Janine Allis - Boost Juice and Beyond!

Unfortunately I have been putting all things blog related on the back burner for a bit while I finish a study paper in writing for the web. Hopefully this will help me to write much more skilfully so that

a) You won’t be bored, and

b) I can present these fantastic people to you and give them the time of day they deserve!

Studying in itself has not taken up all my time though, add to that my wife and three wonderful kids… and well, you get the picture. However I have been absolutely itching to introduce this next person to you. She has done exceptionally well in business. Is taking the healthy world by storm and is the business savvy Janine Allis.

Janine Allis hails from the wonderful Australia and started her first Boost Juice Bar in Adelaide, selling healthy options for smoothies and juices in the year 2000. Since then she has exploded her business into Chile, China, Estonia, GCC, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Lithuania, Macau, Malaysia, Mexico, Republic of Ireland, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Thailand and the UK!!

 

Janine and Boost have won a ton of awards, including:

 

• Telstra Business Woman of the Year
• Telstra Business Owner National Award Winner
• AMEX Franchisor of the Year
• BRW Fastest Growing Franchise
• Price Waterhouse Coopers Franchisor of the Year award - VIC
• Governor of Victoria Export Awards - Commendation
• Highly Commended – Supreme Award for Best Retailer
• National Retailers Association Awards – Bank of Queensland Franchise Award
• National Retailers Association Awards – Supreme Reward for Best Retailer
• MyBusiness Readers Choice Award
   

 

And is on the BRW top 25 rich women list for Australia! Add to that she has made time to document her journey through her book The Secrets of My Success: The Story of Boost Juice,Juicy Bits and All and I present to you one power packed business savvy woman! So how did she start out to become so successful? I managed to get in contact with her in Australia and grab an interview about her, Boost, and her very own start of success.

You are most known for starting Boost Juice Bars, however before you started Boost, what did you do to earn a living. From what I understand you tried a few different things. Were they all full time, or did you do them on the side while you worked?

Having left school at age 16 years old to start full time work, I am not officially qualified for anything! However that has not stopped me from doing exactly what I want to do.  OK… here are my jobs from the start: 

• Strawberry picker (Part time)
• Checkout chick : Target (Part time)
• Media assistant : McCann Erickson (Full time)
• Model (Full time)
• Gym/ aerobics instructor (Part time)
• Door Girl : Chevron (Part time)
• Camp Councillor : San Francisco
• Nanny : France
• Outdoor promotions person : Tenerife Spain & Portugal
• Head Stewardess : France, Caribbean, Monaco, Italy
• Cinema Manager : Melbourne, Singapore
• Publicist : Melbourne
• Then BOOST J

 

What drove you to become an entrepreneur? You don’t seem like you fell into it, but took the bull by the horns and just went for it! That’s how it looks from the outside, but in reality, is that how it went?

I had my third child and was on Maternity leave from my publicity job. This gave me time to think about what I wanted to do and it was clear that I did not want to work for someone again, so I started to research running my own business.

 

Now that you have become successful and can look back. How do you feel about the businesses you started before Boost? Do you think you would have done them differently now that you have hindsight?

Made huge mistakes through the whole journey, but without them we would not be the business we are today.  As you get older what you view as success changes.   Financially I have the freedom to do what I want, which is what we all strive for.  But true success comes in the form of the love of the people you have around you, and the journey to be happy.   When I was 21 I worked for David Bowie on his yacht in the south of France, and got to meet the rich and famous of the time.   What I did learn was that many of the rich and famous where successful in their careers, but not in life. They were miserable, some were on their fourth wives.

 

What fears did you have about starting out for the first time? Or was it all just pure excitement from the start! 

If your goals are not scary, then they are not big enough! Fear was what drove me.  We sold our family home to fund the start of boost, so we were “all in”.  We had no option but to succeed as we had a family of 5 to support.  Luckily I was so busy that I did not have time to shop or go on holidays. Amazing way to save. 

 

Did you only fund Boost from the sale of the house? Or did you use finance, loans or other means to begin?

We invested our money, as well as some of Jeff’s radio mates.

