Georgie Francis:
White Cotton Cards
by Christine Toner

When Georgie Francis was growing up in Guildford, Surrey, her main interest at school wasn't boys or gossip like you might expect of a teenage girl. Instead, Georgie's concentration was always focused on art. It was in the art room that she was most confident.

"At school, I could always be found in the art room," Georgie remembers. "I was always the last to know any gossip. Every moment I had free I was working as hard as I could to design more, make more sculptures and paint more pictures than anyone else."

Georgie's determination to be the best paid off and her artistic style continued to develop throughout her school years. Then, after leaving school, she attended Wimbledon Art College. Now aged 25, Georgie has turned her talent into a successful business known as White Cotton Cards.

Greeting the Public
It was while she was at the college that Georgie decided her artistic talents had the potential to be more than just a hobby. But she wasn't sure how to market her skills. "I thought selling paintings would be very hard," Georgie says. "So I decided to enter the popular culture/consumer market instead."

To test the market, Georgie began designing and selling handmade greetings cards. "I felt this was the best way to develop a commercial style and see what kind of art sold on greeting cards."

As her confidence grew, Georgie starting touting her cards to local shops. Before long she was receiving orders from most of the shops in her neighbourhood. Then one of the store owners suggested that it might be good for her to attend a trade show at Earls Court.

Leaping into Action
At that point, White Cotton Cards was just a small home-based business, so taking part in the trade show was a big step for Georgie. "It was well worth it," she says. "I managed to take orders worth over £10,000." Then for the next month, she had to work every day from 9am until 2 or 3am the following morning to fill those orders.

After a few more exhibitions that year, Georgie took on agents who wanted to sell her line of greeting cards all over England. Before long, her London agent had managed to get White Cotton Cards into Harvey Nicks, Selfridge's, Harrod's and Paperchase.

Overcoming a Lack of Experience
Despite being creatively talented, Georgie had almost no business training or experience, so her sudden success was a bit overwhelming. "I asked the Prince's Trust for help, and they gave me a mentor who helped me with problems like accounts, VAT, etc. I would strongly recommend this organization to anyone who is thinking of starting a business."

According to Georgie, the most important quality for success as an entrepreneur is self belief. "I was always the shyest girl at school, and doing what I have done has completely shocked quite a few people. But I was always certain about my ideas in the art room. And I never wanted to work for someone else — I wanted to sell my own creations."

It's clear that others believe in Georgie, too. Since 2004, Georgie has beat off stiff competition from heavyweights such as Hallmark and Marks & Spencer's and won two 'Henries" — prestigious industry awards for the best handmade cards in the UK.

Ready for the Next Challenge
Despite her current success, Georgie is already aiming higher. "I'm not very good at just plodding along. I'm still developing all the time and thinking about more exciting things I might do in the future," she explains. She's already expanded her product line to include giftware and wedding stationery and is looking at possibly adding toys and baby clothing.

So has all her effort been worth it? "You do have to put in 110% if you want to succeed, and sometimes even give up things like social life and boyfriends for a while," Georgie admits. "But now five years down the road, the company pretty much runs itself. So yes, the hard work has definitely paid off!"