Welcome to our series, 'Meet the entrepreneur', where we sit down with founders, CEOs and the like and get to know the person behind the business.
We hope you enjoy your weekly hit of inspiration from this week’s incredible founder! This week we’ll hear from Jenny Tuton, Founder of UK Bookworms Ltd.
Q: Tell us a bit about the business.
Jenny: After growing frustrated with the price of children’s books, we looked for a way to make reading more affordable for children all over the UK – thus Bookworms Ltd. was born.
When a book goes to press, there is a minimum print requirement and publishers need to forecast how many they will sell to retailers. The RRP makes sure that the publisher doesn’t lose out when they are unable to sell all of the books printed. At Bookworms, we take those leftover books and make them available to children at a fixed, low price! By doing so, not only do we make beloved books affordable to all children, but we’re also doing our bit to ensure these popular titles are not destroyed.
Q: What song would you play on a Monday morning to get you through the Monday blues?
Jenny: I love Greg James on Radio 1! Although Gemma, who works in the warehouse, loves Kisstory so it depends where I’m working as I let her play her favourite music when she’s at work.
If I had to ask Alexa to play any song, it would be Everything Everything, Spring/Sun/Winter/Dread.
Q: What do you do to stay ProActive (please excuse the pun) when times are hard as a business owner?
Jenny: Plan, plan, plan. We have whiteboards all over the office, and we use different colours for different events/days so we can keep ahead of the work coming in.
Q: How do you navigate the digital world as an entrepreneur?
Jenny: Much of this is trial and error – we try to be visible on as many digital platforms as possible and make sure we’re keeping up with technologies, such as mobile-friendly websites.
Q: What's your best IT infrastructure advice to other entrepreneurs when getting their business started?
Jenny: If something is time-consuming, look to automate it. Almost anything can be automated nowadays. The problem is normally cost. Not every improvement is cost-effective but many are.
Q: What are your biggest challenges as a business owner and how have you overcome them?
Jenny: Working hours is a constant battle. Trying to get a balance between being around for the children, but also meeting customers’ demands.
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