Scaling Against the Odds: How Grit, Strategy and Leadership Built a $100M Brand with Harmeet Ahuja

0:28We were developing food brands, drink brands. business like that, when you started in the business, 10 and 11 million, what do you think is the distinction between tens of millions and hundreds of millions? Or what are some of the distinctions? Well, there are a series of stages along the way. So to go from a 10 million, which is already a substantial business in its own right, for us, it was formalizing certain processes. And I think that's key all the way through the journey, that the processes that apply at for a 10 million business is not the same as something for a 250 million business necessarily.

1:02So for us, that was the first thing. How do you get all the systems and processes running appropriately for that and maybe the next stage up? Yeah. So you're building ahead of the game almost. Always, always. You're always looking ahead and saying, how can I build something which prevents me falling back? So if I can get those necessary safety stop measures in place, I know I won't drop again, but I can keep on building on that. I've never heard anyone put that straight that way that it saves me from dropping back as well. So that was your thinking along the whole way? Yeah, because you could see the mistakes that could happen if something went wrong.

1:33If you had a truck, I mean, we were in the food business and we were trucking product or shipping product. So what would happen where something could go wrong? That delivery comes in or doesn't come in because you haven't got a proper measure for how it comes in. Or do five turn up at once and you don't have the capacity to take them in? So it's simple, simple, sound like simple situations, but they always do unless you don't have them. Yeah. They're simple until they go wrong. Exactly. People-wise, what did you notice as you grew from the tens to the hundreds? What was the distinction for you in the human capital of the business?

2:04It was a set of values that remained consistent throughout the journey. So we are a family business, and it was that family ethos all the way through that you treat all your people as your own, and you take them through both the good times and the bad. So good times, people are getting on better, getting rewarded better. But there would be a point where if things aren't so good, you explain to people they're not so good, but you don't fire people. You find new roles for them within the company and you explain why you're having to do it, whether it's temporary or permanent. But that communication all the time is that people would always know you have their back and that they should be with you for the good times and the bad.

2:41And that security, I think, meant a lot to the people that always worked with us. Did everyone know you were aiming for hundreds of millions or is it just an ethos of the vision of doing great work, great things? What was the... Yeah, I think when we were starting off or when we were starting to grow, you didn't necessarily have a number in mind. It was just like, I can know this can go a lot further and a lot further. And it just kept on growing from that point. But because we kept some of those values in the right place, those people who were on that journey with you could see that you're constantly growing and they could see what you're trying to do.

3:14So they believed in what you were doing and it just kept on rolling forward. But also it meant when people joined in, you had a group of existing staff that would say to them, look, this is what we're trying to do. And it's not the bloke at the top trying to feed it through. It's everyone saying the same thing. So then it becomes self-reinforcing as a message. Talk about bringing people in. Obviously, to grow the business, you've got to bring in some higher caliber people too. How did you manage bringing in people to bring them into the culture of the organization? We generally hired from the bottom up.

3:47So it would be people growing through the ranks. Because it was an 11 million revenue business to start with, it was always going to be people at a more junior level coming in, entry level, and then learning the ropes as they went through and then becoming more senior. So for a very long time, we didn't bring people in at senior level. And when we needed some short-term boost or something like that, we would bring in external expertise temporarily. But it was always about growing people through. Let's talk about branding then, because I think building the right products, the right brands, all of that sort of stuff was a big part of what got you to where you went to.

4:23How did that come about? Was that the thinking that we need to create the brand, or was it just getting the right products? What was the strategy? Well, so we had two things. One was corporate branding for ourselves, and that was always based upon we stand by our name, our company name, and what it represents and what it delivers. And if it fell short, we would always be responsible for that. So we were a B2B business in the food distribution sector. So for that, we were known that you're a credible company. You stand by what you do. But on the other side, we were developing food brands, drink brands.

5:01And that was a very different situation because you're looking at specific markets. There were some fun ones there too. Yeah, yeah. So one of them was or is an energy drink brand, some of which have alcohol in them, some which don't. And that was quite a fun journey because that was mostly focused on West Africa, primarily Nigeria. And there we worked with celebrities, with pop stars, with various people like that. And that was a lot of fun, worked very well for us. And the brand in particular, which is called Bullet, actually became a market leader and still is, still ahead of that category. Yeah.

5:35Like when you look at building that brand, you talked about the celebrity endorsement, that sort of thing. Why celebrity endorsement? Because I think a lot of people miss how much that can add value to a business. Well, it adds credibility in the short term. That's for sure. Yeah. Because a lot of these people will not necessarily put their name to a product that they don't like, they don't believe in. It also attracts a lot more attention to the brand immediately. So we did do that. But generally, we also did it from the bottom up. So it would be grassroots level introduction of product. And then they see, OK, I'm trying the product.

