Advice for entrepreneurs: Playing the long game

1. Go big: make it worth your time.

2. Expect it to take time: Pieri’s view is that anything worth doing will take 5-10 years. It may even take a lifetime. But given her dedication to her vision, and the big problem she is trying to solve, that’s okay with her.

3. Know what matters: Early on, as a cash strapped start up, you can’t do everything so you need to be clear about what matters most. For Pieri this was the trust of the Makers: ‘I never wanted to have to apologize to a Maker. I would apologize to everyone else, but we had to do right by the Makers because the trusting relationship with our Makers is the core of The Grommet.’

4. Have a vision and make sure it’s your vision: 'Imitative start ups are fatally flawed’, says Pieri, ‘if you’re not the lead dog then how do you know why or when you need to turn left?’ Instead Pieri lives two years in the future, always planning for what’s next in the pursuit of her vision.

5. Be confident in your vision: The most striking thing about Pieri is her unwavering confidence in her vision - it is infectious and no doubt has been a key success factor in The Grommet’s hard-won success.