How to start a business with almost NOTHING

Transcript

Full transcript page · Interactive episode

============================================================
TRANSCRIPTION WITH SPEAKERS
============================================================

[00:00] SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Canada's podcast.
[00:06] SPEAKER_01: Hello, this is Robert Smigel coming to today with Canada's podcast where we talk to the entrepreneurs or making it happen here in British Columbia.
[00:14] SPEAKER_01: Melissa Mills has gone from stocking shelves at whole foods to creating products that fly off the shelves.
[00:21] SPEAKER_01: She turned her $500 farmer's market startup into a multi-million dollar plant based provisions company.
[00:28] SPEAKER_01: Her passion is integrity and real food.
[00:32] SPEAKER_01: She's proved that a business of any size can operate sustainability and make a difference in its community and beyond.
[00:41] SPEAKER_01: Well, Melissa, welcome to Canada's podcast. Thanks for taking the time today to be here for all our listeners.
[00:47] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thanks for having me. I'm pretty excited to chat with you.
[00:50] SPEAKER_01: Good. Okay. So let's get started. Tell us a little bit more about yourself and give us the details on your current business. Are you from Vancouver, British Columbia? Canada? Where are you from?
[01:02] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm from Canada, not British Columbia. I'm from a very small town in Ontario called Jackson's Point.
[01:08] SPEAKER_00: It's the ice fishing capital of Ontario. It's a kind of a north of Toronto a little bit and I grew up there with my mom and my sister and my brother.
[01:21] SPEAKER_01: Okay, good. Okay. Now let's talk about your business. Can you I've kind of started off a little bit about what it is, but maybe just elaborate a little bit more what you guys do.
[01:32] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, sure. So I started spreading kitchen, which was a dip company. It's since evolved in sort of to plant based cheeses and we make butter now too.
[01:42] SPEAKER_00: But it really started as a dip company in the farmers market and how that sort of came about is I've always had this. I don't know. I've always worked sort of minimum wage jobs and you know I've gone to college several times where I just never could find the right fit.
[01:58] SPEAKER_00: And I always wanted to do something that was meaningful with my life, not just always following money and that sort of thing. And I was turning 30 and I still hadn't quite found what I felt like I was really good at, which was always something more creative.
[02:13] SPEAKER_00: I never had like a manager's position. I've been fired several times in my life or into ordination and sort of those types of things.
[02:21] SPEAKER_00: So I didn't quite know what I was going to do. So one day I just decided that I was going to save up a little extra money by selling some dips at the farmers market, which I've always been really interested in making regular food or like convenient style food, but making it home and making it healthy.
[02:38] SPEAKER_00: Like an example would be like catch up. I would take you know to Mayo paste and I'd bake to it to sweeten it and sort of like go along those lines. And so people you me and my you know my friend circle as somebody who makes really delicious.
[02:51] SPEAKER_00: Healthy foods. So I started selling these at the farmers market and they just started flying off out of the coolers. I guess I told all 500 units in the first two hours of the first farmers market.
[03:04] SPEAKER_00: And from there I really thought, hey, I found something is really awesome. Something where I can be myself. I can be creative.
[03:11] SPEAKER_00: And it's got a bit of a hassle to it because I've always been very entrepreneurial and I just thought that's where it would end, but it just continued to grow.
[03:19] SPEAKER_01: Good. And you have grown quite a bit. I mean, the company is worth multi million dollar business now. So, but you had to get started somewhere. Did you need finance to start your company? And how do you currently make money in the business now? Obviously, you have products you sell. Is there one particular product that sells more than others?
[03:39] SPEAKER_00: So I didn't need a financing and I think that's where I can be sort of a beacon of hope for a lot of entrepreneurs that you know they feel like they don't have much money. Maybe they have a thousand dollars. Maybe they don't have you know family that can kind of chip in for their idea because maybe they don't believe in their idea like when I first started people.
[03:58] SPEAKER_00: And within my family circle, not to my face, but behind my back was like, did nobody's gonna buy this, you know, like this is a hobby kind of thing, you know, and we're a five million dollar company.
