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Innocent Drinks: profile of Richard Reed, the fruit smoothie king
Innocent Drinks: profile of Richard Reed, the fruit smoothie king
1. What is your business?
Making natural drinks that taste good and do you good.
2. What prompted you to start up in business?
The idea that life would be more fun if I worked with my friends.
3. What was the market situation when you started up?
There was one other smoothie company, but they made theirs from concentrate so we knew that if we made proper natural smoothies we could beat them on taste and nutrition.
4. Do you have a vision for your business and if so, what is it?
We want to become The Earth’s favourite little food company – a vision that encapsulates both the scale of ambition and the fact that our business has to be done in conjunction with Mother Nature, not at her expense. We also want to prove that there is profit in ethics and that business can, and must, be a source of positive change in society.
5. What was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome?
No one would fund us. We got turned down by every bank, VC and investor we came across. We were told that we scored 0 out of 5 in the investors’ handbook – as we were too young, had never run a business before, had no experience of the sector, were all friends, and said there wasn’t one leader but that all three of us would lead together.
6. So, how did you find the finance to get started?
After unsuccessfully trying every bank, VC company and investor network, in desperation we sent out an email to everyone we knew that simply said in the subject line, ‘Does anyone know anyone rich?’. We got one response from a friend who had done a year’s work experience in the office of a man who made investments, and the man in question went on to be the sole funder of the business.
7. What are your personal qualities that have that have helped you to succeed in business?
Paranoia. Assume nothing is going to work, and be all over it. Enthusiasm – you need to be a constant source of positive energy. Honesty – it is a rare trait in business, it costs nothing and it creates tremendous value. Altruistic – business can be a great way of doing good. And brighter, more talented people want to be part of such a company, and there is nothing more important than getting great people.
8. How do you keep going when things get tough?
We will face tougher times in the future so you should ask me then, but two things have helped me so far. One was someone pointing out to me that it wasn’t supposed to be easy, because if it was everyone would be doing it. That at least stop me thinking, ‘when is it going to feel easier?’. The second bizzarely was an interview I read in the Sunday Times with Barry McGuigan, the boxer. He said his Dad trained him and had the personal motto that ‘Tough times don’t last, tough people do.’ That blew me away, and made me realise that ultimately a large part of success comes down to resilience, which is something that you can develop and improve over time.
9. How do you measure success?
Health. Love. Friendship. Excitement. Nice clothes and holidays. In that order.
10. If you had one piece of advice for someone starting out in business, what would it be?
Find a couple of people who are good at what you are bad at, but share your values and view of what is important in life.
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Sue Stockdale
(Visit Sue's Website)
Sue Stockdale founded Mission Possible, www.miss
ionpossible.co.uk to help women to
achieve their goals in business, using the
same principles that led to her success in
becoming the first British woman to ski to
the Magnetic North Pole. Since 1997, the
company has worked with 1000s of women
worldwide. Services include an
award-winning businesswomen’s network, and
peer support groups for growing
businesses.
A fitness fanatic, Sue has represented
Scotland in athletics, and in 2004
finished runner-up in TV’s Superhuman. Her
academic achievements include an MBA in
Entrepreneurship and an MSc in Quality
Management. She lectures at several
Universities on leadership and
entrepreneurship and her advice on
motivation regularly appears in the media.
She is author of Kickstart Your Motivation
and Secrets of Successful Women
Entrepreneurs. For further information www.suestockd
ale.com
Sue Stockdale Video - Polar adventurer and motivational speaker Sue Stockdale speaking at Millionaire Mind Event in London about building trust in your team on an expedition and setting up systems to make expeditions and business easier.
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I often tell people who haven’t seen me recently and wonder if I have retired, “I’m not retired, I’m refired. I’m not gonna ease up, let up, shut up or give up until I’m taken up. As a matter of fact, I’m just getti...
Richard Branson has a big ego, which can be off-putting. (My one contact with him was unpleasant; it gave new meaning to the word "condescending.")
