What does it take to turn an idea into a successful business? Fiona Connor chats to business owners about the challenges and the successes.
She's the driving force behind Eat My Lunch and now Lisa King is making waves with her latest venture, AF Drinks.
The social entrepreneur had extensive corporate experience before going out on her own, working in senior marketing roles in New Zealand for household brands including Heinz Wattie's, Fonterra, Cadbury and Bluebird Foods.
Here she shares her top tips for how to launch a business from scratch, how she created her non-alcoholic drink range and how she navigated unexpected challenges along the way.
Tell me where your entrepreneurial mindset came from
On reflection, there is no doubt that the biggest influence has been my parents. They came to New Zealand with no knowledge of the country or language and so had to create their own opportunities. They opened up a Chinese restaurant (even though neither of them were chefs, my dad was a pretty good cook). I started working at the restaurant on the weekends from the age of ten, making desserts.
When I started high school, my parents bought the store next to the restaurant and opened up one of NZ's first Chinese acupuncturist and medical centres. From there, they continued to invest and try their hand at different opportunities such as real estate, racing horse breeding and truffle harvesting. They were always looking for that next business idea.
Growing up in that environment made me appreciate how hard my parents worked and the sacrifices they made. They taught me the importance of a good work ethic, but also that business isn't just about making money. They went out of their way to help their customers and the community, often forgoing money to do the right thing. Their generosity and putting people and relationships before profit, were distinctive characteristics that had the biggest impact on me.
When I turned 16, my parents offered to buy me my own bakery to run. The idea of working as hard as my parents at that stage of my life had no appeal and I absolutely refused. I decided to take the corporate route, which I did for the next 15 years. However, there was always an itch and desire to be my own boss - I didn't enjoy the lack of risk taking and speed, the reliance on others to determine your path, coupled with the politics of big corporations. I am also a quietly spoken introvert, which doesn't fare particularly well in corporates, so I finally decided to start my first business, Eat My Lunch when I was 38.
While I acquired a lot of knowledge and discipline from my corporate experience, I don't think I can ever go back to that world again. I love creating my own vision, moving at speed and taking risks. And I love knowing that every minute and second I spend on my own business adds value.
Tell me about when and how you pivoted to AF Drinks
I decided to stop drinking for a while after experiencing a few bouts of vertigo. I realised every time I had vertigo, I also had a gin and tonic. However, in New Zealand's heavy drinking culture, saying you're not drinking makes you feel like somewhat of a social outcast, garnering strange looks and questions like "are you pregnant?" or "is everything OK?". It was odd to have to justify not drinking - no one questions anyone who stops smoking.
I also discovered how hard it was to get a good non-alcoholic drink that wasn't a sugary soft drink or juice. I wanted a sophisticated, adult drink that was as good as my old gin and tonics. So I decided to make them myself and that is how AF started.
I got the founding team together over our first lockdown and we worked over Zoom for the first three months before meeting each other in person. We were clear from the start that AF was not only about providing great alcohol free options, but we also wanted to create conversation and change behaviour to make not drinking cool and sexy. Helping people to moderate and reduce alcohol consumption is ultimately our mission.
What was the process to get from an idea to being on the shelves?
One of my values is "actions, not words". If I have an idea that I believe in, I want to move on it and so from coming up with the idea to getting product on shelves, it took about nine months. Having worked for many big food companies (Unilever, Fonterra, Heinz Wattie's), I had a good idea of the process and what was required.
The advantage of a small start-up is you don't have the red tape of big corporates and you can move quickly. We had the added complexity of Covid and lockdowns to deal with, so I would just have the flavour company develop samples of the drinks, drop them off to my house. After my feedback, they would make the tweaks and send more samples. We did this about five or six times before getting an approved formulation.
In the last two years, we have developed and launched 11 drinks in New Zealand – this is incredible for a drinks company (some of the big alcohol companies we spoke to were stunned as it normally takes them two to three years to develop one new product).
Speed is a huge advantage for a startup and especially for a fast emerging category such as this, we are always focused on moving fast, but not compromising our standards.
What were some of the unexpected challenges and how did you navigate these?
One of the biggest lessons I took from Eat My Lunch is that nothing ever goes as planned and so you need to be mentally prepared that there will be curveballs and challenges thrown at you along the way.
With AF, I was a little on edge for the first six months, because everything was going so smoothly. Then just before our first production, everything went wrong from bottles not arriving on time, the plant having issues, our pink gin not being pink - I kept asking myself, what else could go wrong? And this was just weeks before we had to ship product to our first supermarkets. In the end, we had to launch with only two drinks instead of three which wasn't ideal.
What's the difference between being successful and not?
There's no textbook or steps to follow to ensure success. So much is dependent on context, the people and there's always a bit of luck thrown in there. My advice to early entrepreneurs is:
1. Take action and move with speed – it is your biggest advantage.
2. Be clear on what you are trying to achieve and be focused.
3. At the same time, be agile and open to learning fast from your mistakes and adjusting all the time.
4. It's a tough road, make sure you have the right people on board – you can't do this alone.
What are most proud of so far on your journey with AF Drinks?
The recent announcement of our investment by Pernod Ricard's Convivialité Ventures is a huge milestone for the team as it validates all our hard work and the value we've created. Through the process and speaking with so many people, we received overwhelmingly positive feedback on our brand, product and team.
What do you think other people can take away from your experiences?
People make all the difference. I've made many mistakes, but the one I always regret is bringing on the wrong people (whether that's your team, investors or board). Make sure you get ones that align with your values, vision and work ethic. When you have the right people around you, you can get work through most things and overcome challenges. The team at AF has been just so amazing – there's no ego, we are all passionate, hard working and want to create something that's better for the world, and we have a lot of fun doing it.
What's the secret to creating something people will want to spend money on?
Make sure you are solving a real problem and understand your consumers. You don't have to spend a lot of money on research – Matt from our team has conducted hundreds of in-store sampling, talking to people and adjusting how we communicate to them, what about our products really draw people in and finding out what people don't like. I am on our customer service and social channels everyday, so I hear first hand the questions people are asking and getting their feedback.
What is one thing entrepreneurs must have to find success in business?
Resilience. It is a crazy roller coaster journey full of emotional highs and lows that you need the ability to pick yourself up, push through and find the energy to take the next step forward. Being an entrepreneur isn't for everyone – it is incredibly hard but if you have the courage and resilience, the rewards are absolutely worth it.
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