Spotlight Series: Interview with Sam Marshall, Founder of Snippit Mirrors

Based in Warrington, Sam’s journey from hospitality entrepreneur to tech innovator is one of resilience, creativity, and grit. A graduate of the Regional Talent Engines programme, Sam shares how the idea was born on a kitchen table during lockdown and has since developed into a product ready to scale across the UK.

What inspired you to start Snippit Mirrors? Was there a personal story or problem you wanted to solve? 

The idea actually started as a casual conversation with my old barber – something we both thought could be cool. At the time, I was working on a different business and couldn’t give it the attention it needed. Then Covid hit, and I had to pause my hospitality venture. That unexpected break gave me the chance to explore this idea. I ended up building the first prototype at my kitchen table with the help of a furloughed friend who happened to be an electrical engineer.

What stage were you at when you joined the Regional Talent Engines programme?

When we joined the Regional Talent Engines programme, we were around TRL 7. We had several working units out with live customers and had even gone through a few product iterations based on feedback. We were in early deployment, learning fast, and looking to scale.

Why did you apply to the Regional Talent Engines programme, and what were you hoping to get out of it?

We applied after a recommendation from a previous Regional Talent Engines alumni who really spoke highly of the mentor support. That was a big pull for us – calibrated, thoughtful advice from people who’ve seen it all before. And I’m happy to say, that’s exactly what we got from the mentors, trainers and peers in the programme.

What was your experience like on the Regional Talent Engines programme?  

The mentor programme stood out for me. Phill and Paul were amazing with their guidance and have continued to support us even beyond Regional Talent Engines through the Innovate UK High Growth Programme. Their insights into operations and business structure really helped us evolve. 

How did the funding and support impact your journey, professionally or personally? 

The funding made a huge difference. It gave us the breathing space to build key relationships with media agencies and brands for our advertising platform – relationships that would have been tough to establish under financial pressure. Without that support, we’d likely have been forced to raise more angel investment from a weaker position due to a diminishing runway. 

What’s changed for you and your business since completing the programme?

Since the start of the year, we’ve made big strides. We secured partnerships with media agencies and brands, and we’ve shifted our focus to selling commercial units directly to barbershops in London. After some early challenges, we now have five premier barbers at various stages, from fully funded installs to those awaiting asset finance approval. It’s a huge step forward.

The funding made a huge difference. It gave us the breathing space to build key relationships with media agencies and brands for our advertising platform – relationships.

How has the Regional Talent Engines programme helped you move your idea forward or grow in confidence as a founder?

Massively. The Emergenetics course at the start helped me understand where my strengths are, and I carried that through the rest of the programme. My confidence in operations and structuring processes really improved.

What would you say to someone considering applying to the Regional Talent Engines programme but feeling unsure or not “ready”?

Just do it. That feeling of hesitation is often just anxiety. My advice: say yes and figure it out later. You’ll thank yourself for it.

What’s next for you and Snippit Mirrors?  

This year is shaping up to be a big one for us. We’ve got plenty of exciting milestones ahead, but right now we’re staying focused on the next major goal – manufacturing and installing our first wave of five barbershop units in London. 

Quick fire

• Who is your role model?  While I wouldn’t use the word role model specifically, I think the person I most look to emulate in my work would be Steve Jobs. His philosophy on building products has definitely influenced how we do things at Snippit, and like Steve, I truly believe we are building products that can have a positive impact on the world. 
• What’s your guilty pleasure?  SUGAR. I am never without something sweet in my hands around the office, whether it be my daily RedBull, a packet of sweets or dessert from the canteen, my guilty pleasure is definitely sweet treats.
• When I was a child, I wanted to be… An architect, which was odd considering my distaste for academia. I worked as an architect for work experience at 15 and was only deterred by a frank conversation with the careers advisor about the amount of studying and education that was required. Entrepreneurship definitely suits me better.   
• I am currently binging...  Andor! As a big Star Wars fan, I’m absolutely enthralled with it at the moment. Would definitely recommend it.
• Best piece of advice you’ve ever received?  When I was 19, I was eligible for some free business support from the Business Growth Hub in Manchester for my first start-up, a public phone charging app. Convinced this was my one and only ticket to the big bucks I was naturally quite reserved in what I was willing to share with others, and upon meeting my advisor, I asked him to sign an NDA, what he said next has stuck with me ever since: “Of course Sam, happy to. Just to make you aware though, I have been doing this for a long time and I’ve found that in 99.9% of cases, people are far too busy caring about what they’re up to to be concerned with stealing your ideas”. He read the room perfectly with that statement, and in the decade or so since I don’t think a single conversation has had a greater impact on my becoming the entrepreneur I am today. I always look to adopt cultures of idea sharing and promote the healthy challenging of ideas with an outcome-driven focus.
• Conversely, what has been the worst piece of advice?  As an entrepreneur, I feel one of the most important skills in your toolkit is to understand when you are receiving bad advice and understanding what is best ignored and what to retain. This is where you really need to be aware of the bias that guide human decision making and ensure you’re grounding yourself in your own version of reality, not allowing a more ‘successful’ person to drag you into theirs.
• If you were an investor, which Hub Member would you invest in?  If I were an investor I would invest in Zak Rashid at NoBoxx. His platform has game changing commercial potential for both logistics and the future of fast fashion returns. Having known Zak for some time he is driven to succeed, showing great dedication having worked on the business for the past 4 years after exiting his previous business, also in warehousing and logistics.
• Is there something you know now that you wish someone had told you when you started?  Plenty, but to pick one I would say the time things take are the toughest to deal with. I have continuously found myself chasing mountain tops, falsely believing that at the top of this mountain after that everything ahead is straightforward. I have since substituted this for a more balanced analogy, which our investor shared with us, substituting mountain tops for milestones. Milestones give us a more balanced perspective as a team and less of a loss of enthusiasm post achieving a goal and still not being where we would like to be. It only stops when we do!
• If you had to start all over again, would you do anything differently? Honestly, probably not. The journey is what shapes the entrepreneur and as we start to yield the fruits of our labour over the coming months and years all of the lessons and hardships will have been worthwhile.