Entrepreneur’s Diary welcomes CEO Ros Simmons

Tuesday, June 23, 2009 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
| Tags: Ros Simmons, women, income, VIE, Diary, Entrepreneur's Diary

For the next 12 weeks, we’ll be following two entrepreneurs – one male, one female – as they go about their work, delving behind the scenes of CEO life and seeing how they deal with the challenges of steering a business through the recession. First up is our female entrepreneur, Ros Simmons, co-owner of direct sales company VIE at home.

Entrepreneur’s Diary Week 1 – Ros Simmons Q&A

Can you introduce yourself with a quick elevator pitch?
I’m the CEO and co-owner of VIE at home. I look after 10,000 self-employed consultants, 15 retail stores and a head office support team in sunny Sussex.

In a line, what does VIE at home do?
We’re a direct sales company – we design and develop VIE cosmetics and skincare, jewellery and homeware, mainly sold by party plan.

What are VIE at home’s vital statistics?
VIE at home is the largest direct sales party plan business in the UK with 10,000 consultants and more than 1.5 million transactions a year.

What stage is the company at?
A new era! We’ve just completed a management buy-out from Virgin. We’ve been able to relaunch the business, starting with the new commission and income plan for our consultants, moving to a new channel strategy – away from retail and towards direct selling – and expansion into Germany, the Middle East and the US.

What is your vision for the business?
In the UK – our main market – we need to continue to give great value for money, particularly in these challenging times. Christmas is a key time for us – and for many retailers – so we’re getting ready to have a strong recruiting and selling period, supported by solid PR and promotional campaigns.

We’ve just bought another direct sales company, so we’ll be making sure those consultants are made to feel part of our company.

Internationally, we’re also working on a major launch in Germany, which could eventually be bigger than the UK in terms of sales. We’ve just recruited joint MDs and a country manager, so now we’re working on the finer details to make sure the launch is a success.

What style of entrepreneur would you say you are?
My business partner, Ratan Daryani, and I complement each other in terms of strategy and business focus.  What drives me to succeed is the knowledge that what we do directly affects other people’s – the consultants’ – incomes. I also have an attitude of ensuring we always deliver the best! It’s wanting to do the best job you possibly can, and encouraging others to follow that vision.

Three words that describe you?
Positive, challenging, fair.

What does a typical working week involve?
Very varied. The start of the week is internal operations meetings, reviewing the past week’s performance, and working with my senior managers on key projects to ensure they’re given clear direction to move forward on time.

It’s always very sales-focused, meeting with my sales team, working on future promotions, at the same time ensuring we reward success – our business is very much centred around recognition.

I also meet with our suppliers on a regular basis. I like to keep up to date on trends, new products, opportunities… I love ‘new’!

How do you switch off from the pressures of work? Any guilty pleasures?
I switch off very easily: I love my garden, love watching sport… Yes, I know I’m in cosmetics but I love virtually all sports – especially cricket. Guilty pleasure… Oh dear. It’s shoes and handbags.

Do you watch The Apprentice or Dragon’s Den? 
Yes, have watched both and love both. But I know it’s made for TV so not really real life! Loved the last episode where Kate and Yasmina had to create a new chocolate box – a real live episode on New Product Development!

What can we expect you to be writing about in the three months of your Entrepreneur’s Diary?
Gearing up to Christmas, starting with holding a sales meeting for more than 800 consultants in August. The launch in Germany in September. New product development plans for 2009/10. And a USA launch plan for 2010.

What, do you think, will be your unique perspective?
Well, running a largely female business, both at head office and in the sales teams, may provide a different perspective. Forget the stereotypes, but women are amazing at multi-tasking and getting the job done, often in a non-aggressive, persuasive way!

Ask the entrepreneur! Is there anything in particular you’d like to ask Ros? Post in the comments below and we’ll pass them on.