In 2014, Annabel, 40, and Emily Lui, 47, were down to their last £15,000 after a promising start to their bakery side hustle suddenly fell apart. The British sisters had built Cutter & Squidge in 2012 around their signature Biskies and landed accounts with two of London’s biggest department stores, but just as they hired a small team, rented production space and bought a van to support the business, both retailers pulled back. Harrods decided cupcakes were selling better, while Selfridges pulled the plug on Cutter & Squidge’s pop-up, wiping out almost all of the sisters’ income.
“There were a lot of tears,” Annabel told Fortune, recalling that they sat on the sofa for what turned into a 15-hour conversation about what to do with their remaining savings, knowing there was no more money coming. The sisters had built high-powered white-collar careers in finance and law, but Annabel had already walked away from hers in 2013 while Emily was still working as a lawyer. “Do we just take the £15,000?” Annabel remembered asking. “Or do we give it one shot?”
That one shot was a pop-up of their own in London’s vibrant Soho neighborhood. Their father disapproved of the plan, but he still rolled up his sleeves to help sand the floors and build the counter, on the condition that his daughters paid for the materials. They borrowed a battered coffee machine; Annabel painted and cleaned the space while Emily kept working at the law firm.
