Navigating Business Challenges: The Cost of Expansion and Innovation
This chapter explores the unique complexities of running logistics-focused businesses in contrast to traditional tech companies. Key topics include 'tech debt' in physical operations and the critical importance of strategic planning for sustainable growth and innovation.
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Transcript
Episode notes
My guest for Ep202 of The Startup Playbook Podcast was the Co-founder of Farmers Pick, Josh Ball.
Farmers Pick helps save food waste by rescuing wonky food that is often discarded by supermarkets and making it available to order by consumers.
Since launching in 2020, they have saved 7 million kilograms of produce and the company now has 120 employees and generated $16M in revenue last year.
In this interview we covered a range of topics including:
The importance of having a strong mission and values to help guide strategic business decisions
balancing frugality with 100% YoY growth
Why they decided to go down the equity crowdfunding path rather than raising from traditional VC funds
Scaling storytelling to both their staff and to their customers
And much more!
Timestamps:
1:45 Josh’s background
7:12 The origin story of Farmers Pick
12:29 How he validated the initial idea
18:27 The operational complexities of growing a physical goods business
27:52 Finding the balance between focussing on new customers vs expansion of existing customers
29:50 Using social media to grow the brand
31:05 The decision to crowdfund vs raise venture capital
35:29 Negotiation advice
37:41 Making sure the vision/mission stays consistent across whole company as you grow
42:43 Thinking about expansion
48:04 How his role has evolved as the business has grown
54:00 Staying out of the weeds and making strategic decisions
55:40 What’s next for Farmers Pick
Our partners:
A big thank you to our partners for the show:
Scendar
Scendar is the OG startup accounting firm in Australia catering to all stages of your business’ life. If you’re busy running your startup, you don’t have time to do your own books and forecast. Instead, fully outsource your finance function, giving you time and resources back to focus on what you do best in growing your business. Find out more at Scendar.com
Vanta
Vanta helps businesses get — and stay — compliant by automating up to 90% of the work for the most in-demand compliance frameworks. And with over 300 integrations, you can easily monitor and secure the tools your business relies on. Join over six thousand fast-growing companies that use Vanta to manage risk and prove security in real time. Startup Playbook Podcast listeners get access to an exclusive offer of USD$1000 off their plans. Head over to vanta.com/playbook to get access to this exclusive discount.
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