#awinewith Lara Solomon
MEET Lara
Lara is the Founder of Hoopsy.
Find Lara here:
Transcript
Danielle Lewis (00:10):
Oh, so good. Lara, welcome to Spark tv. Thanks for being here.
Lara Solomon (00:15):
Thanks for having me. It's very exciting.
Danielle Lewis (00:18):
So exciting. It's more exciting for me because I get to hear your story, but let's do that. Let's set the scene, the virtual scene for everyone listening in. Tell us what Hoopy is.
Lara Solomon (00:34):
Should I start with how I started or should I start with the
Danielle Lewis (00:37):
Well, that's my next question, so absolutely. So yeah, I'd really love to know. So firstly what it is, so everyone knows what you do in biz, but then how you got there. So whether there was a career, other businesses, how you actually got here.
Lara Solomon (00:52):
Okay. So basically with Hoopy, what we're trying to do is reduce the amount of single use plastic that's going into landfill from pregnancy tests. And we are starting out pregnancy tests. And so our first product is a pregnancy test made from 99% paper. So it's a midstream test, roughly the same size as other midstream tests, but it's kind of, when I say paper, it's more Cardi than paper because people think paper you we on it and you'll just end up holding a soggy thing. But that's not what happens.
(01:24):
But that is a question I get asked a lot. So yeah, so basically it all came about because last year I went to Spain and I did two embryo transfers with donor embryos because I was trying to get pregnant because the year before I'd actually done IVF in Australia and had my eggs harvested. But when they harvested them, they found out that one of my ovaries was perimenopausal. So it meant that I only got eggs on one side and only got three eggs and only one of them was fertilized. And then it has to make it to day five before they can pop it in and well, he or she, I don't know. This leggy only made it to day three.
Danielle Lewis (02:07):
Oh my god, that would be devastating.
Lara Solomon (02:09):
Yeah, there was a lot of crying going on that day. Yeah, I felt like I had so many people cheering this little eggy on. But yeah, it's just one of those things when you get older, that's the problem that you can feel or look 20, but inside you're still the age that you are and unfortunately when you get older your eggs don't hold together as well, which is why you tend to miscarry more when you're older and why IVF doesn't work as well. So then I thought, well the best option for me is to go and get a donor embryo. And it's very hard in Australia because you've got to find someone, you can't pay someone to donate their eggs. You've got to find someone having been through that whole egg harvesting process, it's horrible. You are injecting yourself twice a day. It's painful. You feel like you've put on five kilos even though the scales say you haven't.
(03:11):
But that's how bloated you feel. And I just thought A, I don't really know anyone at the right age. You really want someone in their twenties, but most women in their twenties haven't had children and therefore they probably don't want to think about, do I want to give my eggs to somebody when I don't even know what I'm doing yet? And most people that donate eggs would normally do it later when they've already had their family. And also if I went with a donor, then you dunno how many eggs you're going to get, you dunno what the chances are or anything. So I decided donor embryo in Spain, they pay their donors, which I really agree with egg donors and the sperm donors. Anyway, so through all this process, I joined all these Facebook groups where you are all trying to conceive and everything and everyone's posting pictures. And so when you have a transfer, what happens is you get transferred and then 10 days later you normally go and do your pregnancy test. Well, most people can't wait that long.
Danielle Lewis (04:10):
Of course. Yes,
Lara Solomon (04:11):
Yes. Everyone's impatient. So normally around day five people start to crack sometimes earlier. And so I'd see all these posts in these Facebook groups of day five morning, day five, afternoon day six, morning day six, afternoon, all the way to day 10. And I would just look at these and go, look, I totally get it. I totally get why people are doing this many tests, but oh my god, that's so much plastic and it's literally being used for five minutes. And it just horrified me. It's not like I'm a super greeny, but I do think about that kind of thing.
Danielle Lewis (04:45):
Of course,
Lara Solomon (04:47):
Just, yeah. So I just thought, this just seems crazy. And anyway, I went and did my IVF, I had two transfers, the second one did take, but then it miscarried,
Danielle Lewis (04:58):
Oh my god.
Lara Solomon (04:59):
One of those things. So then when I got back to Australia, I thought, well, having done the pregnancy tests now a number of different times and different ones. And I just saw no reason why we couldn't make in a more sustainable version. And then I found out that in the US about 200,000 kilos of plastic every year from tests, pregnancy tests goes into landfill.
Danielle Lewis (05:23):
Holy crap. Oh my god. That's insane.
Lara Solomon (05:28):
And that's just one country. And obviously the is one of the biggest, but still just one country. And so when you think about all the problems that are going on in the world with climate, the fact that in the UK for example, landfills will be full by the end of 2030, so then when people put the rubbish, so we need to start thinking about solutions.
Danielle Lewis (05:50):
Absolutely. And it's not like people are going to stop taking pregnancy tests. This is a problem that is going to be with us for a long time. Yeah,
Lara Solomon (05:59):
I mean the other option is with if you don't do a pregnancy test at home, you have to go to the doctor and do it. And often you'll have to pay for that depends where you are and depends how quickly you want to get it done. Yeah, I just thought there's got to be a better way to do this. And I looked at the options out there and you've got strict tests, the ones that you wean a cup and then you dip. You've got the midstream ones that you we onto, and then you've got the cassette ones. We still have to wean a cup, but then you basically drip a bit onto the test. And most women studies shows that 95% of women prefer midstream tests. They perceive them to be less messy, easier to use, and just less fiddly. And so I just thought, why couldn't we make a paper version of what already exists in the midstream test? So I looked for a supplier, a manufacturer I contacted, I know well over a hundred manufacturers around the world. Nobody wanted to work with me.
