Amelia Milton
Amelia Milton is the twelve-year-old entrepreneur behind Smelleez Soaps – which “makes soap for everyone and their dog”.
Her vegetable glycerine-based soaps are all handmade in small batches at home in rural Perthshire and she has worked hard to ensure that her packaging is as environmentally friendly as possible. Her soaps are all suitable for vegetarians and most are vegan friendly too and none of her products have tested on animals.
As well as soaps for humans, Amelia has a range of solid shampoo bars especially for dogs which are packed with lovely nourishing oils along with a carefully selected blend of essential oils which are safe & helpful to dogs.
She took her first range to GrowBiz to ask for feedback and since then has received lots of advice and support from the enterprise facilitators and has attended a number of learning, support and networking sessions both in person and online.
Amelia is GrowBiz’s youngest client to date and in 2018 was awarded the community-based enterprise support organisation’s award for Young Entrepreneur of the Year. She also received a special Rising Star Award in the2019 Courier Business Awards and was a finalist at the Amazing Women Awards the following year.
Getting started
Amelia first started crafting handmade soap in 2017 as part of a competition at her school and now concentrates on developing her business alongside her education.
She says: “There was a competition at school for young entrepreneurs and the prize was a place at a Christmas fair. We had to come up with an idea for a business and a business plan and I came up with the idea of Smelleez and selling handmade Christmas-scented soap.
“Before I made any soap, I did lots of research and then I took my very first range to GrowBiz to ask for feedback. They looked at my products in detail, asked lots of questions about my business plan and gave me loads of extra information that I couldn’t find by just looking at competitors.
“I had to go away and do more work on things I hadn’t given quite so much thought to and some things that I hadn’t thought of at all such as legal compliance and labelling. It helped a lot that they could tell me where to go to find out more.
“I went on to win the competition and the fair was great and I was invited to another Christmas fair by one of my mum’s colleagues and it has grown from there.”
The enterprise journey
Amelia credits her business success with listening to feedback from customers and talking to other traders and business owners. She has enjoyed collaborating with a number of local businesses on various projects.
COVID presented several challenges. As shops were forced to close and public events were cancelled the demand for soap soared. Amelia had to acquire a new set of skills to allow her to sell online more effectively. She attended a number of online Growbiz learning sessions, took part in several virtual markets and developed her website SmelleezSoap.com
Smelleez started with half a dozen different Christmas-scented soap bars but now have over 50 fragrances available as well as a number of other products including Aloe Vera based Hair & Body Bars, shaving soap and facial cleansing bars made with natural clays and essential oils.
Support
Amelia has received lots of advice and tips from the team at GrowBiz.
She explains: “Some people find it difficult to believe that I am the owner of the business and that I am the one that makes all of the soap but GrowBiz never made me feel any different to any of the other businesses they support.
“Having that one-to-one support has been invaluable and I have also found their peer support sessions and networking events extremely beneficial.
“Speaking to other small business owners is so helpful and it’s much easier and much more fun if you support and help each other. Even if your businesses are very different, lots of the problems and frustrations can be the same and I’ve found out a lot of useful things from other people at these events.
“The creative peer support groups have been especially helpful as I have been able to share new ideas and products and get feedback and suggestions from a wide range of people who are also makers and understand what I am trying to do. I always leave these meetings feeling very positive and with lots of new ideas to take my business forward.
“GrowBiz also has an amazing range of learning sessions. I have attended lots of them and learned about how to use social media effectively and how to create videos to better promote my business online. I attended an event on funding and was then successful in obtaining a micro-enterprise grant.”
Looking to the future
Amelia continues to expand her business –her soaps are available in a number of local shops, such as Mitchells in Blairgowrie, Flour Meigle, the Little Green Larder, and The Science Centre in Dundee. She is a part of NeighbourFood and her products are available on both the Blairgowrie & Rattray and the Dundee Markets. She is a regular at Perth Farmers Market and attends events throughout Perthshire, Dundee, Angus & Aberdeenshire. She has recently completed a range of wedding favours and selection of corporate gifts.
The rural Perthshire-based youngster also wants to encourage others to look at what they can do, saying: “I hope that I can inspire other young people to look at what they might be able to achieve within their own communities without having to move away. I want them to know that their community can support them and help them to succeed.
“Growbiz is my tribe - it’s vibrant and exciting and I feel extremely proud to be a part of it.”
