Will King founded male grooming brand King of Shaves in 1993.
Since then, the brand's holding company, KMI, has acquired personal
grooming brands including Ted Baker and Fish, and is expected to
have a turnover topping £200m by 2012.
In this video interview the King of Shaves founder Will King tells
us his brand creation story and how trying his girlfriend's bath
oil as a replacement to shaving foam led him to found King of
Shaves. He talks about the big challenges he faced whilst trying to
raise finance and how he supported his business idea through the
help of friends and family and unsecure loans.
The successful entrepreneur talks about product differentiation
and how one of the biggest challenges that faced King of Shaves was
the lack of product awareness which, due to the internet being in
its early stages and the lack of interest in male skincare, took a
long time to improve. Will King refers to his marketing
strategies, an underground campaign with men dressed up as kings
and how his brand benefitted from publicity from the likes of
Princess Diana.
King also talks about his experience of securing a URL, why using
his personality to promote King of Shaves has been greatly helpful,
and expanding overseas to the US. He offers advice to small
businesses and entrepreneurs on international expansion and why an
exit plan needs to be a by-product to your overall business
goal.
Will King is speaking at the smarta way to do
business LIVE at the British Library on February 28. Book your
ticket to see Will here.