[04:11] SPEAKER_00: So it was more about my work ethic. I suppose and I really started with nothing like I literally started with $500 kind of bicycle and a blender that I got for my birthday like a Vitamix and I had this $500.
[04:28] SPEAKER_00: So I just used that $500 very sparsely to buy some coolers and to buy, you know, ingredients, but then I just kept putting that little bit of money back into the business. And I was working a side job. So of course I worked a job during the week and you know, and then I did this on the weekend. So it's not like I left everything, but I eventually actually got fired from that other job.
[04:50] SPEAKER_00: Anyway, which was like easy to then, you know, decide that I was going to keep this thing even further, but I mean, I think bootstrapping I took bootstrapping to a whole other level in the sense that I would use my local. I was part of spy, which is an online delivery grocery delivery one of the first ones.
[05:10] SPEAKER_00: And they were buying for me, but when I would drop off my products to them to sell, I would actually take their boxes from all the other products and read and use those boxes as my distributor boxes.
[05:22] SPEAKER_00: It didn't matter if it was lettuce. It didn't matter if it was chip box or something like that. I would just like cross the name out and put right spread them over it. So it was like a little things like that that I did along the way to help build the business before, you know, investing in, you know, having to commit.
[05:40] SPEAKER_00: I went to two pallets of boxes for $5,000, or, you know, and I was doing this all out of commentary space. So I didn't have a lot of storage space either.
[05:49] SPEAKER_00: And so I still haven't gotten any, well, I did get some financing to do a build out that I did this year, but I would save for the first three years.
[05:58] SPEAKER_00: I be losing a million dollar company before I got a loan from the bank.
[06:03] SPEAKER_01: Okay. I want you to give me a key piece of knowledge or information about your industry
[06:09] SPEAKER_01: that our listeners can learn from. So something that the common person may not know about
[06:13] SPEAKER_01: the food industry that you're in.
[06:17] SPEAKER_00: I think a lot, like something that people if they want to get into food should know is
[06:21] SPEAKER_00: the difference between markup and margin and how important it is to make sure that you're
[06:26] SPEAKER_00: doing the math and that it's in margin and not markup because you could be pricing your
[06:33] SPEAKER_00: product incorrectly, which is really important especially in CPG because margins are generally
[06:42] SPEAKER_00: pretty narrow along the line and the retailers are the ones that end up getting the most.
[06:46] SPEAKER_00: So in order to make sure that you are in a good position from the beginning, it's important
[06:53] SPEAKER_00: to really know that. And I would say that you know, you kind of along the line to pricing
[06:58] SPEAKER_00: your product, like there's a lot of middlemen in CPG, like you know, like distributors and
[07:02] SPEAKER_00: retailers, we've got brokers and you've got a whole bunch of like cut, you know, desk
[07:06] SPEAKER_00: by a thousand cuts kind of scenario. So to make sure that you know, you've got a really
[07:13] SPEAKER_00: strong understanding of your cost of goods and where you would be able to, you know,
[07:21] SPEAKER_00: through economies of scale eventually build back a little bit in your own margin but make
[07:26] SPEAKER_00: sure that you have enough cushion from the start. I think it's really important.
[07:31] SPEAKER_01: Okay. So like I mentioned before, you've grown a lot and you're still operating at Vancouver,
[07:37] SPEAKER_01: but what is the long-term vision and what will your company look like in the future? Do you
[07:41] SPEAKER_01: see the company expanding into other areas and where beyond Vancouver, BC or even Canada?
[07:49] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, my vision for the company isn't necessarily in terms of growth or how much money we make,
[07:57] SPEAKER_00: it's more based on community, I guess. And so how we measure that is well through various sort
[08:08] SPEAKER_00: of like charity things that we do, but and within our own employees, like this year was the first
[08:14] SPEAKER_00: year that I could say that every single person was getting paid a living wage here in Vancouver.