 

Did you have a business plan for any of your businesses before you started? Or did you just start something you enjoyed and work it out as you went?

Having no idea on business I did a business plan from scratch... Looking back it was more of a marketing plan with tokenistic numbers at the back.  But it was a start.  And you have to start somewhere.

 

What’s one pro, and one con, of starting a new business?

Millions of both, the funny thing is that you have to work 100 hours a week to stop doing a 40 hour week.  The reality is that people get scared of doing business but the truth is, if you do nothing and just work for someone, you will 100% not have enough in the end to live the life you want.  So it is more risky to do nothing than something.

 

How did you originally decide on what business to start? For someone who doesn’t know what industry to start in, what’s your advice to them? How do they choose?

You have your eyes and ears open for opportunities and you have a curious mind.   This is the starting point.  After this, ideas will come.

 

We always hear about the good things in a successful business i.e. the lifestyle and the freedom it brings. But it’s not always roses, what are some of the sacrifices you had to make when starting out?

You have to sacrifice everything to make a success.   Do not fool yourself, it is not for everyone.   I did not take a salary for 3 years and did not take one cent of profit out of the business for 5 years.   I worked 100 hours a week, and there were times that I did not see my family for weeks.   My stress levels were at an all-time high, and I did not catch up with friends for years.   But like any challenge and sacrifice, whether it is training for the Olympics or climbing a big mountain, once you see the flag at the top it is all worth it!

 

What’s one piece of advice you can give to someone starting out?

Just use common sense, and be true to who you are.

 

Do you ever feel you should have started out in business earlier? Or does it feel like it was organically the right time and right place?

Not at all… I left Australia at 21 and came back at 27 years old, had a great adventure.  Everything in my life to date is just where it should be.

 

How easy is it for someone in a small country to succeed? Do you think business opportunities are everywhere?

Of course, the only obstacles that are in people’s way are the obstacles that we put in front of us.

 

Thank you so much for your insights about how you got started! You have achieved a huge amount in such a short amount of time! So what’s next, and what are you doing now? Do you have your feet up following the summer around the world? Are you still active in Boost or the parent company Retail Zoo? Or do you have other businesses or passions you now devote your time to?

I am very very active in boost. I also do all sorts of things with various charities at work and personally. 

If people want to know more on my story, I have a book called:

The Secrets of My Success: The Story of Boost Juice,Juicy Bits and All (Advertised on the right hand side of this blog)

Also if anyone is interested in owning their own Boost franchise and beginning their own start of success, you can enquire at the Boost Juice website on the below link.

http://www.boostjuice.com.au/franchising

 

 

Thank you very much for your time. It is extremely valued as I am sure you are a busy person. And I truly do congratulate you on everything you have achieved! You really are someone we can all look up to and be absolutely proud of!

 

Dean Ramler - Milan Direct

I did some rummaging around the internet trying to find entrepreneurs interesting to interview for the blog and I stumbled across the name of Australian Dean Ramler. From a business start up at the age of 24, Dean has taken the online business world by storm and now operates a multi-million dollar online furniture store named Milan Direct.

 

About Dean Ramler

Dean has lived and breathed furniture since the tender age of birth. The family have been in the business of creating furniture since the 1950’s. So it was no surprise that Dean chose the same path, having an eye for how it was made and what went into good quality furniture. But after leaving school and travelling for a while, Dean saw a different business model. The online model, and after a few beers with good friend Ruslan Kogan, Milan Direct was born. Milan Direct quickly established itself in Australia to become the number one online furniture store and has now expanded it’s reach into the UK.

Milan Direct’s Achievements since it’s inception:

- Sold close to $100 Million worth of furniture!

- To over 40 countries (as far as Greece, Italy, Russia and Israel)

- All purely online (no showrooms), from the Head office in Albert Park Melbourne

- Sold 1 million + products

- Over 300,000 customers.

Dean’s next plan of attack, is to tackle the giant nations of Asia and USA. There seems to be no stopping Milan Direct now, but how did Dean actually begin? What started him on his path of success? Why didn’t he decide to make furniture with his family and carry on the tradition? Here is the story behind Dean Ramler and his start of success.

