Chloé set up It’s A Sign after becoming a Mum and wanting to find something that would fit round caring for her son. From starting out making a few children’s name signs for friends, over the last 5 years It’s A Sign has evolved into a popular local business focussing on producing signs, prints and cards with a local theme to them. Alongside the Jersey products, Chloé also enjoys creating signage for weddings, babies and just about anything else in between. She has lots of plans in the pipeline for 2019 and is always looking at new ways to grow the business further.

“Just to be confident in your business and make sure you enjoy what you do as it will show in your work! "

Tell us about your path to setting up your business and what motivated you?

After moving back to Jersey from Portsmouth in 2012 a former colleague asked for some help with setting up a charity (I have a background in Marketing and Events) and for one of their fundraising events I made them a few nautical themed signs. These went down well and the idea of sign making was born. Following on from this I started to make a few as presents for friends. When the orders started coming in I realised I was onto something. I wanted to find a gap in the market and found that although you could buy many generic phrases on wooden signs, there weren’t any out there specific to Jersey. I started producing them with local phrases on them and also writing my own poems. Very quickly these turned into my most popular products and the main focus of the business.

How do you work and what is a typical day like for you?

I work from home which is ideal for being able to be flexible with my hours. Generally my day starts following the school run and a dog walk and I work until pick up time. My days are varied and can be spent painting in the garden (enjoyable in the summer, not so much in the winter!) or designing and preparing orders in my office. I am lucky in that there is always something to be done!

What are the best parts about your business?

I love everything about my business! I love that I can be creative on a daily basis and enjoy every aspect of the job (apart from the cold in the winter). Designing and coming up with new ideas is probably my favourite thing to do.

What has been your greatest struggle as a business owner so far?

Probably self-belief! I have a little crisis of confidence at the start of every craft fayre or every time I put a new design online. Thankfully after 5 years I am beginning to realise that people must like what I do, or I wouldn’t still be doing it!

What has been your biggest a-ha moment so far?

I can’t think of any big a-ha moments but for some reason most of my ideas for poems seem to come about in the middle of the night. So I’ve had many 5am ‘a-ha’ moments when I’ve finally thought of the best way to make the words flow!