a shot?
Cridland: Don't listen to anyone who tries to force you to become an accountant instead. Go for it!