FEATURE
Ambition – Victoria Lynch aims to crack the US market for her award-winning hair extensions business .
The answer was to create her own brand , with Additional Lengths being launched in June 2003 , 10 years after Victoria left school .
She completed a Level 3 course in hairdressing at Stockton Riverside College , as well as achieving a teaching qualification , while juggling the newly launched fledgling business .
There was precious little time for letting her hair down : “ It was a crazy time ,” she admits . “ I did everything myself – marketeer , accountant , MD , hairdresser , product developer .
“ I showed my business plan to the bank and was told it wasn ’ t viable , but I knew it was a question of when I was successful . I don ’ t do failure .”
She sought help from the Prince ’ s Trust in Middlesbrough , where a mentor advised on the basics of setting up a business , and she was given an interest-free loan of £ 1,500 plus a £ 500 grant .
Hours were spent at Stockton Library , working through Yellow Pages adverts for hairdressers from Newcastle to Sheffield , so she could send them leaflets .
It took five days for the phone to ring and , when it did , her first customer was close to home – Poppy ’ s Hair and Beauty , in Stockton , bought one packet of weft hair extensions .
First year turnover of £ 15,000 was reinvested in new products , stored in her parents ’ loft , and Victoria became the first in the UK to sell stick tip hair extensions .
TO BE SUCCESSFUL , YOU HAVE TO BE ALL IN . WE ’ VE GOT THE WORLD AT OUR FINGERTIPS NOW , SO THERE ’ S NOTHING YOU CAN ’ T ACHIEVE WITH THE RIGHT IDEA AND DRIVE .”
Within two years , the business became too big for the bedroom , so Victoria moved into her first business premises – in Norton Road , Stockton . By then , she had her first employee , and was pregnant with the first of her two children .
“ People make the mistake of staying in the present – if you want to grow , you have to plan ahead ,” she says .
When the business outgrew Norton Road , Victoria moved to Maxwell ’ s Corner , in Stockton , and the momentum continued over the next 14 years .
By 2020 , with Victoria employing 15 staff , it was time for another move . In February , she got the keys for a site
16 | Tees Business