[08:19] SPEAKER_00: And that was a pretty big deal because a living wage in Vancouver is pretty high. And so, you know,
[08:25] SPEAKER_00: just kind of like those types of milestones along one of my bigger visions is to be able to build a
[08:30] SPEAKER_00: rooftop garden on the top of our facility that, you know, encompasses sort of solar, but also a
[08:35] SPEAKER_00: place where people can from the company can go upstairs to connect or have their lunches or just have
[08:41] SPEAKER_00: like a, you know, a really beautiful space to eat their lunch in and sort of like surrounding the
[08:47] SPEAKER_00: business with those types of values. And I think when you produce a really good product or if you
[08:53] SPEAKER_00: have really good values for the ingredients you use, like making sure that all of our nuts are sourced
[09:00] SPEAKER_00: ethically is a really big thing for me and making sure that we're going direct to farms and we understand,
[09:05] SPEAKER_00: you know, the whole process and making sure those people are getting treated well and making sure
[09:09] SPEAKER_00: that we're contributing to their community as much as we live in this big global world. Everything
[09:14] SPEAKER_00: is kind of local because it is at the touch of a finger or at the end of your finger tip. So,
[09:19] SPEAKER_00: that's kind of how I manage, you know, house-bred and grows, but we would like to, we're doing a U.S.
[09:27] SPEAKER_00: expansion this year. So we're hoping to grow this to a hundred million dollar company and then
[09:32] SPEAKER_01: hoping to do a lot of good along the way. Okay. Let's talk a little bit about doing business in
[09:39] SPEAKER_01: Vancouver and what that looks like for you. What are the biggest benefits for you and being an
[09:43] SPEAKER_01: entrepreneur here in Vancouver, BC? I want you to give some of the good points about starting a
[09:48] SPEAKER_01: company here. I also want you to give us some of the tough things or challenges you've had for
[09:52] SPEAKER_01: our listeners so they can keep it out for them. I would definitely say the best thing about starting
[10:00] SPEAKER_00: a natural food company in Vancouver is the density of people who get what you're doing. So not just
[10:06] SPEAKER_00: customers being one of them. A lot of people here have the lifestyle of natural food or they
[10:14] SPEAKER_00: care they know what an adapt to gin is or they enjoy the outdoors and understand what a life,
[10:20] SPEAKER_00: like a healthy lifestyle is all about. So it's really, really easy when you have a natural food brand
[10:25] SPEAKER_00: to connect with your customer and get the velocity going. So, and secondly, I think that Vancouver
[10:33] SPEAKER_00: has an amazing sort of density of healthy food businesses that are willing to help. There's a great
[10:42] SPEAKER_00: community here, big and small and I haven't had nothing but wonderful experiences where you know
[10:50] SPEAKER_00: Ian from Hippie Snacks, which is a huge, which is a really big company compared to my company
[10:55] SPEAKER_00: and they have really great values and I can actually email Ian a question and he gets back to me
[11:01] SPEAKER_00: within two hours sometimes or less or you know just all the mingling and events that they have
[11:07] SPEAKER_00: specific for food businesses in Vancouver I think is pretty unique. Some bad things about
[11:14] SPEAKER_00: Vancouver is probably labor and the cost of living here can cause a business to sort of
[11:24] SPEAKER_00: stumble or struggle because you have to put out a lot like you can't obviously can only run your
[11:28] SPEAKER_00: business by yourself for so long. You know I was blending dips day and night till 3am couldn't
[11:34] SPEAKER_00: really think I could afford one person to help me because at the time all I could afford was $12
[11:39] SPEAKER_00: which was more than minimum wage at that time but you know it was a lot and then so I think the
[11:47] SPEAKER_00: cost of living and the cost of rent so like facility rent and stuff is can be kind of exciting.
[11:54] SPEAKER_01: Now you're from Ontario but you've been obviously living in Vancouver for a while. If you were to
[11:58] SPEAKER_01: start all over again you just moved to Vancouver BC but this time you don't know anyone knowing what
[12:03] SPEAKER_01: you know now what would you do and how would you go about starting all over again is not to canoeing.
[12:11] SPEAKER_01: Oh, something to do differently but you learned a long way.
