Serial entrepreneur has a new venture

Sep 2 2009 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal

A SERIAL entrepreneur is hoping to create the biggest home shopping craze since the Tupperware phenomenon of the 1980s with the launch of her latest venture.

Danielle Dunn, the young entrepreneur who made a name for herself by developing soap company Fresh Deli, has returned from a maternity break to launch multi-faceted marketing company, Imagine.

As well as marketing, PR and web design services, the company’s subsidiary, Imagine & Co, has been set up to bring a new form of shopping experience to living rooms.

Ms Dunn aims to bring the department store experience to the homes of affluent young women by hosting parties selling bespoke gifts for themselves, their partners and their children.

The 29-year-old said she has already booked ten parties to run up until Christmas, while she has also seen a number of large brands back her new party scheme.

Meanwhile, Imagine will continue to handle the marketing activities of Fresh Deli, which Ms Dunn no longer operates, and it is also aimed at becoming a virtual marketing division for other firms who may have cut back their marketing staff during the recession.

She said: “Our long-term aim for the business is to get a good amount of clients on board and then take on account managers to run them.

“We would like to work with companies from overseas who are trying to get their products in to the UK market. For the party business I’m looking for personal shoppers who can earn a great income, have fun while they work with the confidence of providing their customers with a unique service, my aim is to look after my customers, my hosts and agents like never before.”

Ms Dunn launched soap empire Fresh Deli with her brother Shaun after enjoying success selling soap from a market stall in Majorca and it quickly grew into a business which traded through wholesale and the internet.

However, after seeing falling sales in the UK amid tighter trading conditions during the economic downturn, the company focused on generating new revenue streams in Europe.

The firm was then approached by a Lithuanian pharmaceutical group last year who were keen to grow the brand across Russia. Ms Dunn – who had just given birth to her first child – decided she was unable to give up the time needed to push the brand in Russia and so the Dunn siblings handed the brand over to the Lithuanians while Danielle retained some marketing responsibilities.