Danielle Lewis (06:59):
Oh my God,
Lara Solomon (07:03):
No, we don't do that. I said, no, I know you don't do that, but this is what I want. We've got this. No, no, no, et cetera. That went quite while. And literally one factory in China basically got it. And I think it's probably because I was dealing with a woman, I have found that this is very, guys don't get the problem. I'm
Danielle Lewis (07:24):
Shocked. I'm shocked.
Lara Solomon (07:25):
I know, I know. Horrifying fact.
Danielle Lewis (07:27):
Yeah.
Lara Solomon (07:30):
Yeah. So they worked on the first prototype and got that, and that was a bit of a we on it and you're left with a bit of a soggy piece of paper. So then we had to stiffen the bottom a bit so it had a bit more card on it. And then yeah, we got to the version that we're on today. And
Danielle Lewis (07:48):
How long did that process take? So obviously being in a product-based business where you do have to do all that typing, sampling, you're dealing with an international supplier, so postage times, logistics, all of these things that we're dealing with, what was that process like for you?
Lara Solomon (08:09):
I'm going to be really annoying now. It was actually very, very quick because I've done this a few times.
Danielle Lewis (08:13):
Amazing. Okay. No, that's good to know. Good to know.
Lara Solomon (08:17):
So I started working probably middle of September on this on and off, but I was working full-time, just in a temp job while I was working out what I wanted to do next. And then I remember it was about November I started to kind of seriously, this is what we wanted to do. And then, so probably about November I was talking to the manufacturers and then started applying for TGA approval in December. When I say applying, you have to fill in a form about your company, and there's about 3 million forms. We're still going through TGA approval now to give you an idea about how long it takes.
Danielle Lewis (08:57):
Wow. Yep.
Lara Solomon (08:58):
Yeah. But we put the official product approval in April. So this would've had the test probably in, actually it would've been January when I got the first sample and then basically modified it from there. So it was only a couple of months. Awesome.
Danielle Lewis (09:16):
So that tells me there's a backstory. So have you worked in product development before? So yeah. What's the pre hoopy story? How did we get to here?
Lara Solomon (09:27):
Oh, there's a lot of different stories, but back in 2004, I started my first business, which was a mobile phone sock cover called
Danielle Lewis (09:36):
Mos. Oh my god, I love this.
Lara Solomon (09:39):
So completely enough to do a pregnancy test or chemistry or anything. But basically I just saw this product on the streets in Bangkok, and the ones I saw were baby socks with the hillstone in and you put your phone in them to protect your phone from getting scratched. And I just loved the idea at that time there you had to buy the specific cover for your make or model of phone, a bit like where we're up to now. But in those days it was basically if you had a noia, you could get something. If you didn't have a Nokia, you didn't have anything. And the good thing about these, because they were socks, they stretched and therefore you could fit them on anything phone wise. So I had those made in China, and actually when I did that, I actually flew to China, met with a number of different manufacturers and chose who I wanted to go with and stuff. And then I ran that business for six years, seven years. So I have a lot of experience.
Danielle Lewis (10:35):
I'm certain that I had a sock for my mobile phone. I'm fairly certain I did. So what did you do with the business?
Lara Solomon (10:44):
Well, that was a bad decision. We all have things that we live and learn from. Oh
Danielle Lewis (10:51):
My God, absolutely.
Lara Solomon (10:52):
Yeah. In 2011, 2012, I was married and I split up my husband then, and at the same time I got an offer on the business to sell it. And at the time I was like, no, I don't want to sell it because if I sell it, then you'll get the money and if I want to do that anyway. So I didn't sell it and it was the wrong decision and I hope so,
Danielle Lewis (11:16):
You know, who knows what the right decision is ever in any business decision we need to make. So you do live and you learn, but amazing because now you have that experience in product development to catapult you and you're going, yeah, it took me a couple of months and I already knew what I was doing, already knew how to talk to suppliers, apply for TJ approval. It set you up for the course that you're on now.
Lara Solomon (11:41):
Definitely. I mean, the other thing with that business is I sold into retail stores in Australia and in the UK and exported to other countries across the world and sold online. Online. And that's exactly what I'm doing now. So yeah, you're right. It was just my training wheels for this one.
Danielle Lewis (12:00):
Oh, totally. I mean, I am the biggest, I guess, supporter of the idea that you don't just come out of the gate with the brilliant business idea. That is amazing. The story to get there is the career, the 1200 failed businesses that you can't have to go through that process of learning all of the ins and outs of business, whether it be something to do with product development, whether it be scaling, whether it be hiring people, you're always going to make some kind of mistake in business.
Lara Solomon (12:33):
Yeah, definitely. Yeah, that did really help in terms of, I guess the hardest thing about this business and this product is the fact that it is a medical device and therefore requires regulatory approval even though you are not eating it or anything. So that does mean the speed to market is a bit longer. So when you look at my Australian, so I was lucky in that the factory that I went with, they already had CE approval on the product, and so that covered Europe and the uk, but it didn't cover Australia. So that's why I started doing the Australian process, but it meant that then I got fed up of waiting when I realized how long Australia was going to be. And so then I launched in the UK first. So we launched there in July, which confuses the hell out of people because So you're a UK company? No, I'm an Australian company. But you're in the uk, not in Australia. Yeah, I know.
