Intrigued by his unique confectionery, we were hungry to chat to Russell, especially after visiting his stand at the Speciality Food Fair last week, trying his delicious chocolates and learning of his recent Great Taste Award win. His ideas for his interesting flavours and tempting treats started as a hobby, before teaching himself the skills to scale up his production and turn his leisure time into a business. We quizzed Russell on all things foodie startup, and asked for his thoughts on how emerging businesses might be able to be supported just that little bit better.
Tell us the story of your business. How did you come up with the idea?
I started making chocolates about 10 years ago using a simple recipe to make truffles one Christmas. This had an amazing response and encouraged me to learn more about Chocolate and how to work with it. Over the years I taught myself how to temper chocolate and make moulded chocolates. It was never my intention to start this as a business - it was just a hobby I enjoyed.
What was your motivation for starting your own business?
I was experimenting using some unusual and different flavours with chocolate. Everybody who tried them kept saying how wonderful my chocolates were, and I should start to sell them. After a few years of people saying this I began to listen. I had always wanted to run my own business, and thought why not. My partner said “If I never try it I will never know,” [and] that was the moment I said ‘right, I’m doing it’. Put this together with the feeling I get when other people say good things about something I have created, how could I miss this opportunity?
What's the most exciting thing about being an entrepreneur?
The fact that if the business succeeds it will all be down to my efforts, and likewise if it fails it’s still all down to me. It’s a huge challenge to learn everything especially as I gave up a good job in the media to pursue a dream. It means I am now in control of my own destiny [and] where that will lead is just a huge adventure for me.
What challenges have you come across?
I have no business experience so I have had to learn everything from scratch. Not just making good chocolates, but all about marketing, PR, social media, book keeping. There is nothing I could bring from my previous career that has helped me, and it does feel like a huge task. I have never been afraid of a challenge though which helps!
What advice would you give to someone thinking about starting their own business?
You really need to think about it a lot. Especially the amount of work it is going to take. I had this rather romantic idea of making great chocolates and selling them. It sounds rather simple really, but in reality it is quite the opposite. Think about all the things you will need to do over and over again. Many things you will not realise you need until you need them. Calculate how much time that may take to carry out, then double, if not treble the workload. You really have to make sure it is the right thing for you. I can understand how some people can’t carry through with it [as] this is the hardest thing I have ever done… [and] I have done some extreme things before!
What kind of business support do you want to receive or wished you had received?
Advice from people in a similar area and their detailed experiences of how they made a successful business would be great. How and when to scale up? How to consider taking on extra help? Approaching buyers and how to sell my products? These are all things I need to address at some point. Much of this information is out there, but for a small business to find this without paying for it is difficult. However, there are lots of very helpful people out there willing to help. For example Enterprise Nation is a great organisation to join.
What would you like to see in a food hub that showcases new producers?
Featured producers each week/month.
Showcase for new products or ideas.
Feedback on the above. Maybe a forum to test out new ideas, to gauge people’s ideas before making costly mistakes.
A diary of different business events/seminars to attend for advice. I am a member of Enterprise Nation, but if people could add events they are attending others may benefit by attending too.
What do you think about our big ideas and what we are trying to achieve?
As one big store says “Every Little Helps.” For business that’s so true; you will be amazed at where that next order, publicity or opportunity may come from. From small seeds grow huge trees. Any place to showcase your products is a good place. The bigger this gets, the more people will take notice, buyers in top stores and journalists may start using it as a place to research new products and you may get a nice deal with a store, or featured in a big publication. I think it’s a great idea. The more voices there are the louder we will all be heard.
If you’re interested to find out more (or are just tempted by Russell's award winning treats) you can find the Fifth Dimension website, along with his full range of products, here. Or why not catch up with him on Twitter and Facebook, where you can find him chatting all things sweet and tasty, too.
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