YOUR BUSINESS SUMMER 2018 - 93

Entrepreneurs

ate a lot of beans on toast! I did get an
investment oﬀer from Dragon's Den
but turned it down after the show,
making the decision we were better
to go it alone. Luckily, it paid oﬀ!
What has been the biggest
challenge so far? Being
supermarket ready! We spent
the very last of our marketing
budget on a trade-food show,
where we met a buyer from Tesco.
A week later, we were told that
the supermarket wanted to list
us nationally, but needed us to
launch in just three weeks!
We had to rope in every friend and
family member, working through the
night to hand-label every product and
load the delivery lorry to meet the
tight deadline. But we launched in
store. I ran to buy our product on the
ﬁrst day and I still have the receipt!
What has been your biggest
success so far? My team and their
progress. Everyone is so driven and
we all share the same goal. Recently,
I also got to open the London Stock
Exchange - something I've always
dreamed of doing. It exceeded my

expectations - fewer than 1% of the
country receive that honour. We
were invited after we'd been named
Small Business of the Year 2018 by
the Federation of Small Businesses.
We were so convinced we wouldn't
win that accolade that we didn't
even buy tickets for the whole team
to attend the awards ceremony.
Looking back, is there
anything you would have done
diﬀerently? I'd be more conﬁdent
in myself and have less fear. If one
door closes, another one will open -
it's just a case of when. I'd start from
scratch, too. Creative Nature was an
existing but failing business, selling
goods at music festivals. We stripped
it back and started again, but that
hasn't been without its complications!
What advice would you give to
someone considering starting
up a business? The faster you
fail, the faster you learn! Also, try
to mix with as many entrepreneurs
as possible. And remember - you
should never be the smartest person
in the room. You'll learn far more
from those who are smarter still.

"Looking back, I'd be more
conﬁdent in myself and have
less fear - if one door closes,
another will open"

Is it possible to achieve a work/
life balance? You've got to love what
you do - you have to live, breathe
and sleep it. Of course, there are days
when I want to hit the snooze button!
And you do need time out - two years
without a break isn't advisable!
Where would you like to be
in ﬁve years' time? We'd like
to gain market share in the UK
and increase what we export.
Visit creativenaturesuperfoods.co.uk

Julianne,s
three business
survival qualities
STAMINA

You need to be able to cope
with bad days and rejection and
keep knocking on those doors!

SELF-BELIEF

Be truly passionate about
your product and what
you're trying to achieve.

INSIGHTFUL

You have to be perceptive,
especially when it comes to
building your team. "Fire fast,
hire slow" - that's something I
learnt from one of my mentors
and have never forgotten!

93
http://creativenaturesuperfoods.co.uk
YOUR BUSINESS SUMMER 2018

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