Danielle Lewis (13:37):
Got to love that. But I mean that's a really interesting lesson as an entrepreneur, if a roadblock comes up, what's the way around it? So if Australia's going to take longer, go somewhere else first. I actually love that, right? Roadblocks come up all of the time and it is just about adjusting and changing and figuring out another way.
Lara Solomon (13:58):
Yeah, definitely. And I guess part of it was that, but part of it was that I was fed up of doing these dead end jobs to earn enough money to just basically to fund living while I developed the business. And so part of my sneaky plan was family in the uk. So I rented out my place here and I stayed with my brother and his family for four months.
Danielle Lewis (14:25):
I love that. Yes, rent free.
Lara Solomon (14:28):
I was sleeping on a mattress on the floor and I said, this has got to be like the next unicorn. I a mattress on the floor.
Danielle Lewis (14:35):
You're like, I'm the story's there. I've got all the building blocks.
Lara Solomon (14:40):
Exactly. Then my sister-in-Law would say what we watched, we crashed that tv. She went, when they make the documentary about your business and your life, they be filming in our house. They're going to be filming this room.
Danielle Lewis (14:55):
That's so good. I mean, I love setting the bar high, right? Unicorn dreams from the start. That's so good.
Lara Solomon (15:03):
Yeah.
Danielle Lewis (15:04):
Oh, amazing. So what's kind of like next? So obviously Australia's lagging a little on the old approvals. What is it just scale into the UK while you wait for Australia or other markets? What's next? And you said that the pregnancy test was the first thing. So do we have an inside scoop on what else you are scheming up?
Lara Solomon (15:26):
It's not that top secret, but so I just, first of all, if anyone's listening to this and going, oh yeah, I'm going to do that, what I'm doing is not normal. Normally you would launch in the market in which you live and you would spend a couple of years building in that market, building up an audience, building up awareness, building sales channels and stuff, and then you would launch into a second market, second country. So first of all, to launch into a market overseas is more unusual and it's slightly harder to manage just because of the time zones. But the other thing with our product is that, so when I was in the uk, I knew that someone would copy the product. I still have no doubt, and on one hand it would be annoying. On the other hand, it would be good because that would be more plastic taken out of landfills. So you kind of like,
Danielle Lewis (16:27):
Or validation as well that there's a market for this?
Lara Solomon (16:30):
Well, I kind of think we've got validation now. We've had so much positivity from retailers and stuff. I feel like, I hate to say it, but I do feel like everyone's like, yeah, yeah, this is great. That's
Danielle Lewis (16:45):
Awesome.
Lara Solomon (16:48):
I think we started doing PR in July and we've had 45 pieces of PR in the last three months.
Danielle Lewis (16:53):
Oh my God, everyone listening in hates you right now. Well the
Lara Solomon (16:57):
PR agency set a goal of 10 pieces in five. Wow. So we blasted that in the first.
Danielle Lewis (17:03):
Oh my God, that's amazing.
Lara Solomon (17:05):
It has been amazing. So we launched into the uk and then about three weeks after I launched, I got a call from Sophia at the factory saying, Lara, we've just had an inquiry, or my colleagues had an inquiry, someone wants to buy your product in your packaging as seen on your website from us because I have to buy law the manufacturer's details on the packaging. So I was like, oh my God, here we go. Thinking I just thought it would take more than three weeks. But I was thinking minimum three months, but no. So basically then I said, well, what have you done? And she's like, well, to be honest, I hate it when people don't have original and can't think up new things for themselves. So I've told 'em we can't do it.
Danielle Lewis (17:53):
Oh my God, really? Yes. I'm shocked. This is incredible. Yes. Holy crap. That is amazing. Did you have a prior relationship with them or No, they were brand new. Wow. That is incredible. Brand new.
Lara Solomon (18:10):
Yeah. So if anyone's listening to this and thinking that they're going to be able to contact the factory and get 'em to make them, you're not
Danielle Lewis (18:15):
Love that.
Lara Solomon (18:21):
So that was kind of a bit of a shock to the system in I just didn't expect to have competition that quickly. So basically as a result of that, and also Australia taking longer with the TGA, decided that our next market's going to be, well, it could be Australia, it depends on tga, but we're planning to launch into the US next year. Wow. Yeah. So basically that's going to require a lot of effort. I'm just about to this week apply for FDA approval, which takes 10 weeks and then yeah, off to the us.
Danielle Lewis (19:02):
Unbelievable. That is so cool. So other than FDA approval, I mean obviously I would assume that your stocker strategies or your e-com strategy changes. Are you focusing on buying online or in retail stockers or what's your kind of distribution strategy look like in the different markets?
Lara Solomon (19:24):
Well, that's a very interesting question because that's something I'm actually juggling with in my head at the moment. It's one of those hard things. Before you start stuff, I think you think I'm going to do X, and then when you start it, you're like, maybe I don't want to do X, maybe I want to do why? And so I always wanted to get into retail stores because I thought it'd be really good for brand awareness. And also depending on who's buying the pregnancy test. If you're someone that's had sex last week and you're suddenly go, oh, my period's leg, oh my god, you are not going to order online, you are going to go to the shop
Danielle Lewis (20:01):
Advisor. Yeah, totally. You're panicking. You are panicking.