[12:16] SPEAKER_00: I think I would just be so shy to connect with people as much as I was like I lived here
[12:21] SPEAKER_00: for 10 years before making one friend. You know I was very sort of like intimidated by
[12:30] SPEAKER_00: you know Vancouver people I think and so understanding how warm and welcoming they really are
[12:36] SPEAKER_00: once you start putting yourself out there more I think that is definitely one thing that would have
[12:40] SPEAKER_00: helped me along the way a little sooner instead of trying to take on a whole bunch of stuff and
[12:45] SPEAKER_01: everything on my own. So networking a little bit more.
[12:50] SPEAKER_01: Okay let's talk about your morning routine. What's the first hour look like for you when you
[12:54] SPEAKER_01: get up in the morning do you have a specific routine or ritual that helps you get motivated start
[12:58] SPEAKER_00: your day? Yeah I'm definitely a follower of the 5 a.m. club I don't know if you've ever heard that
[13:04] SPEAKER_00: so I do that so I spend the first 20 minutes exercising aggressively the second 20 minutes
[13:11] SPEAKER_00: and then it's writing in a journal or just like writing whatever comes out and then I spend the
[13:18] SPEAKER_01: next 20 minutes doing the meditation. Okay do you think entrepreneurs have to be weird or unique
[13:26] SPEAKER_00: in a positive way or are wider differently? Yeah 100% I do I think entrepreneurs have either
[13:36] SPEAKER_00: have a extra pain threshold I guess a more you know a higher threshold for pain than most people
[13:43] SPEAKER_00: I think that they are good in a crisis not just from the point of because you handle a crisis
[13:49] SPEAKER_00: in your business but I think that in order to grow in our lives just as human beings one common factor
[13:58] SPEAKER_00: is crisis. Crisis always puts you in a position to change something and stick to it through motivation
[14:05] SPEAKER_00: before you have to stick to it through sort of sort of what's the word I'm looking for anyway
[14:16] SPEAKER_00: yeah kind of you know before you have to stick to it so I think that entrepreneurs are just kind
[14:21] SPEAKER_00: of wired in a way where they're kind of like they like thrills they like adrenaline they kind of
[14:27] SPEAKER_00: have a high risk tolerance there they've got a health working they got a vision and they
[14:33] SPEAKER_00: they can see it you know they can visualize maybe a little bit better before people around them
[14:38] SPEAKER_01: can kind of squash their idea so yeah okay entrepreneurs like to read books are you reading now
[14:45] SPEAKER_01: on wire even audiobooks podcasts in the life and can you recommend any books for listeners who are
[14:50] SPEAKER_00: also aspiring entrepreneurs? Yeah I read a lot I read a lot a lot a lot so I made a little
[15:03] SPEAKER_00: amazing book it's really action oriented you'll get you really fired up and thinking about your
[15:08] SPEAKER_00: business ramping your brand by James Richardson is something I read recently again it's like one of
[15:16] SPEAKER_00: those books where you almost it's like a workbook where with every chapter you're just like okay
[15:21] SPEAKER_00: you know you start writing notes or think getting your brain going on the Dorito effect for food
[15:27] SPEAKER_00: business people I think this is really huge this one inspired me on a personal level two and it's
[15:33] SPEAKER_00: kind of all about how natural flavoring actually trick your brain into eating more and how we've
[15:40] SPEAKER_00: kind of gotten into this really sick kind of food system and then how to kind of get out of it
[15:46] SPEAKER_00: and then Joe dispends that anything by him breaking the habit of being yourself is a really
[15:52] SPEAKER_00: influential book for me just because of how I kind of grew up and getting to where I am today
[15:57] SPEAKER_00: took a lot of mindset shifting and habits shifting and then my last is Richard Feynman who is a quantum
[16:07] SPEAKER_00: physicist to see if he's somebody that I have admired since I was a teenager and I highly recommend
[16:13] SPEAKER_00: looking up his YouTube video that is called Imagine just imagine and he talks about different things
[16:24] SPEAKER_00: the world of physics as simple as being a tree but it helps you just look at life in a totally
[16:31] SPEAKER_00: different way beyond material things and look at the chemistry of like what's happening in the world
[16:37] SPEAKER_01: and it's mind blowing okay good we'll put those in the show notes okay we know that you're not
[16:44] SPEAKER_01: working all the time and we also know that Vancouver is a lifestyle city how do you balance work
[16:49] SPEAKER_01: into relax and you how do you relax when you're not working what are your favorite activities to do
[16:54] SPEAKER_01: in British Columbia do you ski bike, kayak, golf, hike or something go for a drive?
