Sahar Hashemi, the co-founder of Coffee Republic, is channelling her entrepreneurial energy into promoting female-founded companies. She tells Frances Hedges why women are ideally suited to running businesses
‘WOMEN TEND TO BECOME ACCIDENTAL entrepreneurs,’ says Sahar Hashemi. She should know: a trained solicitor who came from a family of professionals, she had intended to pursue a career in law, until a trip to New York alerted her to a gap in the UK market for American-style coffee bars. Cue the decision to team up with her brother, a banker, and bring skinny lattes (her brew of choice) to Britain’s high streets. Launched in 1995 – three years before Starbucks arrived here – Coffee Republic became a nationwide chain with a £30 million turnover and more than 100 branches. ‘The difference between male and female entrepreneurs is that men will decide they want to run a company and then brainstorm ideas for it, whereas women usually start by trying to solve a problem,’ observes Hashemi. ‘And then the next thing they know, they have a business.’
To tell the story of a multimillion-pound enterprise in a single paragraph may seem reductive; after all, Coffee Republic had its share of ups and downs, eventually going into administration in 2009, some time after both co-founders had made their exits. But Hashemi believes in celebrating entrepreneurial success rather than dwelling on the obstacles, particularly when it comes to talking about female-led companies. ‘I think our perceptions of opportunity and capability are strongly linked – if you see others who have succeeded, you’re more likely to succeed yourself,’ she argues. ‘There are a lot of women out there who have founded amazing businesses, despite the systemic roadblocks they face. They should be our role models.’
This, in part, is the motivation behind Hashemi’s most recent initiative, Buy Women Built – an online platform that puts the spotlight on brands founded by female entrepreneurs. She came up with the idea during lockdown, after seeing a Tweet from the then-Tech UK president Jacqueline de Rojas that said: ‘Not everyone can invest in women, not everyone can mentor women, but we can all buy from women.’ Having recently witnessed the energy and momentum that came from grassroots movements such as #MeToo and Black Lives Matter, Hashemi saw the potential to unite customers in a concerted effort to support female-founded businesses.
Starting in December 2021 with a WhatsApp group comprising just three other women entrepreneurs, Hashemi has since worked with her business partner Barny Macaulay to bring more than 600 carefully vetted brands on board, spanning fashion (Anya Hindmarch and Rixo are among the many household names), food and drink, homeware and beauty. The majority