Lara Solomon (20:05):
Even in the Amazon one hour delivery in the uk, you are not going to trust that you are going to go to the shop and get it. So obviously by having online only we miss out on those people. So that was why, another reason to have in store, but also, and I dunno if this sounds a bit, I don't know, but I can't really think of the word, but basically I want other people to change what they're doing. But other brands, I want businesses to realize that just because we have been making this plastic thing for 35 years does not mean year 36, it still has to be a plastic thing.
Danielle Lewis (20:47):
I love that.
Lara Solomon (20:47):
And it's actually not that hard to change. And so by also having it in retail, we get that message across to people and I'd like to hope that it inspires other people, not just manufacturers, but also consumers, to demand more from manufacturers in that, well, they've done it with this, so why can't you do it with that kind of way. And I just think that's, yeah, it's really important because it's the way that we need to go as a world basically.
Danielle Lewis (21:19):
Absolutely. And so I'm interested to know as well from a price point of view, is it comparable to the plastic equivalent
Lara Solomon (21:29):
On a per test basis? It's equivalent, but we don't do a one pack because sustainability wise there's a lot of empty box and air that you're shipping around. And so it's not great. So that's why we do a three pack is our smallest, whereas you'll find a clear blue and a first response, they'll do a one pack.
Danielle Lewis (21:46):
Yeah. But I mean who wouldn't check a few times? So I'm just trying to think as a consumer, we have no excuse either we need to actually buy sustainable and if it's available, why not?
Lara Solomon (22:02):
And that's the thing. If that was the other thing, if the price parity is the same, then why wouldn't you choose that option? And if it's in a pharmacy, which in the UK we are in pharmacy stores, I feel as a consumer you would think, well, they wouldn't put something in here that was dodgy. A pharmacy.
Danielle Lewis (22:19):
Exactly, yes.
Lara Solomon (22:21):
And so it helps with our credibility being in pharmacy as well. I didn't want to be you. They see those dodgy shakes you can buy online that you're going to lose 10 kilos in a week. And I just thought, I don't want it to be seen like that. Not I think it would be, but I just thought the pharmacy would give us credibility.
Danielle Lewis (22:40):
I think it's a great strategy. I know anything hurts in your body and you think, well yeah, I'll go to the chemist because of the pharmacy, because I can talk to somebody, they have everything that's going to cure my ailments. So aligning to something that's going to increase your credibility is a smart move. I love it.
Lara Solomon (23:02):
So we're doing kind of a jewel strategy. And then online, I wanted to do online because I really think we need the consumer feedback. And because we are so new and it is great, I've got WhatsApp on my phone and people just WhatsApp me, oh my God. And then I just reply,
Danielle Lewis (23:21):
Okay, that is next level customer service. I can't believe you do that. That's amazing.
Lara Solomon (23:29):
But my team's not very big. Danielle, it's me an admin assistant, but this is only a third week here.
Danielle Lewis (23:37):
Oh my god. But that's still incredible. I know plenty of people with bigger teams that would not do that.
Lara Solomon (23:44):
No, I think it's so important, so important. And also coming onto teams, sorry, sidestep, but one of the things that's so important to me is with this business, having been through that IVF process, having been through that, trying to get pregnant, whole thing, I just think it's so important that people understand what women go through, which is part of the reason I don't have any men on my team. And even the people like contractors, they're all women as well, and they've all either had a baby been through IVF or something in that space so that they actually understand what's going on. And I think it's so important. It was really interesting, actually. I was doing some research for the US yesterday and there's a brand called B-F-N-B-F-P in the us a pregnancy test which stands for big fat positive, which okay, that's great, but what happens if you don't want to be pregnant?
Danielle Lewis (24:47):
Yes. That's a branding flaw if I ever saw.
Lara Solomon (24:53):
Exactly. And so this is what I think often, it's like we often, when you think about pregnancy tests, you think everyone is hoping to be pregnant, but they're not. A lot of people are hoping not to be pregnant.
Danielle Lewis (25:05):
I fall into that camp.
Lara Solomon (25:07):
There you go.
Danielle Lewis (25:08):
Yeah. Wow.
Lara Solomon (25:09):
I think it's really important that people on your team understand that and also understand, this girl messaged me last week saying I'm on day 12 of the two week wait, which is like, and I haven't tested yet. I was like, oh my God, how have we managed to hold on for so long?
Danielle Lewis (25:26):
And
Lara Solomon (25:27):
The fact that I understand that and understand what she's going through and how it works, I think is for us is a massive point of differentiation. Because obviously when you are a new brand to the market, you're competing with people with massive pockets and also you don't have a huge spend on marketing, then you've got to stand out in other ways. And that's one of the ways that we're trying and stand out is through custom service, through basically being real to people as well.
Danielle Lewis (25:57):
And I feel like that everyone talks now about community building, right? And I think that that's another word for customer service. You should be building communities. You should really understand the problem that you're solving. You should be available to give advice or tips or feedback depending on what product or service you offer. I think that that comes back to communities and understanding your customer.
Lara Solomon (26:23):
Yeah, I mean, I totally agree. I just think, and that's why I want to answer these emails, these messages, because yes, I could give them to my admin assistant and I'm sure she'd do a great job, but it's my business. I want to see what's happening. I want to see what people think. I want to see if they're having problems because you can get so close to stuff that you just miss the blindingly obvious, and you sometimes need people like your customers to point that out to you to be able to produce the best thing.
