They say the first six months of any new business are the hardest. As part of our profiles section, we promised to go back and speak to some of our new startups to discover how they’ve been getting on and whether their new enterprises have lived up to their expectations. Over the past months a lot has happened, there’ve been trials, tribulations but also, we’re pleased, to say plenty of success.

Visitors to our forum will be familiar with Elena Souto, our very first Startups profile . Back in September she set up Ooh La Laa, which sells lingerie for bigger-busted ladies. Since then she’s found out about the real cost of advertising and won North London entrepreneur of the year.

How has your business been getting along since we last spoke?
Things have been going extremely well. We’ve even expanded offices from the spare bedroom into the front room! Of course I still haven’t made my first million but ladies across the country are certainly happy that there’s a shop where they can find attractive bras which don’t cost the earth. We’ve been featured in lots of magazines and are getting excellent PR all from my own networking. Our database is growing at a really fast pace and we are currently making big changes to the site and doing another catalogue. In September the BBC are featuring Ooh La Laa on a new show. I’m so excited!!

In the time since you started up, what do you think you have learned about running a business and about yourself?
I’ve learned business is exciting. You don’t have to be all corporate you just have to be yourself be honest, accept you don’t know everything and learn to barter. Go out of your way to help others you will always get something in return.

Looking back is there anything you would have done differently?
I wouldn’t have spent so much money on things at the start. You learn to have to say no. Prioritise your needs and think of ways of doing things for free rather spending money.

What has been your biggest achievement, what pleased you the most?
My biggest achievement was the first day I received ten orders in one day. I was so chuffed that I had to open a bottle of champagne in the evening. Winning North London entrepreneur of the year was amazing, and then walking away with wto prizes at the Greater London Finals was just too much, it brought me to tears!!

What has been your biggest disappointment?
Placing a series of three adverts with a well-known magazine and not really getting a great deal of response. This made me realise advertising doesn’t really work for me. You have to sell a hell of a lot of bras!!

How have you managed your finances?
At Christmas I treated myself to a nice bonus and took another one in April. Other than that everytime I make a bit of money it goes straight back into the business, either to buy more stock or just to pay the bill. Only after eight months am I now I starting to see real results. Suppliers are excellent and have great faith in me so sometimes they do sale or return. They also swap items around for me and let me try some stock in really small quantities.

How many hours are you working now, has this changed since you started and is it more or less than you expected?
I’m working much more productively, I’ve learnt to switch off and I don’t go to my computer 50 times in an evening like at the start. I still work long hours but when I relax I don’t think about business. It’s a job which I love doing but I have to remember my friends. Sometimes I’m out at networking events, or speaking at events and I don’t realise I’m working but I suppose I am really. I’ve made so many new friends that when I’m out its business but its socialising too. Its kind of become a way of life. I don’t know what I’d do without Ooh La Laa.

What next? – Where do you see your business in a years time?
I’m doing a new business plan to hopefully open up a shop in Covent Garden. There’s so much research to do, from finding packaging, to architects and I need to know exactly what my costs are. We are going to expand into swimwear and maybe into men’s underwear.

What tip would you give someone who is thinking of starting up?
Go for it! You don’t need a masters in anything just lots of common sense. Don’t expect to make millions straight away and be prepared for the bad days Iin less than a year my life has changed in such a way that I just couldn’t go back to what I was doing before

Startups.co.uk met Nick Fulford back in December when he’d been running his marketing and PR agency Cancan communications for just over six months. He’s had a hectic time since we last spoke moving office and coping with growing rapidly, but Nick’s tried to remain calm throughout.

How has your business been getting along since we last spoke?
We have been enjoying rapid growth from having seven clients to twelve and because of this our team has also expanded. We grew out of our old offices in central London and have moved to much more spacious accommodation in Ladbroke Grove.

In the time since you started up, what do you think you have learned about running a business and about yourself?
I've learned the importance of playing to your strengths within a business. When I started my last venture in my early twenties I tried to do everything and got bogged down coping with the stuff I did not really have a natural ability for such as finance, operations, IT etc. In Cancan my business partner and brother does a brilliant job of looking after all of these areas leaving me free to focus on my passion - providing PR, marketing and branding consultancy for our clients (and, of course, for Cancan!) I also hope that I have also learned the importance of remaining calm, not worrying too much about things that your cannot do anything about, and not getting too excited about opportunities before they turn into realities.

What has been your biggest disappointment?
We pitched for some work for Business Link. With our focus on working with small and growing businesses and our experience in this area, I was very confident that we had exactly the right requirements for the job and could have produced some terrific results. I was sad when we didn't win, but that's life and you get over it.

How have you managed your finances?
Carefully! We have faced the typical problem of growing rapidly and needing to increase our costs to service more business. We are now in the process of raising finance to fund the next stage in our expansion.

How many hours are you working now, has this changed since you started and is it more or less than you expected?
I still work between 40 to 50 hours per week and always keep weekends free. I believe this is a reasonable number of hours. It's so important to maintain a work life balance or you start to burn out. I have never been impressed by those that brag about working 100 hours in a week, I just wonder how they can maintain any creativity or freshness in their approach.

What next? - Where do you see your business in a year's time?
Cancan will, I believe, continue to grow, adding new teams and areas of expertise as well as growing our existing business areas. Cancan has developed a terrific model in the ‘Cancan Way’ which could easily be repeated overseas, but we will have to see whether we will be ready within the next 12 months before taking this step.

What tip would you give someone who is thinking of starting up?
Find some like minded people to share the stresses and the celebration and get proper finance in place first. Don't worry about swanky offices or expensive equipment until you start making sales and the way to make sales is to invest in marketing and promotion.

Sue Kennedy had always dreamed of running her own business, and in September of last year she finally took the plunge with her venture, Blue Eyes Photography. Since then she’s learned the value of patience and why every new startup sometimes needs a bit of luck.

How has your business been getting along since we last spoke?
Fairly good, growth has been slower than I had expected though. Overall it’s been an interesting time with lots of new experiences.

In the time since you started up, what do you think you have learned about running a business and about yourself?
Things take time to build up, and patience is essential. Patience is something that I don’t have a lot of, so I have had to deal with that. I think I have changed quite a lot as a person in many ways, and I’ve learned not to think out loud as much as I used to.

Looking back is there anything you would have done differently?
No, because half the fun is finding out what you don’t know and learning. Some mistakes are expensive, but equally I have had a lot of help and support from other people in business, my friends and family.

What has been your biggest achievement, what pleased you the most?
I am now a qualified member of the British Institute of Professional Photographers – the qualifying body for professional photographers in the UK. To become a member, photographers have to present a panel of pictures for assessment by experts, and only the best are accepted, so I was pleased to get in

What has been your biggest disappointment?
Nothing major, mainly a combination of silly little things that are important at the time, but not a few weeks later. What is frustrating is to hear people speak highly of your work, but then not to receive a commission from them. Everyone needs a bit of luck when they start out!

How close have you stuck to your business plan?
Fairly close to the high level plan, but the detail has changed largely driven by my photographic style and whole experience of doing this. I am much clearer about the type of photography I want to do, and which I’m good at.

What next? – Where do you see your business in a year's time?
More of the same, but with a base of regular clients. I also intend to launch a range of photographic greeting cards and sell direct to retailers through trade fairs.

What tip would you give someone who is thinking of starting up?
Take advice, but follow your instincts. Learn from your mistakes, but don’t dwell on them.

If you'd like to be a startup profile email matthew@crimsonpublishing.co.uk