In our ‘Inspiring small businesses’ series, we share and celebrate great stories from small business owners who started and run their own business. By bringing you closer to these inspiring businesses we hope that you find motivation, tips, and ideas for building yours. Next up, we spoke to Alberto Gil, co-founder and innovation manager at Hockerty & Samissura, ethical fashion brands that create made to measure garments for men and women allowing customers to design their garments tailored to their exact measurements, in just 15 days.

What's the story behind your business?

Back in 2008, we wanted to create a business that was both online and economically sustainable. To be honest, then we were not looking to do something big, but just a side project to have an extra bonus every year. Then we found out that in Shanghai there was a long tradition in suit making and my partner traveled there to do some tests. Two months later we had our first website running and started operations. In two months we realised it started to be successful, so we translated the website to French and started selling in France too. 11 years later we sell all over the world.

What inspired you to start your own business?

Other online e-commerce offering customers possibilities of customization. Back in the day, we are talking about automotive industry websites where you can choose every single detail of your car or even NikeID, that was already active at that moment.

What is the most difficult aspect of running your own business?

It does not matter how much you delegate, there are many things that still depend on the founders. If you really care about the business, you need to be involved in many projects to make sure they are done.

What is the best thing about running your own business?

It's very fulfilling to know that you created something that has an impact on society, you have employees, providers, customers, and all of it works because the business is working. On the other hand, it is a big responsibility to keep the business healthy and sustainable, so you can keep having that positive impact.

To find out more about Hockerty & Samissura visit their websites hockerty.uk and  sumissura.com/en-uk/.