Danielle Lewis (26:54):
Totally. And it's also don't be afraid of positive or negative feedback because even the bad stuff is great sometimes. Like, oh, awesome, I can fix that. I just didn't know it was a problem.
Lara Solomon (27:05):
Exactly, exactly. I mean, prime example, and I've said this to retailers, our product's in a tube, and when I designed it, I was like, this is cool. It's going to stand up on the shelf. It's brown paper tube, well, cardboard tube, and compared with all the other tests which are really bright and shiny, literally bright and shiny, wrapped in cellophane. But then I got it and I went, this looks great, but it's going to be quite expensive to post. So fat didn't really think that through, did I? So now the next production run is going to be moving to a rectangular shaped cardboard. But it is just one of those things you can get so carried away in the moment of thinking something's fabulous and then don't think about all of the other applications of it.
Danielle Lewis (27:53):
Totally. And sometimes you literally dunno until it's in your hand or you go to send the first one and you're like, oh crap. As a business owner, you are thinking of everything. So sometimes it's difficult to see. Yeah, like you said, what's so close to you?
Lara Solomon (28:10):
I mean to us to change packaging will reduce the cost of postage by 50%.
Danielle Lewis (28:16):
Oh my God, that's worth it.
Lara Solomon (28:19):
Because the product is so light and so it's a complete no brainer. I mean I do think the round one looks nicer, but at the end of the day, we are in business to make money as well as to save the world.
Danielle Lewis (28:32):
Well absolutely. Well, both should go hand in hand. We should be making more money so we can create a bigger impact. I always think. I love that. I love that. So to wrap up, because this has been an awesome conversation, thank you. We have, and so I'm just reflecting on you being a two time business owner, if not more. We didn't even, I'm sure get into all of the career details before then, but I'd love for you to share advice for people who are just starting out. So people who have potentially, like you said, in that corporate net job that they're hating and wanting to get into a business. Any advice to people just starting out who might be hesitating to take the leap into business?
Lara Solomon (29:22):
That's always a good question. I think it reminds me, in fact, I was saying to someone the other day, when you first start planning for your business, and I think planning is a really important part of starting a business. And when I say planning, it's like you want to think about on the website, one thing I always do when I'm starting a new business is I look at the website and I say, okay, well now I'm on the homepage. Where would I go next? What would I do? And then, okay, now I've bought the product. What do I expect to get? Would I expect to get an email? What would I expect? And it's like one of the reasons I've got free shipping online is because I hate paying for shipping. I really hate it. And I will not buy something, even if it's $3 for shipping, I will not buy it because it's not free.
(30:10):
And I'm like, it's only $3. You could pay for it anyway. So shipping wrap. But I just think, I try and think of if I'm the customer, what would I expect? And I think that that is something that people often forget. And I actually had an email from a company the other day. It was a car high company, and it was one of those ones you rent by the hour. And I got it back 10 minutes late and it was a charge of $5 and I just thought they'd take it off my card and they didn't. So two days later they sent me this email saying, your payment is now overdue. If you don't pay it now, we will take this to debt collectors, basically. Oh my God. I was just like, I understand you want your money, but that is not the way you keep a customer.
(31:00):
Wow. And I think that's the thing is to think about if you were the customer, what would you want this business to do to say, to be, to stand for? How would you like to be treated if you were that customer? And then go through that whole, well, the cheesy thing is customer journey, but go through that whole process if you were that customer buying, whether it's online or in person, and then it's like when you get the product, what would you want to get? And it's like, I don't know about you and I know this is different. And that's the other thing I think that we often forget is some things are different for, well, things are different for other people. Some people love it when they get something and it's got a handwritten note or it is got wrapped in nice tissue and stuff. Yeah, I like that. But at the same time, I'm like, waste of paper straightens, recycling the whole lot. How long did that take? I don't know if it's really worth it. And so we just ship the product, there's nothing else with it. And then when you rely on electronic means to communicate with customers, and I'm not saying that's the right way, but I'm just saying that's the way that I've decided that we are going to do it. Because part of our whole thing is sustainability, so we shouldn't
Danielle Lewis (32:09):
Be putting align to your brand values.
Lara Solomon (32:12):
So I think there's those kinds of things you've got to think of as well. Yeah. So yeah, brand values are really important. And I think it's hard when people say that brand value thing to you. You go then have to Google what are brand values and you just like, I dunno what, but you just need to think about what do want people, what do you want your company to stand for? And yeah, I think that's kind of the two important things. If you can get two things right and then, sorry, I'm waffling on here, but no,
Danielle Lewis (32:43):
Give it to me. I'm literally just taking notes myself over here. I love it.
Lara Solomon (32:48):
One thing I have found exceptionally amazing in this business and probably in others that I've run, but particularly in this business, is asking for help. That is one thing they say a lot, you should ask for help. And I am one of those people that will ask for help. I cornered someone's husband at an event last week, he was a CFO and I was like, yeah, I bit stuck on my budget. So I've done this and this is this, right? Or should I be doing this, this, and this? I love that. He was quite happy to, but I think that I've now got, so I'm part of a group called Climate Salad, and if you're doing a climate startup, then definitely join. It's a hundred dollars a year, which is nothing. And you just get so much support and help. And I've been through their accelerator and I've now got a number of different mentors and they just send me stuff.
Danielle Lewis (33:39):
Wow, that's so cool. Climate salad, awesome.
