Business owner Maria’s top three tips for budding entrepreneurs

We caught up with Maria Hopwood, owner of The Stripes Company, who shared her top tips for running a small business.

The Stripes Company offers a range of striped deckchair canvas along with interior fabrics, trimmings and accessories for beach, home and garden. They have borrowed over £175,000 across 3 Funding Circle business loans since January 2011 to help with cashflow.

Maria ran a successful antique shop in Chester when she spotted the striped fabric business opportunity while on holiday in India in 2007. Fast forward to 2015, and Maria has expanded The Stripes Company ecommerce site to America and recently announced a partnership with The White Company. Her striped fabric has been featured in Downton Abbey, Channel Four’s ‘Sunday Brunch’ and used by Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and the English National Ballet. Business is booming.

In this short video you’ll meet Maria and find out why she believes advice is key to a successful business and why she’s not ruling anything out.

These are her three top tips:

• Take all the advice you can
• Find sound financial advice
• Don’t be afraid to take risks

If, like Maria, you’re looking for business loan, You can check your eligibility online in just 30 seconds.

Apply online and a member of our team will get back to you within 2 working days.

We’ve helped more than 8,000 businesses in the UK and US access finance for a range of finance needs.