AS controversy rages about banks’ treatment of small firms, we hear from a business which found the decision to take an innovative approach to raising start up funding paid off.

Name:

Kris Reid.

Age:

26.

What is your business called?

Tens.

Where is it based?

Merchant City, Glasgow.

What does it produce?

We design, manufacture and sell a range of filter sunglasses online.

To whom does it sell?

To date we have sold pairs to 100+ countries via our website.

What is its turnover?

Enough to have persuaded Richard Branson to invest in the business.

How many employees?

Seven members of staff and we work with a wide network of freelancers.

When was it formed?

The concept of Tens came about during a road trip through the Highlands a few years ago with my two good friends Marty Bell and Tom Welsh. They both have a background in filmmaking and photography and together we joked about being able to Photoshop the miserable grey skied view in front of us during the journey. This conversation eventually led to us taking on the challenge of developing a pair of sunglasses that featured a custom filtered lens that offered a warm, sense heightening view, instead of what we felt was the cold, desaturated tint that came with regular sunglasses. We worked on the project in our spare time and finally after a lot of hard work and perseverance, we launched in May 2014.

Tens are designed in Scotland and completed in China using wireframe sourced from Japan and acetate from Italy.

Why did you take the plunge?

We always imagined working on a project together because of our complementary skill sets and we genuinely thought Tens would be a product people would really enjoy. There were moments where we thought the business wouldn’t happen; mainly due to the difficulties we had with developing our lens tint. However, there would always be at least one of us trying to keep the project alive as we were convinced it had potential.

What were you doing before you took the plunge?

I worked freelance in marketing and events, predominantly for major music festivals in the UK such as RockNess and Creamfields..

How did you raise the start-up funding?

The overall costs for producing sunglasses are high, therefore launching the business using our money was completely out of the question. We decided to launch a pre-order campaign via crowdfunding platform Indiegogo. The response to our launch far exceeded our expectations as we raised over £370,000 in pre-orders. We’ll always be extremely thankful for the early adopters who helped get Tens off the ground.

What was your biggest break?

Securing investment last year from Sir Richard Branson. His spirit of adventure and entrepreneurship is completely aligned with our brand and he has been an idol of ours for some time.

What do you most enjoy about running the business?

Our video productions. We take huge pride in the content and it’s probably the activity where the whole team works best together.

What do you least enjoy?

Working with numbers is by far my weakest skill and least favourite task in the office.

What are your ambitions for the firm?

We would love to open our own stores in the future. Last summer we opened a two month pop-up in Covent Garden and the response was amazing. There are lots of exciting developments happening behind the scenes with the help of Richard and his team at Virgin too.

What could the Westminster and/or Scottish governments do that would help?

The Scottish Government have been very supportive of Tens; particularly Scottish Enterprise and Business Gateway. The latter helping us with strategic support when it came to putting together an internationalisation plan, which has helped us enter overseas markets.

I strongly feel entrepreneurship should be introduced at a far younger age and starting your own business should be encouraged. Going to college or university isn’t the answer for everyone.

What was the most valuable lesson that you learned?

To spend less time living in an email culture and more time away from the computer focusing on the objectives that really matter for the business.

It’s incredible what you can achieve if you just learn that it’s okay to say no to certain opportunities. I now make a conscious effort to prioritise which emails need a response compared to those which can wait.

How do you relax?

Being from the Highlands, I like to escape the city and get outdoors. I love motorsport and I’m a regular gig/festival goer.