Lara Solomon (33:44):
Really good. And my distribution dilemma I'm having at the moment, I just emailed one of my mentors today and said, can I have a chat to you about it tomorrow? Because I think that's the other thing, when if you are a solo founder, it's very hard. You've got no one to bounce things off. And I'm single as well, so no partner, but you might have a partner, but they might not be interested. So anyway, but that's really important. I think having that person that, because we have our calls and she's like, I don't know how you find this helpful because I just throw a spanner in the works every single time we talk. And I'm like, but that is what is so helpful because you
Danielle Lewis (34:28):
Just
Lara Solomon (34:28):
Question things and you go, really? Are you sure you want to do that? Do you want to do this? Have you not thought about that? And how are you going to cope doing that? How are you feeling? How's that 3 million hours of week of work going? Kind of thing.
Danielle Lewis (34:42):
But sometimes it's just that person that kind of, or even talking out loud, I was on a call today and it's just literally saying the words out loud and not in my brain. I was like, oh, don't worry. I already know the answer. It's great.
Lara Solomon (34:54):
Totally. And I think, I know I'm someone that processes information by talking about it, and it depends on you. But that for me has been really amazing. And what has amazed me about this business is the number of people that have just fallen into my lap. It sounds like a doctor, a GP in the UK is now writing content for us, and we're going to be in CIA magazine in two weeks because of a piece she's written and we're not paying her, she's doing it. She loves what we're doing and she wants to spend more time doing that. And this is a good way for her to cover both options and build her profile. And I'm just like, when you have something that people love and they just want to be part of it, and it's just amazing. Absolutely amazing.
Danielle Lewis (35:40):
That is absolutely incredible. I must admit, I love the way you described, what would your customer expect? I literally just wrote that down because I'm like, that's such a great way you do. You hear brand values, customer journey, and you're like, what the hell is that? It's just like you just think about what your customer would expect from you as a business. It's just such a great way to put it and so essential. I love it.
Lara Solomon (36:03):
Yeah, definitely. I think, well, if we don't have customers around business, so it's kind of important.
Danielle Lewis (36:10):
Hit the nail on the head. I love it so much. Lara, you are incredible. Thank you so much for spending your time with us on the podcast on Spark tv. It's been an absolute pleasure.
Lara Solomon (36:22):
Thank you for having me. It's been a lot of fun.
Danielle Lewis (36:25):
Awesome. And literally we just cut it there, so you are incredible. That was easy peasy.
Lara Solomon (36:33):
I went so fast. Yeah,
Danielle Lewis (36:34):
Great. Oh my God. It always does. It literally does. I could talk for hours and I'm not even lying. I literally was trying just to ly write things down, so, so good. I really appreciate it.
Lara Solomon (36:46):
Oh, that's good. I'm glad it's helpful. Well, yeah, if you want me to come on again, happy to. I love doing this kind of stuff and
Danielle Lewis (36:53):
So good.
Lara Solomon (36:54):
Happy to do more something a bit more. It's really hard, the whole startup thing. There's so many things to say and get across.
Danielle Lewis (37:03):
Totally. Yeah.
Lara Solomon (37:04):
Yeah. So yeah, I think I'm on, I think is my seventh business. So
Danielle Lewis (37:10):
Seventh. Holy crap. What is wrong with you sucker for punishment?
Lara Solomon (37:19):
No, I just passionate about different things. I think that's the way I like to put it.
Danielle Lewis (37:24):
I love it. I have two, but that's enough.
Lara Solomon (37:28):
Okay, so what are yours, Danielle?
Danielle Lewis (37:30):
So Spark. So we do sales. It's mostly sales training for female founders, and then scrunch a piece of software that we developed that matches brands and influencers. So I was like marketing company. Yeah,
Lara Solomon (37:46):
I should talk to you about that. Is it just in Australia or is it No,
Danielle Lewis (37:50):
It's global. Global.
Lara Solomon (37:53):
We're doing influencer stuff at the moment, and it is such a pain in the bum.
Danielle Lewis (37:56):
Oh my God, it is. It influencers are a rare breed of something.
Lara Solomon (38:04):
I mean, some of them, you'll get some hundred thousand follower people that will be amazing. And then you'll get some 1000 follower people that'll be like, yeah, that's 500 pounds.
Danielle Lewis (38:13):
I know. It's ridiculous. It is absolutely ridiculous. I've got a little pricing guide if you ever want that as well. Oh yeah. Should be paying. I'll flick that over to you. It's
Lara Solomon (38:22):
Just a That would be awesome.
Danielle Lewis (38:23):
It's a good little sense. Check on what these people are asking for. Yeah, it's interesting. So we do the software and an agency and we've been doing it. So Scrunch has been my main business. This has kind of just cropped up as a bit of a passion project, a salesperson. But yeah, so we've done it for 10 years and you will be shocked what influences come up with sometimes. It has been a very, very interesting ride.
Lara Solomon (38:51):
Well, so how does Scrunch work? You put a post a thing saying you're looking for X, Y, and Z, or you approach them through the platform, or
Danielle Lewis (38:59):
No, so it's a discovery platform. So basically you do your search and it has all of their, all their audience insights, and then you can either, their emails are all in there, so you can contact them directly or you can export, say a massive list, and then do more of an EDM and approach them that way. So yeah. So you don't actually communicate through the platform and you don't the campaign. It's more discovery and analytics.
