Sarah McCartney, a longtime copywriter for cosmetics brand Lush, launched her small-batch perfume brand 4160Tuesdays in 2011 out of a former builder’s yard in West London.

For nearly a decade, 4160Tuesdays had been growing steadily. But uncertainty hit small businesses, customers pulled back, and sales slowed after the UK voted to leave the EU in 2016. During that turmoil, an American venture capitalist living in London started scouting creative companies with aims to invest. McCartney and this VC had long lunches, swapped spreadsheets, and discussed scaling the business. But any potential funding deal evaporated after a meeting at a local Thai restaurant ended with the VC predicting her brand’s failure and McCartney walking back to her studio, shaking.

Here McCartney shares how the “get investment, grow, exit” path is not the only route that leads to a sustainable business.

This is an excerpt of our interview, which has been edited for length and clarity.

What was your vision for 4160Tuesdays?

I was forced into business because I wanted to make more perfume, not because I wanted to make money. But to make more perfume, I had to sell some.

I just wanted to keep doing what I was doing without having to worry so much about paying the bills. I wanted to reach a level where I wasn’t constantly pushing the business uphill, just be on a nice plateau—if we had a few more retailers who were ordering regularly, and maybe a bigger number of customers ordering regularly.

An investor approached you in 2017 as 4160Tuesdays was growing. Who was he, and what was he proposing?

He had moved into this space because he wanted to look at exciting creative ideas that were happening that he might be able to back…and help everyone exit and make money.

I gave my accounts, and I gave him a breakdown of what we did month by month. Then he said, “If I were to put £200,000 into your bank account tomorrow, what would you spend it on? Come back with a plan.” That was a very serious financial plan that I did, and I learned that because I did half an MBA.

I went back with those figures [£167,000] and said, “That’s all I need. I don’t need any more than that”...He came back and went, “Well, that’s a lot of money.”

Did you experience any second-guessing when you decided to walk away? What were you scared about?

[He said] basically, “Without me, you’re just going to fail,” and I was scared…I almost felt like, “Maybe he really does know a lot more than I do. I mean, he’s done this. He’s made lots of money. He’s backed lots of businesses, and some of them have done very well. I let him see all my figures.”

I was really shaking when I walked back…I didn’t think I was going to be that bad.

How did you treat the business differently after that?

I took the courage to put my prices up…I started to run more workshops. [Covid-19] lockdown made us do a lot of changes, and a lot more people started buying online because they couldn’t go to shops.

I now actually employ a writer as well to do some of the writing. And so letting go is tricky. I’ve got an assistant perfumer now. I let him make perfumes. The difficult part is leading from the back and allowing people to move forward. You do need help.

What do you think staying independent has allowed you to protect?

As soon as somebody offers you money, they start to be your boss. Did you start this business because you didn’t want a boss or because you wanted to be your own boss? If you invite money in, you’ve given away the fact that you are the boss, because they are all your shareholders, their bosses. Just because the route is “get investment, grow, exit,” doesn’t mean to have to. You have to go that way. That’s just one route…You can walk along the river bank if that’s what you want to do.—JH