• https://lexistreats.com Lexi's Treats. Plant based, vegan, low calorie, high protein, gluten free
• @lexistreats on Instagram
• Set up in August last year but sold 10,000 in first day
• Compelling story of growing a company from nothing during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Lexi had an idea and now has a team behind him.
• How has he done this? Taken some loans. Everyone has different circumstances. Saved a lot in advance of quitting his job to amen it happen
• Tips: Be as frugal as possible.
• Business is in the first year, it's still testing a concept. Putting a product out there. Gauging how people react, change, pivot. When things are harder to change, with branding. Cheap as possible. So can survive. So many stats on businesses going bust in first year.
• Branding may change in time so have an idea to start with that you put a little bit of money behind but know that you will change.
• So many services and things you think you need to spend on, but those people may be miles ahead of you. Who do I need to spend on? Be on a budget. Look at it on an angle of how it will push the business forward. Don't just spend the cash because you have it. If you have no cash would you really spend it?
• Build website himself. When Lexi got quotes from people, he already started to make his own website. lexistreats.com. Not the best website but it is functional and doing what it needs to do. Smooth, customers can buy the products through Shopify. Could have extra features, could be working better in the background, but that doesn't matter at this stage and can be a future endeavour.
• On the other end don't be so cheap and ruin the customer experience
• You can always spend money further down the line
• You learn what is important and where the value is
• You can spend all your money very quickly that you may need in the future
* Plan costs for the future. Doesn't matter if you are working in your bedroom. Try to plan and guess your costs, do your research on Google. Guess costs, incorporate them in, don't bury your head in the sand. When you have no overhead it looks good in the beginning but you will get a surprise in future.
• Get your item out there. Lexi started as a perfectionist who wanted the perfect box, wrapper, item but will people even want the product? Try to get as close as possible but spend money on the relevant things.
• As business grows, outsource.
• When do you think you need extra hands? Next stage of growth. Consider others making your website then you have a little bit of expense.
• Government kickstarter scheme. Hire people on 6 month placements. No permanent things yet.
• Transition from doing it yourself, your standard, your taste. You have to learn, takes someone else much longer as they aren't you.
• Create documents for other people to help them learn what I want. Invest time in that. Do things with them in mind.
• Before, Lexi would do things on a scrap of paper to-do list as he knew what he wanted and could easily visualise it. Not possible now with a team.
• Implement things that everyone can use
• Investing time into staff-proofing
• An excess of 200,000 lexi treats sold in 12 months
• All coffee shops Lexi wanted to sell in were shut because of Covid, retailers were interested in stocking toilet paper, Instagram was where Lexi was documenting his journey. This is where he has an audience and people who are excited. Majority of business has come from Instagram, Facebook and Amazon. The odd office as they have opened recently. Most business is online. A business can exist online. Direct consumer - can hear from them.
• Lexi did design what he wanted as logo and packaging and invested a few thousand pounds with a designer. Where you pay the most is giving designer control but he did as much of the design as possible. Asked the designer not to come up with 10 ideas, just 3 to limit cost.
• Get it out there in a nice way but listen to customers.
• Did Lexi get marketing help? No. Marketing and social media is all Lexi. He is the person behind the brand, keep it personal, he taste tests everything, makes everything in the kitchen, so named it after him - Lexi's Treats. His marketing was - just try to get something out on instagram.
• Don't look at the end result. Built-up over time an engaged audience. The more open and honest it is. Embrace that it's small. Don't be polished, because there won't be anything to talk about. Development and growth gives engagement and content.
• Low calorie treats, allergy friendly treats, tapped into audience needs, google ads, insta ads. Don't need to have a lot of advertising money. Talking to people is the best form of advertising.
• How did you go about finding manufacturer? It wasn't easy. Lexi attended sessions like this asking questions. Salsa. BRC. Two accrediting organisations who check factories for standards of production, go on website and check factories. British Library for business plan. Get mind in order and you can sell products.
• Nielsen reports. All the big companies use these. you can access it for free at British Library.
• Lexi trademark the brand name, logo, design, did that out of worry and out of brand registrars. Necessity for selling on Amazon, trademark document is needed. If you want to sell on amazon you need that document. Did it early on in the company development stage. Around the time of the wrapper design. Lexi can't tell if its beneficial to trademark but from Amazon selling perspective it was valuable and needed.
Reflection: This webinar has inspired me a lot to get started with my business, providing me with the confidence that anyone can be successful no matter their starting budget. What matters is a marketing strategy, having products to sell (in my case this will be prints and painted canvas), a strong story as people enjoy engaging with real people and following a journey, and customer engagement. Always engaging and valuing the buyer/client/customer and answering their questions, engaging with them, which I do often on my instagram. Knowing that Lexi created his own website, using the Shopify add-on, gives me an idea of where to start with my own and to be functional above all else. Other things will fall into place at a later stage.
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