Megan Rossi and Jon Walsh: ‘Be charmingly persistent with consumers’

Welcome to Small Enterprise Snippets, the podcast from SmallBusiness.co.uk. Right now’s friends are Dr Megan Rossi (aka The Intestine Well being Physician) and Jon Walsh, founders of Bio&Me granola and yoghurts.

We’ll be discussing the best way to win over consumers and create memorable social media content material.

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Megan Rossi (The Intestine Well being Physician) and Jon Walsh podcast transcript

Howdy and welcome to Small Enterprise Snippets, the podcast from SmallBusiness.co.uk. I’m your host, Anna Jordan.

Our friends for this episode are Dr Megan Rossi and Jon Walsh, founders of gut-friendly meals model, Bio&Me, launched in 2019. Their newest funding spherical closed £1.6m again in March 2022 and so they’ve landed a latest funding from England captain, Harry Kane.

Megan aka The Intestine Well being Physician is a dietitian and analysis affiliate at King’s School London and a daily on This Morning. She’s launched two books and based the Intestine Well being Clinic in London.

Jon has had a profession spanning over 30 years within the business and advertising house, together with roles at P&G and John West and a seat on the UK board of Nestle.

We’ll be speaking about making memorable social media content material.

Anna: Hello, guys, the way you doing?

Megan and Jon: Howdy! Yeah – actually good, thanks.

Smashing. Nicely, I’ll get straight into it. As talked about within the intro, you guys are the founders of Bio&Me. What’s the largest problem you had in beginning the corporate?

Megan: For me, it’s actually designing the merchandise and ensuring that each component of it is vitally a lot consistent with the science. In order a background, I’m a scientist, and I needed to be sure that all of my analysis and my beliefs on what’s actually going to assist folks with their intestine well being is basically emulated on this on this product. For me, there was a variety of stress on getting the product proper. It’s not simply that, I suppose, the science, however I needed to verify it tasted scrumptious. As a result of, as a dietitian, I do know that even when one thing is basically wholesome for you, if it doesn’t style good, folks aren’t going to be repeat consumers. For me, it was getting that proper formulation of the merchandise.

Jon: Megan is spot on in regards to the product. That was the primary factor to get proper. I suppose the opposite factor that stunned me the way it labored, like all these good massive firms you simply talked about within the intro, whenever you make a promise to retailers that like 100 per cent customer support, I simply actually hadn’t realised fairly how a lot goes into making that occur. So many particulars. They actually do matter. I keep in mind at one level, earlier than Covid, there was a scarcity of cardboard on the planet. I simply couldn’t imagine that, we’ve received the product, proper, we’ve received the branding, proper, however one way or the other, brown cardboard for outers was going to be the issue. There are simply so many devils within the element, you’ve simply received to get it proper. At age 48 that was an enormous studying for me.

Particularly for your self, Jon, what had been the challenges in getting Bio&Me on the cabinets in comparison with different merchandise that you just’ve labored with earlier than?

Jon: Um, so that is simply going to make me sound like I’m flattering my co-founder, however what the massive benefit that we had is that we’ve got a USP, a novel positioning. We’re the very best for intestine well being, which is what, Megan, by designing the merchandise we had been simply speaking about, does. The retailers are actually busy all of the consumers. One cereal purchaser was telling me that she was getting despatched three or 4 new granolas every week. With a view to stand out, you’ve actually received to have that distinctive positioning. That’s what Megan brings to Bio&Me, which is, I believe, our best power. The opposite thought on it, I suppose, is I believe there are some folks on the market who suppose that you just simply ship one electronic mail, you’ve received your USP, everyone will realise it and suppose it’s unbelievable and on you go.

Really, you’ve simply received to be charmingly persistent, you simply received to maintain going with superb humour, till you discover the best second. In reality, we’re a small start-up, we’re not a very powerful factor in most retailers’ lives. You’ve received to have a little bit of humility and perceive the place you slot in the grand scheme of issues, after which simply be able to seize your second when it comes.

As we’re talking in additional sensible phrases, what does that seem like? Does it begin with an electronic mail, possibly a follow-up every week later, constructing a relationship that approach?

Jon: It actually relies upon. I imply, in case you can presumably discover a heat introduction, so any person who is aware of the client. If our technique is sort of apparent, you realize, Megan has designed the merchandise and is aware of the best way to make them finest for intestine well being. I’ve received gray hair, so I labored in meals for 20 years or so. So, though I you realize, removed from it, and also you knew all of the consumers, I in all probability solely knew one however I would know any person who knew any person. So, if you may get a heat introduction, I’d positively advocate that. Emails can work however do put together to be persistent. I noticed one new wine model who was on LinkedIn speaking about the truth that they emailed the identical purchaser 200 instances over a two-year interval. That feels like numerous emails to me. So I believe you’ve received to attempt to discover your solution to doing it in a approach the place you’re standing out however in a chillin one of many proper approach however you’re attempting to be the enjoyable a part of the consumers job, not a problem for them.

