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    It's The Small Things podcast: Dave Pickard, co-founder, London Sock Company

    Selling online is hard, but it's something Dave Pickard and his business, London Sock Company, have made great progress in. Find out how the subscription sock business is improving constantly, one small step at at time.

    The sixth episode of this season of It’s The Small Things welcomes London Sock Company co-founder Dave Pickard.

    In 2013, Dave and co-founder Ryan Palmer discovered that while fewer men were wearing ties to work, many still wanted to add some personality to their outfits. The pair decided that colourful, high-quality socks were the answer. Since starting the business, it’s grown from a two-man band to a team of 23 with an international distribution network.

    In this episode, you’ll learn about building a team with a blend of experience and enthusiasm, the value of strong supplier relationships when you’re making in one country and selling in another and how technology plays a big part in getting socks out the door and into consumer’s hands.

    We’ll also talk about the founders’ experience of stepping back from the business and how they hope this will give them the time and head space to focus on what really matters – setting the strategic direction for the company and having the kind of conversations that really matter.

    The full podcast episode is available on all major platforms and immediately below. Click through to find it on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Acast, Spotify and SoundCloud and subscribe to make sure you don't miss out on new episodes. We've also got some behind the scenes action to set the scene and showcase why London Sock Company is such an exciting business to learn from.

    Full podcast episode audio

    BONUS: How London Sock Company co-founder Dave Pickard met the challenge of COVID-19

    Access the full London Sock Company podcast transcript

    Go behind the scenes

    "There are going to be years when there are ups and downs, really tough periods that you go through. When you have good people, you can find solutions."

    Dave Pickard – London Sock Company

    Identify the right people to manage your growing business by hiring for culture, not skills

    Find out how other businesses have embraced this approach

    Hear what a typical day for Dave is like

    "It's not relationship building for the sake of building a network and building a future business pipeline. It's relationship building in the true sense of finding other friends who are going through the same things that you're going through and helping each other."

    Dave Pickard – London Sock Company

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    Making changes

    "You don't get out of bed in the morning and think, how can I add more headcount and more overhead cost to my business? But I think, actually, you have to. That's the investment. You have to focus on the output and the value that you get from that."

    Dave Pickard – London Sock Company

    Double-down on employee engagement during difficult times

    Think like Dave and prioritise creating a great team environment
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    Top takeaways

    Dave uses the experiences of existing members of staff to make the early days for new hires better.

    Despite leading a very business personal and professional life, Dave continues to build contacts so he has people to turn to when in need.

    Like many others before him have done, Dave has that letting skilled employees do what they were hired to do works much better than constant meddling