Lara Solomon (39:26):
Okay, fab. No, I would definitely look at it because we are trying to get some more people onto our affiliate program. Oh, so good. So that would be great. And it's always hard to work out where people are from, because at the moment we're only selling in the UK and Europe. Really? So that's the challenge on socials that half the time. So my admin girl sometimes she's like, yeah, well I've just watched some videos to see what their accent is and then we can work out where they're from. And I'm like,
Danielle Lewis (39:50):
Oh no. Oh my God. So our platform's literally $10 a month, so if she's spending any longer than 10 minutes on this, she's
Lara Solomon (40:01):
In the Philippines.
Danielle Lewis (40:05):
Oh, amazing. I was like, if anyone's spending time looking for those things, then do a $10 subscription and Oh my God,
Lara Solomon (40:12):
That's so cheap though. Yeah, I'll definitely look at it because we still need some more people. Obviously you can contact a hundred, but that doesn't mean you get a hundred. So you've got
Danielle Lewis (40:22):
Yeah, there's usually about a 30% success rate we find. So reach out to three times the volume that you want. Yeah,
Lara Solomon (40:29):
It's just that our area is obviously quite niche, so it might not be the volume, but yeah.
Danielle Lewis (40:36):
Love it. Love it. Well, yeah, if she has any questions or you have any questions ever about that world, always feel free to drop me a line. I'm so happy just to share tips, tricks, advice, whatever.
Lara Solomon (40:48):
Okay, fabulous. That sounds good. Thank you. It was great to meet you.
Danielle Lewis (40:52):
Yeah, so good to meet you too.
Lara Solomon (40:53):
Where are you based? When
Danielle Lewis (40:55):
I'm in Western Australia.
Lara Solomon (40:58):
Oh, right,
Danielle Lewis (40:58):
Okay. Yeah, so I'm living in Kalgoorlie at the moment.
Lara Solomon (41:02):
Okay. Yes.
Danielle Lewis (41:04):
So I'm a Brisbane person my whole life. And then we moved here at Christmas time for my partner's job, so I'm still adjusting, but No, it's fine.
Lara Solomon (41:15):
Okay.
Danielle Lewis (41:16):
Where are you? Where are you?
Lara Solomon (41:18):
I'm in Sydney, so Manley
Danielle Lewis (41:20):
Cool. Oh, awesome, awesome. Oh yes, I wasn't sure. So we had all the time change, I think. Did that happen last night or?
Lara Solomon (41:27):
Yeah, no, Sunday, Saturday night, Sunday morning. Gotcha. We're now three hours ahead of you guys.
Danielle Lewis (41:34):
Yeah, yeah, I know. Everyone's been emailing me all day. What time's this on, what time's this on? I'm like, oh my God. Bloody daylight savings.
Lara Solomon (41:42):
But if you put it in your calendar, it just updates automatically.
Danielle Lewis (41:45):
It should, yes. But I've had a couple of people that transcribe things into their paper diary and it's totally messed them up. But yes, just stick with technology.
Lara Solomon (41:56):
Well, funnily enough, my admin assistant in the va, I phoned her yesterday at 10, which is when she's supposed to start, and she had forgotten about the time change.
Danielle Lewis (42:07):
She
Lara Solomon (42:07):
Was still asleep.
Danielle Lewis (42:09):
Oh no,
Lara Solomon (42:12):
Because 10 is normally her eight in the morning, so the new 10 is now seven in the morning. So it is actually quite early to start.
Danielle Lewis (42:19):
Yeah, totally. Oh my gosh, I need a strong cup of coffee.
Lara Solomon (42:24):
I know. I said, do you want to go back to eight? She said, no, no, no, seven's fine. I was like, okay.
Danielle Lewis (42:29):
How good. Yeah, she sounds amazing already.
Lara Solomon (42:33):
Yeah, she is good. There's a few things. Yes, but I think you get that with everyone, and also you kind of forget sometimes that you I, you forget how long you've been doing things and how much you know and how much they don't dunno. And so yeah, it's tricky. So I have to keep going. Look. Yeah, I'm sorry, I might not have said this, but yeah,
Danielle Lewis (43:03):
It's so true, isn't it? And you have to let that go a little bit. I find. I keep going. No one's going to do it like you do it, but if you do everything, you won't have a business. So just keep going, keep going, keep going,
Lara Solomon (43:17):
Keep coaching. It's been so much better since I got hurt. Oh my God. It just, I'm trying to fundraise at the moment, so I'm trying to raise 1.2 million.
Danielle Lewis (43:27):
My God. Yeah,
Lara Solomon (43:29):
So I've only just started, but
Danielle Lewis (43:31):
Amazing. Are you doing that in Australia?
Lara Solomon (43:34):
Ideally, because if I do it anywhere else, I probably have to change the company structure. So at the moment we've got Australian company and then two subsidiaries, a UK one and a US one because we're about to start selling in soup drug in the uk, but they wouldn't deal with an Australian company. So I had to use the UK company for that. And then same in the us. So anyway, we just have to switch it around if we get investment somewhere else. But I just thought, well, realistically Australia's the easiest and we've got kind of till November. If we don't get anything in Australia, then I'll look overseas after Christmas. But obviously after Christmas here is a dead time basically until February, so it's better to do it this way and yeah,
Danielle Lewis (44:20):
We'll see. Yeah, absolutely. Are you targeting angel investors or any particular level?