6:10It's backed by XYZ brand ambassador. Follow that up with good distribution because people will see, well, if the company is prepared to invest in the brand in this way, then surely it's likely to sell. So they were all, again, self-reinforcing messages that were being sent out. The actions were all positive. But we had a good product as well. I mean, ultimately, it's got to be something good that sells. Great people, great product, great values. Let's talk about the distribution then because it's rare that a company gets to hundreds of millions without partners in some way, shape or form. How did you develop the distribution networks, the partnerships, those sorts of things?

6:45What was important to make that successful? Right. So where we were developing our own range of products, we would always stand by the quality of what we are selling. And we always promise to our customers that if you lose any money on anything that's ours that we sell to you, we will always underwrite that loss. So somebody comes into it and says, right. So your partners are guaranteed success, basically. Absolutely. You're never going to lose money with us. So it was always whatever you do, you believed in what we've developed here. You believed in the individual selling it to you and the management team behind them and the company behind them.

7:18Now we have to deliver on that if things go wrong. So that means that they will work that much harder for you from the outset. I don't need to have a huge brand behind me. They just need to know that I will be there if something goes wrong. And if it ever happened, we were. And it did happen occasionally. Not everything works in every market. But when it did, we always followed through on that. So global or geographic expansion. I think a lot of companies get very stuck in localization and they don't... Let's just say fear kicks in. You're absolutely right. It's the perfect word for it, that people are scared to go...

7:54And I say particularly, people are scared to go to the markets where we are, sitting in the UK. They'll be frightened to do business in parts of Africa because they don't culturally understand both the culture of the country, but also the business culture. So we would actually embrace that and say, wherever it's difficult to go, take the time to learn about it and then do business there. Because actually, that's a competitive advantage in its own right in the future. Other people will look at you and say, it must be easy if they can do it. But they've got to go through all those. They've got to jump through all the same hoops we did to get there.

8:24And then you're already years ahead, right? Yeah. Now, I know with Action Coach now in 85 countries and people are like, it must be pretty easy. Sugars has done it. It's like, yeah, right. Yeah. Go for your life. Give it a go. Yeah. I know for us, developing partners in those foreign markets, we had to really learn the customs, the culture, all of those things. How did you do that in the business? Lots of great experiences and a few bad ones. along the way, right? That's how it works. So, yeah, mostly it was trial and error. But I think credibility sort of precedes you quite often. And that being the case, we initially had to learn our way and see how things went in some markets.

9:07But once that credibility started coming to the fore, we would find that the right people came to you that little bit quicker. Yeah, that one's an interesting one that I'd like to ask you about. How did you pick the right partners because I know in certain markets, and especially early on for me, if a partner came to us, he'd be like, yeah, we got a partner. And then I very quickly learned, well, not very quickly, maybe three or four partners in that I'm pretty sure I should decide which ones. How did you decide that? Was it a values thing? What was the method? I think it was that same sense of euphoria that I'm so happy someone wants to do business with me in that country where I'm looking to enter.

9:45So you have that. And look, the partnership has to go both ways. We might be the wrong partner for somebody as well as them being the right one for us. So you would build on that relationship in more sort of formalized ways. You would sign an MOU. You would have all those gradual commitments to each other that's, well, a certain period of time, a certain amount of business. And if it works for us, we carry on. If not, we part as friends with maybe a future business project in the offing. And then you retain that relationship. You know you're not right for each other for that particular type of business.

10:18But that doesn't mean that something further down the line isn't something that would be successful for both of you. Yeah. So running the existing business versus looking for more opportunities, always looking for new brands or new things or new markets, where did you find most of your time was at each phase of growth of the business? Well, therein lies the right balance, right? So you start in a very operational role. You're not looking forward so much. You're looking to just make sure everything is steady and sound and running well. And then you start finding one opportunity, a second opportunity, and bring that into the company, reinforce that with your team, or hire the right people to bring in and gradually reinforce the entire team.

11:00And then it becomes a more strategic role later on. As you get that much bigger, you can't be the operational. How big were you when you got out of that operations and really became the more strategic thing. Was it at 10 million, 20 million, 100 million? Was there a point? Yeah, more like the 100 plus million at that stage. But you're always heavily embedded in the operation to a certain extent because you know the business inside that. You've done every bit of that company. You've been involved in every operation. You've helped develop it. You've implemented all the systems. So there's that unfortunate default where you can drop back in all too easily and get involved in an operation when you should just try to keep away.