  

 

You started Milan Direct at age 24. But before you started, what was your job? I understand your father was a furniture maker, were you working for him? Or were you in another line of work?

I have lived and breathed furniture since I was born. My first day working at my grandfather’s factory was when I was just 7. My younger brother and I spent the day painting a wall, which was a lot of fun. From the age of 14 I worked for my dad and grandfather in the furniture factory for a good 8 years, working in all parts of the business from the manufacturing facilities to retail stores, to sales teams. The last project I worked for my family’s business on before starting Milan Direct was as Logistics Manager of the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. A fantastic project, which involved placing furniture into over 30 sporting venues across Melbourne, including the MCG.

 

Why did you decide to start your own business? You could have worked quite happily with your father doing a similar job making furniture?

I had too much energy and too many ideas to work for anyone but myself. Working in a family business you still need buy in from many people, and I rather just go out and do something myself. Also the idea of selling furniture online back when we started Milan Direct in 2006 was a crazy idea, nobody was doing so. My family’s business although similar products, have a very different business model, one that is much more traditional and certainly not online. So with the blessing of my family, I started up my own business, which the whole family is proud of.

 

Before many entrepreneurs grow a successful business, they often have had other smaller businesses previously.  Was this the same for you? Or did you hit a home run right off the bat with Milan Direct?

My whole life I have always been looking for opportunities, gaps in the market and coming up with many business ideas. Most of which failed. During high school, along with a few friends we ran all school productions from a technical side, such as lights, sounds, video and audio. Along with two of my good mates, we set up a company in high school to provide these services for the local community. Called DMA Productions (Dean, Michael and Alon), we did many local events and had a good business for a short period of time. This business eventually failed, when we could not commit the time to completing school exams and running a business.

There were other ideas which also didn’t last too long. But the important thing was to keep learning, keep reading and to keep your eyes open. I was always looking out for opportunities. Eventually, the Milan Direct concept was in fact a relatively simple one.

 

You started Milan Direct with one of Australia’s richest people – Ruslan Kogan. How did that come about?

Ruslan is a good mate of mine from high school days and is a seriously good entrepreneur! The background to how Ruslan and I launched Milan Direct is that after finishing up working for my dad and grandfather, and completing my university degrees, I took a gap year off to Europe. Most of that trip was spent travelling back through Milan, Italy, which is where I spotted a growing and new trend of designer furniture which was not readily available in Australia at the time. When I got back to Melbourne after a year away, Ruslan and I caught up for some beers and $4 pizzas simply to catch up as mates do. This is pre Facebook days, so we had no idea what each other had been up to for the last 12 months.

I asked Ruslan what he had been doing, and shared with me how he had started his company, Kogan, manufacturing TV’s in Asia and selling online direct to the public. I told him about the cool furniture I had spotted in Milan, Italy, and how with my background and skill set in furniture manufacturing, wanted to start making these products in China myself. So the idea naturally popped up. We both thought, if selling on the internet can work for TV’s, why not furniture, and after a couple beers, Milan Direct was formed.

 

Did you have any fears of failure when starting out for the first time? If so, how did you overcome them?

None at all. As our intentions were not to create Australia’s #1 Online Furniture store, which we grew to become, but our focus was on simply filling a gap in the market, servicing a niche, and sharing my passion of this fantastic furniture, at never before seen prices thanks to our pure play model. We initially thought we may sell just 1 container, but after the 1^st container sold out so quickly, we kept reinvesting the profits back into the business, and kept doubling our orders.

When you are so passionate about what you do, there is nothing to fail at. I love furniture, love great design, so being able to share this passion with our customers is a pleasure. Failure never crossed our mind.

 

How did you get money to start your business? I imagine with websites and furniture there would have been some capital needed to start with. Did you use a loan? Or did you have savings? How did that work?

We started with initial savings both Ruslan and I had, to buy the first container which was not much. We also used a very basic website for our first website, which cost us from memory $50. The idea was, to test the market first to see if there was in fact demand for our products. Only once proven did we invest in a more significant website.