[17:00] SPEAKER_00: yeah I am very very sporty so the whole reason I came out to British Columbia in the beginning was
[17:05] SPEAKER_00: I'd always hoped as being a sort of a snowboard instructor with low mountains so I that's how I ended
[17:10] SPEAKER_00: up here and I became a lifty up in with low mountains and then other things I like to do before
[17:16] SPEAKER_00: shredding mad pow is I started doing this cold water swim club so you basically go there at 8 a.m.
[17:25] SPEAKER_00: on Saturday mornings into the Lynn Canyon River which is beyond freezing cold and you try to sit
[17:30] SPEAKER_00: in there for as long as you possibly can and I tell you that already I've only done it two times
[17:34] SPEAKER_00: and it's like all I do is think about wanting to go back and do it again and then we're actually
[17:41] SPEAKER_01: when you're in the water you want to get out but you actually want to go back
[17:46] SPEAKER_00: yeah it's changing it's like brings over this calmness but like peacefulness after you get out of
[17:53] SPEAKER_01: there it's addictive I would say it's weird I have to try that sometimes I think you go I think
[18:00] SPEAKER_01: you've almost answered this question if you weren't doing what you do now what would you like to do
[18:03] SPEAKER_00: for a profession I think that I would really like to do something where I'm giving back and my hope
[18:13] SPEAKER_00: is that I can do something with kids and suit related education and sort of mix in creativity and
[18:22] SPEAKER_01: just sort of thinking about things differently I kind of a job would you not like to do
[18:30] SPEAKER_01: cardiac technician that's pretty detailed okay in business what is your favorite word quote or
[18:38] SPEAKER_01: sentence that you like to use you have anything that you speak on like yes I have three can I share
[18:45] SPEAKER_00: all three okay number one is where there's a will there's a way this has been my mantra since
[18:52] SPEAKER_00: I think I was six years old another one is the obstacle is the way so whenever I'm feeling
[19:01] SPEAKER_00: like I don't want to go there I force myself to and it always works out and the last one is it
[19:07] SPEAKER_01: isn't happening to you it's happening for you oh very nice I like those very motivational inspiring
[19:15] SPEAKER_01: okay which your least favorite word or sentence you do not like to hear there's something that comes
[19:21] SPEAKER_01: up once in a while seven says it I can't or won't or don't or yeah I think it's can't it's like
[19:30] SPEAKER_00: whenever somebody is sort of using language that makes them come across as a victim or when they're
[19:38] SPEAKER_00: using language that puts me in a position of assuming that I can't achieve something I get
[19:46] SPEAKER_00: I get pretty passionate and riled up about that yeah okay if you had to pick one or two words
[19:56] SPEAKER_01: describe yourself what would it be and why I would say passionate and
[20:09] SPEAKER_00: there's so many great words are there passionate and hardworking okay anything keeping you up at night
[20:16] SPEAKER_01: these days is you wouldn't you go to bed at night or you're thinking about work still or you
[20:21] SPEAKER_01: in a different space you think a lot of the things kind of living your mind rest anything keeping up
[20:27] SPEAKER_00: I never there was for a long time nothing kept me up at night and whenever someone would ask
[20:32] SPEAKER_00: a question I'm like I don't know what that was that is like but yeah I mean as you grow your
[20:36] SPEAKER_00: business right and little things come up here and there it's generally like tiny operational
[20:42] SPEAKER_00: things or you know can I get an office assistant to help me and nobody's applying and it's just like
[20:49] SPEAKER_00: oh no like I'm not going to be doing this forever but I think I'm pretty good at like through
[20:55] SPEAKER_00: the tools and the teachers that I follow through reading books and other things I'm learning how
[20:59] SPEAKER_00: to quiet my mind is something that I actively pursue so I'm pretty good at kind of like shutting that
[21:06] SPEAKER_01: down okay I want you to give us a top three things on your inspired lifeless this could be what you
