Small Business Sunday – Cup of Té

Cup of Té, founded by one of Peersway influencers, Taylor Lindsay-Noel, is a premier online retailer of loose leaf organic teas and teaware.

Based in Ontario, Canada, the company’s mission is to enrich lives through the experience of premium teas specially made from organic ingredients with each taste offering unique benefits to tea lovers all over the world and every drop telling a story.

Taylor’s love for tea started in college when she was searching for an alternative caffeine kick to coffee. After consuming so much tea, she thought to herself, why spend thousands of dollars contributing to corporations that consuming tea when you can make your own?

Not only does it comes in a chic and premium packaging that would sit nicely on your kitchen countertop but what makes Cup of Té unique is that all of their products are organic and always fresh.

“Unlike our competitors, we buy in very low stock quantities in to ensure that each order that goes out is of the highest and freshest quality available at the time of purchase.”

We asked Taylor to share the challenges she has faced when launching the business, additionally to having a spinal cord injury that created a whole set of challenges in itself.

“I faced many challenges when starting my business. I didn’t have a business background at all so I had to teach myself everything along the way. That included branding, sourcing product, manufacturing, website creation and any and everything else in between, but I’m happy to say that I’ve been able to get where I am today by my will power to bring a very strong vision in my head to consumers.”

As an influencer herself, she is already familiar with the power of influencer marketing for brands. However, when asked what she would have done differently, retargeting her influencer marketing strategy would be at the top of the list.

“I would do a lot of things differently, but I think I would’ve started my influencer marketing more local in my targeting, rather than going for the bigger influencers just because of their following size. I spent a lot of money that way without a return on investment when in fact my greatest successes and partnerships have come from the micro and macro influencer space.”

Believing in your business is the true driving force behind all successful businesses. Every entrepreneur we’ve come across have all experienced fear, exhaustion, and that voice in the back of their head constantly telling them to give up.

With everything that 2020 has brought so far, Taylor’s business’s future was threatened. In a true entrepreneur’s fashion, she utilized the last few quiet months to re-strategize her game plan to reposition her B2B & B2C business.

“To be completely honest I was scared that there would not be a future for Cup of Té. At the beginning of the year I genuinely thought that I would have to close my doors before December, but now I see a true unwavering potential in my brand becoming a global force. I hope to eventually open up boutique stores in every major city and bring another dream and experience in my head to consumers once again.”