“One new wine model emailed the identical purchaser 200 instances over a two-year interval”

Jon

Megan: Simply to verify that Jon and I don’t usually give one another compliments or we prefer to flatter one another. Very uncommon for us. However so as to add, I believe that’s actually certainly one of Jon’s strengths when it comes to simply actually being a folks individual, and being empathetic, but in addition being fairly charming and the way he can get within the inside circle and work with them. So I believe that could be a particular ability that Jon’s developed. Possibly it’s the ex-Nestle of 10 or so years and all of the stuff you discovered there, however you actually have a approach with folks, I’d say.

Jon: Developed it late in life, possibly.

Megan, you might have an actual enormous social media presence. Discuss to me about breaking down scientific ideas, that are probably fairly difficult. You want a variety of time to essentially digest them – for need of a greater phrase!

How do you make social media posts a few complicated topic memorable?

Megan: For me, it’s simply fascinated with how you’d discuss to your girlfriends who won’t have a science diploma. What would seize their curiosity? What would inspire them to make some key modifications of their life to assist their intestine well being? That’s one of many key issues. At any time when I’m writing a publish, I believe, properly, how can I seize the eye of my girlfriends? I really feel like that could be a approach that I appear to have the ability to get a few of these key messages, however actually isn’t one thing I at all times get proper.

As a scientist, I wish to at all times load the scientific data in there as a result of I discover it so thrilling. However I would like to grasp that possibly not everybody appreciates the facility and the potential of our intestine microbiome, being fed that each day. Consider new angles to entice folks.

Whenever you had been launching Bio&Me, I perceive that you just selected to go straight to market and do your individual factor. Discuss to us about that and the way that happened.

Megan: Do you imply, me working with different firms? It will be probably that, you realize, there have been a number of the massive guys who I believed I had an incredible alternative to work along with once they approached me about being the face of their intestine well being vary. However sadly, when it got here into understanding what I used to be capable of change within the merchandise, sadly, it was very restricted and their merchandise simply weren’t consistent with the analysis round what’s good on your intestine well being. In order that’s once I knew I needed to exit and do it myself if I used to be ever going to get into meals trade.

Why had been they resistant to creating these modifications?

Megan: It’s a difficult one. I believe a variety of it got here all the way down to their value challenges. They usually had been of the assumption that the modifications that I needed to make to a number of the recipes would have value them an excessive amount of of their margin and so they wouldn’t have had a financially viable product. It motivated me extra to have the ability to present them that, truly, you may have a product that’s completely good for the intestine and is a worthwhile enterprise as properly.

Now, in fact, that’s not one thing I knew the best way to do. However I knew that I might discover somebody who had all these companies expertise, then be capable of be sure that it was going to ship that approach. And that’s once I headhunted Jon, he has a distinct story. However we met within the center, and we’d work collectively on one other challenge. I simply keep in mind, once more, I don’t like to provide him any compliments, I’m going to must pop his head during this podcast. However, you realize, he did have all of these enterprise expertise that I knew I wanted, and that I didn’t have, to have a viable enterprise. So yeah, I believe it actually got here all the way down to that. And that’s why I’m so extremely pleased with all the things Bio&Me has achieved, as a result of we’ve finished good intestine well being the best approach, however nonetheless with the ability to be a worthwhile enterprise.

With latest challenges, specifically, within the type of the price of dwelling disaster, how has that affected Bio&Me, if in any respect?

Jon: If we use the fortunate phrase, we’ve been fortunate, thus far, in a way of we’ve been rising very quick. As we’ve grown it, our volumes enhance, subsequently, we are able to purchase our components at ever cheaper costs, due to the amount reductions we are able to now get. Megan’s clearly designed the recipes to be the perfect for intestine well being. That does indicate that there’s a premium on the components to verify they’re the best ones. However as we develop, we are able to clearly purchase them cheaper, subsequently, thus far, we’ve been capable of offset inflation.

There’s additionally a kind of a cheerful coincidence for us the place, whenever you had been speaking about product improvement earlier, you realize, we launched in 2019, and you then get plenty of suggestions from customers, they let you know what they love, the bits of the flavours they love. Additionally they let you know some issues they don’t like. So sometimes, we had been getting feedback about hardness and taking out the a number of the hardness within the product. Once we analysed it, that occurred to translate to a number of the hardest, costliest components as properly, a number of the nuts and seeds, and so forth. We had been capable of swap these out for softer components, which additionally helped on the fee, which meant we haven’t needed to put a value enhance by means of in any respect but.

Anna: That’s the significance of buyer suggestions as properly.

Jon: Yeah. And this time, we had been simply very fortunate that the the place the shoppers are asking us to go and we’re solely speaking tiny tweaks. In our basic rules of being the very best for intestine well being, we’d by no means compromise on the style and flavour aspect. You imply you take heed to your customers. That’s why, we’re primarily a retail enterprise clearly, we’ve received our pretty companions Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, ASDA, Ocado, and so forth. However our ecommerce enterprise is great for getting buyer suggestions. As a result of they purchase from you, they electronic mail you. We get pretty emails day by day, we get, you realize, three, 4 or 5 emails from folks asking us questions, telling us what they like, sometimes wanting modifications. That’s gold mud for us.