 

 

Did you have a business plan before you started? Or did you just start something you enjoyed and work it out as you went?

Our business plan was 4 beers, 2 pizzas and 2 hours of chatting to come up with the idea for Milan Direct. After that we made no formal business plan. We launched right in and tested the market to see if there was demand. I meet many people who tell me they spent a year or two coming up with a business plan for an idea they have. In that time, the time has passed, and you may have 10 competitors doing the same thing. Planning is for MBA’s. Doing is for entrepreneurs.

 

How did you decide on what business to start? For someone who doesn’t know what industry to start in, what’s your advice to them? How do they choose?

Choose something that you are passionate about! For me it was a no brainer to start an online furniture store, as I was brought up in a furniture factory & family! I am able to share my passion of great design and furniture with our customers, and I absolutely love what I do! I consider myself to never have worked at all since starting Milan Direct, as it is a passion of mine.

All too often you see people start businesses in areas they do not care for, simply to make a profit. These people are doomed to fail. Simply copying someone else’s idea will not lead to success, and is a huge waste of time. Half or our competitors, would never have seen a wood shop before they started their business!

When you started out, How did you get your very first customers for that test container? Was it word of mouth? Did you do a hard sell? Or did you use online marketing techniques to get noticed? What advice do you have for newbies starting out?

We started by selling a lot on eBay, which is a fantastic marketplace. This gave us instant access to customers for very little cost. We also used Google Adwords to bring in traffic to our website, in a highly targeted and controlled manner. My advice would be to master Google Adwords and never outsource this. You have to know which specific keywords are important to your business and create a campaign that is extremely specific.

 

We always hear about the good things in a successful business i.e. the lifestyle and the freedom it brings. But it’s not always roses, what are some of the sacrifices you had to make when starting out?

People who think that working for yourself is easier than being an employee are kidding themselves. Assuming you set high expectations for yourself that is. As an entrepreneur I am responsible for my team of 30, to ensure they all have a great work environment and can feed their families. As for holidays, there is no such thing when you run a business. Some of my friends, who work in the corporate world, get to enjoy set periods of annual leave where they can completely turn off. Any time I get a chance to get away for a few days, I am still working, just not from the office. Running a business is truly a 24/7 commitment.

 

How easy or hard is it for someone to succeed starting out in today’s online market? It used to be the shop down the street you had to worry about, but now you have the entire world that could potentially be your competitor!

Whether online or offline, you will only succeed in business if you have a true competitive advantage and can do it better than your competitors. At Milan Direct I come from 4 generations of furniture makers, and have this strong background. As such making quality furniture is the easy part! I do always wonder why people keep trying to compete with us, when they are not doing it any better and with no competitive advantage. It is simply a waste of time. If you are not first, you must be better.

 

Thank you for your insights about how you got started! Your business has been an inspiration on online marketing. I congratulate you on everything you have achieved! So what are you doing now? Are you still active at Milan Direct? Do you have your feet up following the summer around the world? Do you have ambitions to expand Milan Direct further, or do you have other businesses or passions you now devote your time to?

Thank you for your kind comments Paul. Are my feet up – never! As a rule I am first in and last out at Milan Direct, every day. At Milan Direct we push ourselves very hard to ensure we keep innovating, keep growing, and to keep providing the very best offering & shopping experience to our customers. This time last year we had 1500 skus in the range. Today we are 10,000+. We aim to have 20,000 by June next year. We see huge growth opportunities at Milan Direct and we will keep growing our presence with an ever increasing product range of Home, Office and Outdoor Furniture, Homewares and Appliances! For those of you interested, you can visit our site at:

www.milandirect.com.au
www.milandirect.co.uk

We would love to hear from you!

Thank you so much Dean for taking time to let us know about your very own start of success! You have some great words of wisdom that we can all take something away from. My favourite quote was “Planning is for MBA’s. Doing is for entrepreneurs!”. I smiled to myself when reading that. (Mainly because I don’t have an MBA and like to think there is still hope!). Thanks once again.