Three things I learnt from students' business plans
This week I had the pleasure of being on a panel with other industry experts at Henley College's Enterprise Event! This is where students, who are nearing the end of their course at Henley College, pitched their business plans to the panel.
http://www.henleycol.ac.uk/news/pitching-to-professionals/
I was on the panel with other industry experts such as ex HR director of IRI, a recruitment specialist, a business leader from Heinz, a business and life coach, and the founder of Primal Pantry.
Think back 5 - 10 years ago and the common themes coming from students might have been businesses such as car washes or coffee shops. Only a couple of years ago and the themes possibly would have been around online and technology.
However now 4 of the 5 businesses presented to us were Food & Drink brands!
1. Direct to Consumer, making the brand accessible
The models for these food brands were DTC - direct to consumer. They were all aware of the changing retail landscape, with online sales soaring and bricks and mortar struggling and funnily enough most had a consistent theme of using food vans to get their brand in front of consumers.
2. Sustainability and Waste is high on young people’s agenda
What quickly became apparent, the pitches included an element of sustainability and waste. They had all thought through the impact of their packaging and made conscious choices over what to use to reduce waste for the environment. This was an important part of their brand values.
3. They care about what they consume – health and nutrition
The third theme that came through 3/4 food and drink brands was to do with healthy nutrition. When I was a student, ashamedly to say, my diet probably consisted mostly of Super Noodles and Greggs! It is inspiring to see how healthy, unprocessed food, that’s also sustainable for the environment, is clearly high on the agenda of the younger generation.
Overall I was impressed with the level of detail they had covered in their business plans, including consumer research, cash flow forecasts and levels of profitability. The students had clearly all put in a lot of work to the pitches and all presented confidently. As an expert in CPG, it is encouraging to see how the next generation are interested in the Food and Drink industry. More importantly I was energised to understand what young people truly care about and how they are trying to shape a better world for us all.
One final thought from me... if you’re interested in your own start up, you might want to consider a branded leasing van business…! ;)
For any other advice for SMEs in the Food & Drink industry, drop me a note. Alternatively contact Blueprint management who are soon to offer top Selling Training courses, specifically for SMEs (an opportunity to get trained like the big players in the industry!)