Megan: I believe that’s additionally the place the social media neighborhood comes into play. We’re taking a look at NPD (new product improvement). And we’ve received about 20 completely different merchandise and put it to them. They’re so keen about it give us actually detailed suggestions. So it’s sensible to have that neighborhood on aspect as properly.

How are you managing your development plans with out overexpansion and the dangers that include that?

Jon: So I noticed a primary focus, by the best way, I’m undecided if that is in your query, however is the UK. We very often get requested about going worldwide proper now. We simply wish to be sure we get completely all the things proper within the UK, on our cereals and on our yoghurts. We’re clearly in two classes, and in reality that’s greater than sufficient to be getting on with. In case you think about our ambition is to have our granolas, our pouches and yoghurts in all of the supermarkets, and in as many shops as potential in these supermarkets, there’s an terrible lot of labor for us to do nonetheless to do this. We’ve had an incredible begin. We’ve had an incredible yr with a variety of new launches however the fact a few launch with a grocery store is that’s simply the beginning of the arduous work, you then received to get a superb charge of sale and develop your enterprise with the supermarkets that you just’re in in order that’s sort of our primary focus. If we get that proper subsequent yr [2023], I imply, what’s pretty is our enterprise has doubled this yr, we simply get the distribution we’ve received proper. Subsequent yr, we’ll double once more. That’s our absolute primary focus.

Megan: I believe so as to add to that’s Jon could be very tight with cash, which is definitely a very helpful factor.

Jon: Three compliments!

Megan: Is {that a} praise? Possibly a backhanded praise. So I believe, once more, our development, the doubling has been finished on fairly a small advertising funds. We’re very cautious with how we spend the funding that we’ve gotten. And, once more, it exhibits that, if we didn’t throw cash on the advertising, like many different firms do, I believe our development may very well be much more accelerated, however we wish to be clearly very savvy, going into some fairly troublesome instances. Some are fairly cautious with that, however nonetheless have clearly been reaching fairly good development.

What sort of areas of promoting do you deal with for the best outcomes?

Jon: I used to learn lots about social media. That could be a massive, massive, massive focus for us, partly from a model consciousness viewpoint. But additionally, that engagement piece that Megan was chatting about is so essential, the relationships. You’ll be able to construct up there, then we spend as a lot cash as we are able to, as near the purpose of sale as we are able to, whether or not that’s ecommerce on our web site or with our retail companions. What we wish to do is attempt to seize folks’s consideration, once they’re actually in shops or on retailers’ web sites, as a result of, you realize, we don’t have the tens of millions to do TV promoting campaigns that the massive firms like Nestle can do. We’ve got to seek out methods to seize folks’s consideration.

Our greatest advertising actually is our packaging and if we are able to simply add our product and if we are able to get our packaging and our product into folks’s palms, they’ll learn Dr. Megan’s story on the pack, they’ll strive the product and that’s what converts folks to us. So yeah, that’s the place our actual focus is.

Megan: And I simply suppose with the facility of social media, the phrase of mouth, that free advertising, I believe, once more, that’s how we’ve been capable of preserve our advertising funds down is sort of utilising the neighborhood we’ve already received out there to us. They actually do imagine within the Bio&Me model and actually assist it. So, I believe that’s helped lots as properly.

I simply wish to spherical off with a query for you, Megan. You’re nonetheless in fact, working in science, however are additionally an entrepreneur. How has that gone down with the medical neighborhood?

Megan: You recognize, I really like that folks ask me this. And I believe everybody’s responded actually positively, I believe as a result of I nonetheless work as a analysis fellow at King’s so I haven’t ‘bought out’, so to talk, I’m nonetheless guaranteeing that the merchandise that we’re creating are consistent with the science. And I believe that’s one thing that my colleagues are actually proud that I’ve continued to do. If I ever change that, I believe I’d cop a variety of flack. So I believe they’ve been actually constructive and have cherished with the ability to advocate the product to a variety of their shoppers when it comes to, you realize, my vitamin and dietetic colleagues, as a result of in addition they noticed that there was no product on the market that, you realize, was truly claimed specifically good for the intestine when it comes to the no added sugar, the prebiotic declare that we’ve received and that plant range delivering the 15+ vegetation and each product so, they are saying they’re the specialists, they see the product and so they’re like, ‘Wow, that is truly actually spectacular’. And yeah, so I believe total it’s been actually constructive thus far. Knock on wooden.

Anna: Nicely, that’s it for me except both of you might have something you’d like so as to add.

Jon: Nope! I fairly take pleasure in these items.

Anna: Yeah, it’s good to have a chat! Thanks each a lot for approaching.

Megan: Absolute pleasure. Thanks for having us.

You will discover out extra about Bio&Me at bioandme.co.uk and Megan at instagram.com/theguthealthdoctor. You too can go to SmallBusiness.co.uk for extra on beginning your individual enterprise. Bear in mind to love us on Fb @SmallBusinessExperts, comply with us on Twitter @smallbusinessuk (all lowercase) and subscribe to our YouTube channel, linked within the description. Till subsequent time, thanks for listening.

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