Tell us a bit about your business?

Simply Raw is an Australian owned company offering a range of delicious and nutritious 100% organic, raw, vegan superfood bars that will not just tantalize your tastebuds, but energise your body with the best nutrition our earth has to offer!

The flavours are unique and the range caters for all types of dietary restrictions, from Gluten intolerance to nut allergies. We hand make premium quality products and there is something for the entire family to eat and enjoy. 

Why did you start up your business?

Being vegan myself since 2006, I wasn’t happy with the quality and flavours of health snacks in our local health food shops. So I started creating snacks at home, made a hobby out of it and started selling them at local markets in Sydney. My husband and me made it our mission to find the best ingredients our earth has to offer. The demand started to increase and nothing made us happier then to see that we were making differences in people’s life and health. We wanted to show that healthy food tastes not just good, but amazing!

What are the major hurdles you experienced when starting up your business?

Cash flow is definitely one the major challenges for any small business without a decent start-up capital. But the main challenge is to work with what you have. Planning and forecasting is key. We had no start-up capital or business loans. We needed to make sure to work with what tools we had and grow slowly, negotiate contracts and terms and build relationships with our suppliers and customers.  

What tips can you give other SavvySME members that are thinking or in the process of starting up their business?

Never lose your passion. It is your number one sales tool. Always believe in yourself and your product. If you don’t, why would someone else believe in you?

You will always come across people, if its friends, banks, potential investors or others that will tell you your business has no future. As long as you believe in your product, your business has a future and others will believe too! Make sure that you always have a plan and financial forecast in place for at least 12 months.

What made you decide to take the jump and focus on your business?

We are very passionate about health and wellbeing and decided to turn our backs towards our corporate jobs to focus on products that we believe in. Poor nutrition implicates more than 56% of all deaths in Australia. These numbers absolute shocked us, so we made it our mission to make a difference in people’s life and their health.

How did your family and friends react?

Our family and true friends are very supportive. They believe in us, our mission and our products.

How has your life changed?

A lot of people advised us to make sure that we have a good work life balance. But when you have a business that you are passionate about, it becomes a lifestyle. You live, breath and love it.

We are working very hard, but seeing we are making a difference in people’s life makes it all worth it. We love it!

What success have you experienced since starting your business?

We have consistently grown over the last year. But the biggest achievement for us so far is that we are now distributing our products Australia wide, which is very exciting.

What is the vision for your business going forward?

We want to help people to live a healthier and happier life through providing education about food, health and lifestyle. We want to make a difference and provide people with an organic, healthy, affordable and delicious product without compromising quality or flavour. We will also focus on making the product more accessible.

What tips can you give other SavvySME about motivating yourself to push through the challenges that rise up while building your startup?

Believe and passion is the key for success. It’s ok to fail and make mistakes. Always have a pick up plan. Every time you fall, you have to stand up and move forward. Don’t focus on the negative, see it as a lesson learned and be grateful for it. Then focus on your goal and don’t let anyone tell you, you can’t do it. Because you CAN do it!

Find out more about us, our products and our mission please visit my profile.