[21:11] SPEAKER_01: want to do TEDx talk travel more started at a business write a book anything like that
[21:19] SPEAKER_00: yeah I mean there's just so many amazing experiences in life so I guess one thing I would like to do
[21:26] SPEAKER_00: is write a memoir I have come from a place of you know where a lot of people don't get the
[21:32] SPEAKER_00: opportunities that I get and so I think it would be really cool to share those in some kind of a
[21:37] SPEAKER_00: memoir slash cookbook combo another thing I would really like to do is start some kind of I don't
[21:46] SPEAKER_00: know if it's like something in a for kids really I really want to do something that takes children
[21:55] SPEAKER_00: and helps them learn about the importance of food and get them cooking I think learning how to
[22:01] SPEAKER_00: cook at a really young age was a really great way to not only be creative but also give me confidence
[22:07] SPEAKER_00: that I could take care of myself and I would really love to kind of have a place in Costa Rica that
[22:15] SPEAKER_01: started a little wellness get away from it yeah there's a lot of yoga retreats here in spas and
[22:22] SPEAKER_01: places like that yeah sure that would be nice to have you come down here okay do you have any
[22:28] SPEAKER_01: advice that you may have received that you can pass on to entrepreneur to okinawa is there
[22:33] SPEAKER_01: no one ever said anything to you that kind of resonates with you at a time when you really needed it
[22:42] SPEAKER_00: yeah definitely I think the latest one was this morning actually and it embraced the suck
[22:51] SPEAKER_00: the David Goggins kind of thing but it was actually said to me by a colleague embrace the suck
[22:59] SPEAKER_00: where it's like when you get comfortable and everything's going really well it doesn't necessarily
[23:05] SPEAKER_00: mean that anything you know like things are going well you should push yourself further and like
[23:10] SPEAKER_00: and feel the pain because that's how you you know feel better later so I would say yeah embrace the suck
[23:17] SPEAKER_01: that's good one okay we're gonna wrap things up here Melissa how can our listens get whole of you
[23:22] SPEAKER_01: and is there anything you'd like to add before you leave us today um so they can get a whole
[23:29] SPEAKER_00: lead I have an email so it's Melissa knows like jimmy oh no it's Melissa at freedomkitchen.com
[23:35] SPEAKER_00: I'm not on Instagram or Twitter personally but you can follow our um business one and I'm often
[23:42] SPEAKER_00: the person to reply or get messages through that um and then I guess a few things I like to share
[23:48] SPEAKER_00: are that first of all I think food is so important just for mindset and like where you're going
[23:55] SPEAKER_00: with your business and I think sometimes as entrepreneurs we don't make time for ourselves because
[23:59] SPEAKER_00: we're always putting everything we have into our business and I think I did go through a phase of
[24:05] SPEAKER_00: doing that for a year or two um before getting back to kind of my roots and how I started and
[24:10] SPEAKER_00: value and good food and I think it's really important that you know you make the time and create
[24:16] SPEAKER_00: a priority for only putting real food in your body because that's what's gonna optimize your brain
[24:23] SPEAKER_00: and your mental function and food is high such a strong connection to your emotions and and your
[24:29] SPEAKER_00: longevity and just everything I would say that you know just making the time put good food in your
[24:35] SPEAKER_00: body as fuel is probably the most important thing that a lot of people don't do and they should do
[24:42] SPEAKER_01: yeah I had Michelle Krann on the show one time and she said that uh entrepreneurs are like athletes
[24:47] SPEAKER_01: we need to take care of our bodies because there's not a lot of downtime there's not a lot of downtime
[24:53] SPEAKER_01: we've got to be there to keep the shift going for sure great okay Melissa thanks for coming on
[25:00] SPEAKER_01: the show I've learned a lot about you and I'm sure our listeners have as well yeah thanks so much
[25:05] SPEAKER_01: it was a great chat great okay we'll see you next time