Boss Money: Stephanie Hughes, Founder of Raw Bulk Foods
Steph and her team set out with an idea to we make it accessible for every Aussie to eat locally grown, plastic free food without losing convenience. Despite the efforts of many consumers to reduce their plastic pollution single-use plastic is sadly everywhere. Raw Bulk Foods has been built on the principal of supporting the circular economy meaning that their items are intended to be reused over and over again to generate zero waste. They believe the business will provide a real solution to the plastic pollution problem that's caused by every day items like rice, pasta, nuts, cereal etc. They have recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to fuel the business. This campaign allows like minded people to get behind the business and support its launch, if they wish. They hope they can inspire enough Aussies to support their launch so they can bring this truely sustainable, waste free shopping system to life!
So how exactly does it work? You simply order your forever jars and/or pantry refill items, they deliver it to you, you refill your pantry, send back your bags in a prepaid envelope, and they reuse them on new orders. They’re also committed to an aesthetically pleasing pantry so you’ll find a minimalist style design to keep your pantry looking mighty fine.
What inspired you to start your own business?
I have always tried to minimise my waste and make environmentally conscious buying decisions. I was no stranger to the plastic problem as I have travelled the world a lot and visited the most remote places. No matter where I went, there was always plastic polluting the environment and it was saddening. I am an everyday person leading a busy lifestyle and I know how difficult it is to avoid single use plastic.
One day, after another unhappy day of work in my corporate career, I stopped by the supermarket and whilst shopping began to notice how much single use plastic there was in my shopping cart. I began to wonder how I might solve it? I was sick of my pantry looking messy and my bin overflowing with plastic waste. Once the idea took root I couldn’t let it go. Imagine if I could pay farmers more here in Australia and eliminate the single use plastic and make it easy for people to access. Surely everyone would want to reduce their plastic consumption, right? Trying to be a responsible consumer and minimise your plastic consumption can be so overwhelming. I wanted to make it beautiful, easy to do and look after the ocean at the same time.
What do you know now that you wished you knew when you started?
Marketing, Marketing, Marketing!
You can have the best ideas in the world and a well thought out business plan but sadly people only get behind you and your concept if they know about it.
What's the biggest business money lesson you've learned since starting your business?
Know your numbers.
This is so critical especially in a purpose driven business as you can love the purpose so much and the mission you can lose site of the dollars and the need to be financially viable. I quickly learnt (thank goodness!) that you will run out of money and then you can never fulfil what that purpose you set out to achieve if your business doesn’t make money. So don't be afraid to talk about profit with your community and customers. It’s important you are making money to ensure you stick around for them and keep providing that epic service or product you have created.
What's been your biggest financial win as a business owner?
When we went live on Kickstarter we had people in our community who set alarms to get up and be there how unreal is that and we hit our goal of $10,000 in 39 minutes! That was an incredible feeling after 12 months of work to see the money increasing and just people willing to back me and the concept was unreal. We’re now over $60,000 in funds raised and we’re not done yet. It’s awesome.
What kind of legacy do you wish to create with your business and why?
That there is a sustainable way to shop.
We have had to re-engineer every aspect of the shopping supply chain and create, design, develop products to support us to offer a farm to door minus the junk service, we have gone against every thing that exists today to offer something better for you and the planet. I want people in years to come when sustainable shopping is the norm (which I believe it will be) to remember when this started and when everyone said it couldn't be done. I want to look back and to have proved it can be done.
What does your business empower you to do?
This is a tough one because it is empowering on so many levels. I think for the first time in my life I really feel like I love the business I am in and what it stands for that in itself is empowering. We are also pulling ocean trash directly from the ocean with every order which without the business I wouldn't be in a position to partake in them activities.
Who's in your 'A Team'?
I have been very lucky to have a little team that have worked their bums off with me on not much financial reward at the moment but they see the bigger picture and truely believe in showing the world a better way of doing business.
That said, I think any Entrepreneur in the world will tell you its a very lonely road at times so family for me, especially my mum, has been my biggest support. In the times when I doubt myself her belief is always there and this is so important.
What advice would you give another lady wanting to start her own business?
Go for it! Know your numbers add up, of course, and be sure there is a market for what you want to do but, honestly, dreams are so important. If you have a dream you want to pursue then go for it. Seriously. What is the worse that could happen? People used to say to me its irresponsible of me to leave my well paid job but I planned to leave and did so with enough capital to support myself and start my business. Yes, its a risk but I think it’s an even bigger risk staying somewhere or doing something that doesn't fulfil you or make you happy.
What are you looking forward to right now?
Our Kickstarter campaign ending so we can move forward. Right now, we still have along way to go to be fully funded to ensure I do not need outside investment. Once we have finished raising funds we can get down to the business of making this happen!
If you want to get behind Stephanie’s dream to eliminate plastic waste from your shopping basket then you could check out her kickstarter campaign or simply shop with Raw Bulk Foods online. To follow her journey you can find her and the team @rawbulkfoodsonline on Instagram.
Good luck, Stephanie! We wish you every success in eliminating single use plastic from our shopping basket. <3