From Sketchbook to Startup: How Nadia Turned Her Designs Into a Business (with a plan!)

  3rd July, 2025

Nadia had always been a sketchbook person.

Even during her job in HR, she filled margins of meeting notes with rough ideas for greeting cards, illustrated mugs, and quirky t-shirt slogans.

Her friends always said, “You should sell these!” But when she was made redundant in 2022, that suggestion suddenly felt like it could be a possibility.

“I didn’t know the first thing about running a business. I knew how to draw, not how to talk about VAT or cash flow.” Nadia confessed

But she also knew she didn’t want to jump into another job just yet. She wanted to try.

One evening, she sat at her kitchen table, Googled ‘how to start a small business UK’, and found herself overwhelmed.

“Everything felt like it was written for accountants or people with business degrees. Not someone like me.”

That’s when she found and joined Founderhut. It offered her a really simple Business Plan Template; a plain-English, editable document that walked her through the big questions without corporate jargon or outdated advice.

It didn’t ask her to know everything up front. Because no one really ever does.

It asked:
- What do you want to sell?
- Who do you think will buy it?
- How will you make money?
- What are the first steps?

“Filling it out was like talking to a future version of myself. It made everything click.”

She realised:
- Her real product wasn’t just drawings, but joyful gifting experiences.
- Her first customers weren’t faceless consumers, they were young professionals buying gifts for friends.
- Her cost estimates were missing packaging and postage.

She rewrote it three times over two weeks. By the end, she had:
- A clear product line
- A supplier list
- Cost projections
- A plan for Etsy and Instagram launch
- A name: The Doodle Club

But what did the plan really do?

Nadia didn’t raise funding. She didn’t apply for grants (yet). But that plan was a turning point.

“It gave me the confidence to say, ‘Yes, this is real.’ When people asked what I was doing, I could answer with pride instead of ‘Oh, I’m just trying something out.’”

Since launching 11 months ago:
- She’s made 700+ sales across two platforms
- She’s stocked in three local shops
- She’s just hired a part-time assistant
- And she’s about to register for VAT (a milestone she once dreaded)

Want to Start Like Nadia?

You don’t need a business degree. You need a conversation with your future self, a tool to guide it and a community of others on that journey

Founderhut offer all of that!

You can download the Business Plan Template (Editable .docx): XXXXXX

It includes:
- Clear prompts for every key section
- Built-in examples
- Guidance notes you can delete as you go

Nadia’s Tip to Future Founders

“Don’t wait to feel legit. Writing the plan made it real. That’s the first win.”