Pioneers of Cushte London, Tina Patel and her sisters are some of many to share the apprehension that they were “not ready yet” to start their own business. After mass redundancy and an approach from a willing business partner, the pandemic granted them a fresh perspective on a matter “[they] had been thinking about for a long time.” In the end, they overcame their anxiousness, and decided that “we’ve just got to take the challenge on.” Thus in April 2021, Tina Patel and her sisters founded Cushte London: a table-design & decoration company that has successfully navigated the rapidly transforming startup landscape. But how has the journey been for the three sisters? I interviewed Tina to provide a greater insight into her experience as Creative Director of a startup company during the pandemic. 

 

Before starting her own company, Tina worked in commission reconciliation for a financial vendor: a job she still does now on top of her role in Cushte London. In a time where job stability was largely ambiguous, “a chance to branch out” seemed an enticing offer for many. Unfortunately, there is much more to starting your own business. Aside from immense effort and ingenuity that goes into finding a suitable and profitable niche, there are a whole host of other responsibilities that fall upon business owners. Working another job on top of this requires unwavering commitment and perseverance, something that propelled Tina’s business above other lockdown start-ups. The small-events Cushte London is engaged in, have taken excellent advantage of the pandemic: many families have realised the value of close, intimate events during their time in isolation. Thus as festivities such as birthdays, anniversaries and seasonal events accumulate, there is undoubtedly a greater demand for more personal and informal celebrations. The rise in digital media activity has also significantly benefited her company during lockdown, as social-media platforms such as Instagram place a great deal of importance upon images and aesthetics. As Creative Director, Tina’s role places great emphasis upon stylistic photography in marketing services. She recounts that “almost all” of their customers discovered them through social media, something that she recognises as widely prevalent in the corporate world - “During my work I have begun to realise how important social media really is for businesses.” By adapting to the macroeconomic climate, Tina has managed to successfully embed her unique company within the commercial world.

    

But within an ever-changing business landscape, Tina notes that “what we’ve realised is that we’ve got to push ourselves beyond what we feel comfortable doing.” It is this ingenuity composed with a willingness to adapt to any business opportunity that she notes is a key difficulty to overcome - “I think that’s one important thing I’ve learnt during this journey.” In August, a client approached them for the design and decoration of a mini-wedding. Since the bride was fervent in her requests, they reluctantly accepted the offer, neglecting to promise any substantial results. Contrary to their expectations, they managed to pull off a hugely successful event that opened up their company to a whole new avenue of services. From then on, the company has attracted a variety of new customers that now seek their services for smaller weddings. A recent wedding customer conveys the quality of design and adaptive detail that Cushte London have developed since then: “You captured everything I wanted perfectly and were amazing to work with throughout. The details were absolutely perfect, everyone was commenting on how beautiful things looked, no doubt I’ll come to you both for the next family wedding.”

    

After a terrific start to her entrepreneurship, Tina’s long-term goals (previously thought unachievable) seem closer than ever as her company continues to expand and compile a glowing set of testimonials from all their customers. Thus her aim to “grow to a stage where we can be doing it full time” is almost a certainty as the business continues to learn and improve from every client they recieve. Recently, Tina has begun work on a website for the company: yet another opportunity to showcase beautiful images that encourage customers to approach their services. She recounts that “following the recent social media outage, we’ve realised that relying on a single outlet could be very damaging for the business” - decentralisation of marketing is among the many adaptations Tina hopes to implement in the near future. She also aspires to branch out into corporate events, an endeavour that will undoubtedly help Cushte London build a successful reputation in the table design & decoration industry. 

    

CBS Insights estimates that 95% of startups fail. Against these insurmountable odds, it is easy to back down and express feelings of personal incompetence. Only people who can rise above such feelings of self-doubt can, I think, really achieve a successful business. Thus, the ethos of a small business that so effectively took advantage of a unique opportunity, deserves a huge amount of credit and recognition for achieving a dream that millions strive for every day.