A few minutes with… Piers Dickinson – Hyde & Hare

Have you heard of Hyde & Hare? This new, exciting brand, founded by Piers Dickinson, is definitely one to watch. With a range of one of a kind bags and clutches made using natural cowhide, Hyde & Hare is set to become a name synonymous with luxury and lifestyle.

Tell us about you and your background?

I grew up in the rolling hills of Gloucestershire, went to school in Cheltenham, studied in Oxford and always had a deep desire to set up my own business. I found myself fresh out of university brimming with ideas but not yet sure what to do. Turning down the opportunity of a lucrative job in the City, I was offered the chance to travel to Kenya for a number of months helping manage luxury safari lodges.

It was here in this country steeped in history and unspoiled wilderness that I discovered a range of stunning, local cowhide products sold in the small boutique shop at one of the lodges. One evening after a few sun downers overlooking the Savanna, I sat chatting to a guest, an incredibly inspiring fashion designer, and that night the idea for Hyde & Hare was born.

What made you want to start a business?

I graduated in 2015 having studied Real Estate for 3 years and was always certain that this was the path I was going to take. Having been lucky enough to be offered a Graduate Surveyor role in the City it was the moment I read my contract and in bold were the working hours 8am – 10:30pm, this was the point where I realised I wasn’t cut out for this life which lacked any form of creativity! I then spent the next couple of months helping manage luxury safari lodges in Kenya where I discovered the beauty of cowhide and saw the potential of Hyde & Hare.

What makes your products special?

Sadly most people who produce cowhide goods use cowhide print, here patterns are printed onto a white hide using a computer and you can replicate it over and over again. You really lose the uniqueness, texture and feel of the natural material that cowhide is. We use the finest quality hand-selected hides, where each one is different in terms of the colour and pattern so we know each of our cowhide bags will be one of a kind.

If you had to sum up your business in five words, what would they be?

Handcrafted – Unique – Personable – Quality – Ethical

Do you have a motto or ethos?

Work Hard, Play Hard. Striking that balance in the early stages of business is proving very one sided. A lot of long nights and early mornings!

If you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring business owner, what would it be?

Take the plunge and do your research. You’ve got to be well versed in the modern marketing techniques such as email marketing and SEO before you start out as they will be vital in the early stages.

One thing that helps you run Hyde & Hare more effectively

For us Photoshop is the number one tool. Obviously as we shoot every single product we have this is a very time consuming process, having software such as Photoshop makes our lives so much simpler. I can’t fault Shopify too with such a large variety of apps at your disposal.

Best thing about running a business?

Being able to use your creative side, so many people are blessed to have this quality but the 9 – 5 prevents people using their creative side in the way they would like.

Worst thing about running a business?

Stock Keeping – For us it very difficult to do stock control as every single bag is different and only 1 is available. This means that each time one is sold we have to manually upload a new bag in its place, thank god for Photoshop.

Top business blog you follow?

By far Tony Robbins has one of the best business blogs currently out there.

Top business book you’ve read?

I know other people have mentioned this book too but it is something special. Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki is probably the most valuable book I’ve ever read.

One thing we might not know about you?

Helping run a luxury safari lodge I had the opportunity to meet some really interesting people. I was lucky enough to have breakfast with Leonardo Da Caprio everyday for a month.

Where can people follow Hyde & Hare online…

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hydeandhare/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hydeandhare/

Website: Hyde and Hare