Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Alex Williams, Co-Founder of Well Fruited, located in London, UK.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

At Well Fruited, we've set out to create the UK's healthiest fruit drink! Almost all of the smoothies you see on the shelves today are at least 50% juice, which contains a lot of vitamins but also a lot of sugar. The majority of pulp and fiber are then simply discarded. However, it's this fiber that helps regulate your blood sugar levels - without it; you get a sugar 'spike' similar to fizzy drinks.

Our product is different. So much so that it's not a juice or a smoothie; it's actually 'LiquidFruit.' We blend 100% of the fruit together (including pith and seeds) to ensure you're getting all of the crucial fiber. We even work with companies who take the wasted pulp from big juice/smoothie companies and turn it into powdered fiber that we add to the drinks. As a result, our drinks are closer than ever to nutritionally replicating eating a piece of fruit.

Tell us about yourself

With lockdown gripping the country, my co-founder and I went on a journey to get healthy. Naturally, we started consuming more fruit but quickly became bored of the same fruit each week and were put off by the prep time required. Who has time to cut up pineapples and mangos every day?? As a result, we started drinking juice to help boost us towards our 5-a-day. However, it wasn't until we started looking into the Nutritionals that we realized just how much sugar we were consuming and how little fiber was present in these drinks. We thought that there must be another product out there… there wasn't.

This sparked the idea to come up with a drink that's healthier than both juice and smoothies. One and a half years later, with hundreds of failed tests, branding, and re-branding, with almost 2,000 bottles sold at markets throughout London, we've got a product to be proud of.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Personally, our biggest accomplishment was a customer coming up to us at one of the market stalls and telling us it was the best drink he'd ever tasted! This was a huge turning point in our business - yes, the drinks are healthy, but did they taste good? Now we had our answer.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Time - I think every small business owner would say the same thing, there are just not enough hours in the day! We do absolutely everything ourselves, buying fruit, preparing, blending, bottling, attending markets, marketing, website building, video filming, etc. It's an awful lot of fun, but it makes for a very hectic week!

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Start Now - You can wait forever to come up with the perfect product, or you can get out there and get first-hand feedback at an early stage. Our first prototypes were extremely thick (you almost had to drink them with a spoon), but we hit the street, and our customers gave us the feedback we needed. Without this impetus, we could still be tweaking and changing to this day.
  2. Always Be Learning - There's a popular sales phrase, 'Always Be Closing,' but I'd say 'Always Be Learning' - there's so much that goes into running a business, and it's so important that you know how and why everything works the way it does. You don't have to be an expert, but it will (a) lower cost if you can do your own accounting/branding/marketing, etc. (b) be an incredibly helpful tool when you grow, so you know exactly what you're talking about with future employees.
  3. Keep Calm; Carry On - There will be times when things go horribly wrong (We were up until 4 am blending drinks, with deliveries scheduled for 7 am due to a huge miscalculation); just keep calm and power on. We learn most from our mistakes, and it will make a great story for when you make it to the big time!

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://wellfruited.co.uk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wellfruited
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wellfruited/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wellfruited/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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