Interview with Tim Ferris, Creative Director at eCommerce Golf Apparel Company: Druids

Druids Golf is an eCommerce golf apparel company, Born in Ireland but designed and distributed in Scotland. We have a mission to be the future of golf clothing. Druids operates with a team who love golf and together we’ve built Druids to be the fastest-growing golf apparel brand in Europe. We have been a limited company for about 12 months now and our mission remains the same – to push the boundaries when it comes to style meeting value, and ultimately, to make the game we live for more accessible and affordable.

Druids is defined by confidence and a ‘stick it the man’ style ethos. We want to become market leaders and we surround ourselves with people who both challenge us and believe in our growth. Just three months into becoming a limited company, Clearbanc invested in us and our partnership with them has been a key part of our growth journey – we like that they took this risk with us and the results prove it was worthwhile.

In just over a year, our brand is worn by millions of fellow enthusiasts across Europe, including some TV and sports personalities like Vinnie Jones and Danny Mills.
 
 

 

How did you come up with the idea for the company?

 
It all started with a shared passion and respect for golf, and the realisation that the apparel available was not attractive to us, and frankly outdated. We take what’s here and improve it… Our vision was to offer edgier designs whilst retaining the traditionalism of golf apparel, giving fellow golf enthusiasts the quality offered by big brand names for an affordable price.

The idea for Druids was born about five years ago now, we’ve been a UK limited company for 12 months. We knew there would be an appetite for our products, and in less than a year we’ve outgrown our current warehouse and are looking to expand our product range and enter more international markets.
 

What advice would you give to other aspiring entrepreneurs?

 
Stick to your guns and believe in your vision. Never back down, confidence is key in this competitive world, so surround yourself with people just as ballsy as you. Listen to advice from others, but don’t benchmark yourself against other businesses. Everyone’s journey is individual and you know your brand and capabilities more than anyone else.

Remember to be hard on yourself, it will push you to do better and achieve your goals. Equally, it’s important to set realistic goals as achieving those will give you the confidence to want more.

At Druids, we’re not afraid to stray away from the status quo and follow our gut on what we think will make us successful. Instead of seeking traditional VC investment or going down the route of bank loans – which seems impossible during 2020, we worked with Clearbanc who removed the red tape and long-winded challenges of investment and invested on us based on our growth potential that their data analytics revealed. So, seek alternatives and go with what makes sense to you rather than just following the norm.

Conversation is also key – always keep your team in the loop. Lewis, Kevin, Brian and myself are always adapting and changing how we do things. This is vitally important.

Finally, focus on the here and now. Yes, a long-term strategy is important, but you’re only as good as what’s in front of you. When starting out, try something for a month then review, learn and improve.
 

What can we hope to see from Druids in the future?

 
A broader product range, firstly a new ladies range as well as extending our range of accessories including golf balls! We also want to expand beyond Europe and our own website, so in the near future you’ll hopefully see us on sites like Amazon. We’ll continue to grow fast, and will one day be a market leader in golf apparel.