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Abigail Forsyth of KeepCup is among a group of seven Australian entrepreneurs who are featured in Nokia Australia’s new online book 'In Hindsight' ( you can download this book for free!). Brought to readers by the Nokia E6 and Nokia E7 smartphones the book tells the story of seven unsung Aussie entrepreneurs who share their candid stories.

To start with, will you please tell us a little about KeepCup. KeepCup is the world’s first barista standard reusable cup designed for espresso coffee. Designed for coffee lovers on the move, and our aim is to globally eradicate the widespread use of disposable cups. KeepCups replicate the sizes of disposable cups to ensure correct dosing of milk and coffee, the three smaller sizes fit under the group head of the machines so the integrity of the shot is not compromised.

How many KeepCups have been manufactured now? We have manufactured and sold over 800,000 KeepCups.

Was the decision to start the business about making money, or was it a largely emotional decision? It was an emotional decision.  My brother and I had previously set up and ran Bluebag cafes in the Melbourne CBD, it was all consuming. The birth of my daughter gave me the distance to get some perspective on what I wanted to do with the next phase of my life.  Whilst I had been toying with the idea of the reusable cup for many years it was this change in life that gave me the courage to make a better alignment of my passions, skills and interests with my career.

You started the business with your brother, has this proved challenging at times? Yes! It has been really challenging to carve and to maintain a sense of equity in the partnership, particularly as our family roles have expanded. In a small business start up when everyone is required to plug the holes, it is difficult to get, maintain and enforce accountability for roles and responsibilities. Ultimately it works, for me at least, because Jamie is someone I love and trust, he makes me laugh, and is totally committed to the success of KeepCup. He would have a few stories to tell you I am sure!

KeepCups are manufactured in Melbourne, was local production important when creating your business plan? Yes it was and the driver was certainly sustainability considerations. In hindsight I think it has also been critical to the successful execution of the product design. There are a number of big decisions in the engineering in the KeepCup, it has been of incredible benefit to be able to get round a table with the manufacturing engineers and industrial designers to resolve these issues. I am certain it has given us better outcomes.

What has been the most challenging experience you’ve faced in your business so far? I suspect we are about to enter one of the most challenging phases in the next twelve to eighteen months. We have a lot of KeepCups out there in the world and the challenge will be to ensure they continue to be used and we help to maintain the momentum behind the behaviour change. There are a number of copycats in the market now and whilst on one hand their presence in theory expands our market, an inferior product and service could damage the momentum behind reuse.  We don’t make a positive environmental impact with sale, we make it to reuse and this is the sort of thinking that must drive our business decisions.

As a business owner, what challenges do you think SMEs in Australia face? For smaller start up enterprise the vast number of compliance requirements – employment law, workcover, payroll tax, GST to name a few.  They are time consuming and expensive to maintain.  Export is a great opportunity and a big skill set to get on top of to make it work for your business.

What skills and attributes do you feel are necessary to run a design or any other creative small business? I believe that most successful businesses will be creative; creative and flexible with their ideas and problem solving.  We are about to release our new tagline “better and better” – being interested in new ideas and better ways of doing things creates a very positive and creative workplace culture. As a business owner you require a strong vision for the look and feel of your business, which will be greatly enhanced if you have a team of collaborators who can bring expertise to the table and with whom you can have a robust discussion.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve been given so far? I have been thinking a lot about this, you get given a lot of good advice over the years and it’s often about the moment it gets through. I remember I was incredibly frustrated with my daughter, exasperated I blurted out, “will you just yield”. This was something my father had said to me my whole life and it was only in that moment I realised what he meant.  The best advice I have had in recent years is “don’t force it”, energy and dynamism will get you a long way, but if things aren’t working you may need to change your approach or even walk away. When things work well there is undeniably a sense of flow.

Has social media and word of mouth made an impact on the marketing of your product? KeepCup is all about behaviour change, so word of mouth and the digital megaphone that is social media have been critical for us to build advocacy around the KeepCup and give momentum and congratulation to the good people who are out there using their KeepCup

What advice would you give to women who are aspiring to start a small business like you? Make sure you have good support networks in place both professionally and personally – you will need them.  Keep people in your life who help you see the big picture because it is easy to become myopic.

What's the vision for the business in five years time? KeepCup is a global brand recognised for its sound sustainability credentials and the fun way it has kickstarted and maintained positive behaviour change around the world. A business recognised for its sustainable business practices and a great place to work