Lara Solomon (44:29):
Well, at the moment I'm targeting because I figure that, so a lot of VCs like to be the first one in because they get to choose the terms. And so if they want to come in, even if it's just like, I don't know, half a million or something, just then I think they'll be happy they got the terms. And then in theory, it's easier to get smaller people in. Whereas if I go to someone and say, well, so-and-so says they give me 50 K, I just don't think white has the same. And for someone at 50 K to decide what the terms are or, so that's kind of what my approach is going to be. VCs first in the hope that they'll give me some. And then I've got some, I did a crowdfunding round in July, June.
Danielle Lewis (45:17):
Oh, cool. Yeah,
Lara Solomon (45:18):
Equity crowdfunding. So I've got 87 investors from that. So some of them might put more in, but again, I just want to wait until I know what the deal is in terms of this. The other thing is valuation, all that kind of stuff, you don't normally set that. They would normally set that, and obviously you try and push it up as high as you can, but
Danielle Lewis (45:41):
I can also come back to bite you in the bum. Yes, I am. So I've raised 3 million over about five years a scrunch for the software business, and I've vowed and declared never to do it again. But yeah, have a bunch of different contacts that might be interested if it becomes helpful. But mine are more the angel level, so scale investors and Brisbane angels are one of ours. Who else? AC innovation are my favorite investor. So if the angel level ever becomes interesting, I'm super happy to share those contacts, if that's helpful as well.
Lara Solomon (46:21):
No, definitely. That would be, I've got two meetings with VCs next week. I had one last week, I think the last week one told me today. No, but I think it was a brush off. She said, no, because your test is in a plastic pouch. And I was like, yes, but the second version's not going to be. But thinking you didn't even ask me about what was going to change from version one to version two, so I'm sure it's just an excuse. Anyway, whatever. So yeah, I will definitely, unless someone just comes along and says, okay, Laura, here you go,
Danielle Lewis (47:00):
Here's all the money. Yes. Oh, I am crossing my fingers for you. That is exactly how it happens. That would be amazing
Lara Solomon (47:08):
It. I know. It would be so good. So now actually, I've got one meeting this week. Yeah, two next one's in the uk. So if I forget the UK one, I have to called, it's called Flipping.
Danielle Lewis (47:19):
Yes. Got to love it. Oh yeah. Well, we started out thinking we'd raise capital in the us so we have a US parent company and an Australian subsidiary, and then we got all of our money in Australia. So yes, our structure is so annoyingly complicated, but anyway, what do you do? You just keep going. Live and learn.
Lara Solomon (47:42):
Yeah, exactly. Well, it's amazing because at this stage, such an early stage company, you've only been trading for a few months. I found it's been really hard with all this kind of structured stuff because most of the time you deal with that when you're much bigger and therefore you have people around you that like the accountants and stuff, which are more experienced in that. Whereas I've been having to go to people and say, so how do I attach my UK company and my Australian one? Because I've own all the shares in the UK one personally. And if I start selling stuff through there and then taking the money through there, then I think that's embezzlement or something. So I probably should sort that out.
Danielle Lewis (48:17):
Totally, totally. Oh my God, that's hilarious. And it's so funny then also not what you're actually doing. You need to go on product and customers and growing the business, and there's all this stuff that you're like, what the heck?
Lara Solomon (48:30):
Yeah, exactly. It makes, and actually I did some great networking in the uk that was really good. I've got a lady I'm speaking to in five minutes, she has a prenatal pregnancy vitamin business. Oh, cool. So very similar space, but she's about three years ahead of me. So really helpful in terms of contacts and stuff. So it's
Danielle Lewis (48:55):
Awesome. It's so good when you do find those people that are super helpful.
Lara Solomon (49:01):
It does amaze me. There's a period UND company in the uk, and I got introduced to him by a random guy who a friend of mine introduced me to, and he was a bit like Laddy and Bit, and he was an investor in this company, and I asked him how he was as an investor, and they were like, yeah, he was useless. He's never done anything but consider he's got all these contacts. But anyway, and this guy is just like, Lara, if you want any introductions to any of his retailers, we are in. Just let me know.
Danielle Lewis (49:28):
Wow. Oh my God.
Lara Solomon (49:31):
I know.
Danielle Lewis (49:32):
That's incredible.
Lara Solomon (49:33):
I love it. Email him a list.
Danielle Lewis (49:35):
Holy shit. I know
Lara Solomon (49:37):
Who does that.
Danielle Lewis (49:39):
Yeah, exactly. Oh my God, I love it. That's awesome. That is awesome.
Lara Solomon (49:44):
So it's just amazing, and I'm just like, it wasn't this easy on the other businesses. I don't know, just
Danielle Lewis (49:52):
Different. But I think each time you do it, it just does become that little bit easier and there's just a couple of tricks up your sleeve that make moving to the next point a little bit quicker. So that's so good. I love it. Awesome. Well, I'll let you get you to your next meeting, and thank you so much again for spending the time. This'll come out 1st of November, so I'll share everything.
Lara Solomon (50:19):
Okay, awesome.
Danielle Lewis (50:20):
Tag the crap out of you, all of those good things.
Lara Solomon (50:22):
Okay, awesome. Thank you. That will be great. Yeah, that would be good. That'd be really good. I look forward to, well, actually, to be honest, I won't listen to it. I have to be honest because I have No, don't, that's fine. No one likes listening to themselves. That's fine. We'll just make sure you're tagged so everyone knows stuff. I'll just share it with people. That's fine. Yeah. Plus that you've done a good job until someone says, oh, but they put that in I, oh God. Anyway. No, I'm joking. Okay, perfect. Perfect. Have a good.
