South St Founder: Launching In London Cost Me Millions, "This Was My Hardest year In Business"
South St founder Harley Booth tells Kyle Traynor what changed when an Australian fashion business opened in London. She describes the gap between opening excitement and sustained demand, unexpected costs and the need to slow expansion while improving systems. Notes cover selected business passages from the full public auto-captions of this September 2023 conversation. Store plans, shipping times and cost comparisons describe the business at that time, not its current footprint or general legal/tax rules. Personal distress, family-life and confidence advice are not summarized.
Executive Summary (TL;DR)
South St founder Harley Booth tells Kyle Traynor what changed when an Australian fashion business opened in London. She describes the gap between opening excitement and sustained demand, unexpected costs and the need to slow expansion while improving systems. Notes cover selected business passages from the full public auto-captions of this September 2023 conversation. Store plans, shipping times and cost comparisons describe the business at that time, not its current footprint or general legal/tax rules. Personal distress, family-life and confidence advice are not summarized.
Key Takeaways
London was a new startup
She expected the London store to take off like Pacific Fair and Chadstone, but after the opening rush it was like starting a brand new brand again, and she calls her expectation naive.