11:38I've never done that. I've never suffered from superheroitis and tried to fix things in my own company. No. You get to a point where acquisition becomes a thing, whether it's someone trying to acquire you or you acquiring other companies for opportunities. Where did that fit in in the growth path of your business? So we looked at acquisitions along the way, but we didn't actually go for it. And in the end, we were acquired, which was the right solution for us as well. But now as a company, I was telling you earlier that we've now sold a part of the business again. But that part is now going to be looking to acquire other businesses.

12:17And that's the strategy which we've agreed going forward. So look, it can be at any stage. In our stage, we were growing sufficiently quickly to not need to look to acquire anybody because we were taking on business so fast. And our growth was entirely organic all the way through. more built upon the values, the processes. Yeah. I mean, having a chairman of the company, your father-in-law, who was a chairman who held those values tight. Yeah. And he instilled those right from the beginning. Yeah. And as long as we had the right people that believed in those, it was always that much easier because it is a game of people.

12:53And it was a question of having all the right people around you that said, okay, that's how we carry the business forward. Those are the values of the company. The direction is X. And that's how we're going to do it. Now, going into the sale part of it and selling a major brand or a major segment of the business, average entrepreneur, it's my baby. I'm selling my baby. How am I selling my baby? You guys had more of a, given the size, you had more of a, not a corporate feel, but more of a business feel to going into selling. But was there still a bit of that, am I doing the right thing by selling?

13:29Is it the right time? How did you get through that phase? I think you just realize that there are some parts of a business that you could only take so far. So in this particular matter, when we sold the Bullet brand, it should be owned by a company in its local market, or sorry, in its most dominant market, which is Nigeria. They will be able to do justice to that brand. And we probably have taken it as far as we can. It's almost like a grudging sense of, you know what, we can't do any more sitting in London. And as a full-time management team here, it really should be domiciled eventually out of that country.

14:05Yeah, I think it's a strong entrepreneur that at some point can recognize I've gone as far as I can. But that's not just selling a program or selling a product. It's also, you know, your father-in-law was an amazing example of being out, like him stepping back and handing it over. like that that's a good example for you I guess of learning that it's time to step back and let someone else and you have to understand the potential of what you have and say okay I've let's say just repeating myself that it was like we saw that that was as much as we could do with it but there's plenty more that we've developed along the way that probably we haven't had enough time to dedicate to those so now we'll look at those as well yeah that balancing act of okay we've sold that big one.

14:51It was great. Now we can focus on these other three or four type thing and build them to sale and build the next one to sale. And that sort of thing. Do you think that became a part of the strategy, build to sell? Or do you think it's just build and if someone comes along, then maybe? Sorry, I'm saying it very emphatically. No, it was never part of the strategy. It was never a consideration for many, many years that this was something we'd ever do, but it just became the right thing for us. And that's part of the point management, right? You remain pragmatic at all times. And you realize that I'm struggling to go any further with this.

15:21It needs to be handled differently now. And I think the business world is, you see that everywhere. Yeah. Yeah. I think that sometimes people do make a mistake of just trying to build to sell. And you're not thinking as long term as what your business is. And so I want to finish with that idea. Family business allows you to think a lot more long term than other businesses do in some ways, but it's also got to be more short term in some ways. How did you balance the family business aspect of it with the business aspect of it? I think it was, again, what you just said, achieving the balance, what we thought was the right one, that you look at monthly numbers, you look at quarterly numbers, you even look at annual numbers, and you just say, honest to yourself and not trying to cover yourself because there's a shareholder breathing down your neck and say, that was a good year, that was a bad year, we could have done that better, or that was an exceptional situation.

16:18And when you have all of those considerations and you look at them for your own perspective, not for anybody else, then it's a lot easier to make the right longer term decisions. and that's is that self-honesty not not almost also not just saying trying to saying i could have done this better and genuinely knowing you could have and not saying oh there were excuses not even that just i know this could have been done better it should have been done this way or the world moved against me covid came you know whatever it could be nothing we could do about it and and if it did badly in that year so be it but we know next year it's not going to be the case what would your final piece of advice be to someone that's i think i can go to hundreds of millions.

16:55I'm not sure I can, but I think I can. What's your final thoughts for someone in that situation? Very difficult question in some respects. But look, I've learned over the years that retaining focus, keeping a right balance in terms of all the people around you, your family, your stakeholders, and particularly your family, they can be your greatest asset if you create the right balance. And if you focus on the right element of your work, what makes the most money, where the greatest potential is, then there is very little stopping you. thanks for joining me on the hundred million dollar podcast if you've got value from today's episode make sure you've subscribed and share this with all of your friends never miss a strategy that could change your business and your life and remember the fastest way to scale is to learn from those who've done it that's what this show is all about see you on the next episode