The last time we checked in on James Middleton’s Instagram-printing marshmallow business, Boomf, the company had recorded a loss of £243,986 in less than two years of operation. But packaged in that story of tremendous losses, we also learned that James had gotten “investors” to pony up more than a million dollars, and that he was trying to expand Boomf. Now James has given an interview to the Daily Mail’s business/money section to defend his honor as a businessman and talk up Boomf’s success. You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:
James wants to be taken seriously: “As a businessman I am reported as a constant failure – and it’s exhausting.” He calls himself Boomf’s ‘Wonka-in-Chief’.
Boomf’s early failures, James’ early failures: Boomf lost £243,000 last year and his two previous companies closed down. All of which generated stories of failure – unfairly he argues. Boomf, he believes, demonstrates his business credentials. Turnover at the firm, of which he owns 35 per cent, will pass £2.5 million this year. The gross profit margin is a tasty 65 per cent. And a recent fundraising valued the group at £10 million.
James whines about the reporting of his failures: “How can you judge whether someone is a failure? I just do not feel it has been reported fairly or honestly. I can take flak about my beard or from someone not liking what I do. But when I have employees who read something in the gossip columns that is hurtful to them I become passionate. I want them to have confidence and feel safe and secure in their job…This is my third company. I had the Cake Kit Company and then Nice Cakes. But they did not fail. When you first go into a job, you start at the bottom and work your way up – you learn. With the Cake Kit Company, I had difficulty scaling it up. I learnt from that and applied the lessons at Nice Cakes. Then you find other issues. You can’t fit a cake through a letterbox, cakes are fragile and so on. So that developed into marshmallows. So those companies shut down, but I shut them down myself and did so with my head held high. I learnt so much from them. That is important. This company has taken off.”
James has already raised £1 million from new investors & he raising £1.25 million more: “This is not a business propped up by friends and family. That calibre of investors do not just give hand-outs. They are people who want us to make a return for them.”
Close to the family home in Berkshire: Though Party Pieces is literally next door, Middleton makes clear Boomf has no links to Party Pieces. If the family had invested it would have led some to the wrong conclusions, says Middleton, adding: ‘It is not about getting a hand-out.’
His typical day: “I get up at 7.30 to take the four dogs out. I’m at work by 9.30 and have lunch at my desk. I leave at 6 or 7 to beat the traffic. I drive to and from London as it’s faster than the train. But we are currently running night shifts, so tonight with 20-plus of the team I’ll work through the night. I’ll clock off at 5, find a corner for a power nap and bite to eat – then back to work.
Business tips from his parents: “Go with your gut. Let intuition make decisions. Don’t be too calculating.”
He gave an interview to the Daily Mail to basically say that he’s employing 27 people and he’s got real investors and he’s not trading on his connections to the royal family. Which is more of the same, although if you go and read the full Daily Mail story, there might be some confusion. I get that he’s talking about growing his business and how marshmallows are the future and he throws a lot of numbers at the DM… but I still don’t understand why he’s still raising capital to grow his business if it’s already profitable, which is what James is saying? Unless he’s actually just the well-connected face of the enterprise and he doesn’t actually have the business skills and that’s why true business professionals are starting to take over Boomf? I just can’t believe that printing Instagrams on marshmallows will be a great, profitable business long-term. It seems like a first-world trend, and a trend that will not last much longer than a year or two.
Photos courtesy of Instagram, Fame/Flynet and PCN.
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