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Emma Welsh of Emma and Tom’s is among a group of seven Australian entrepreneurs who are featured in Nokia Australia’s 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.

1. Tell us how Emma and Tom's came about? Tom and I were conveniently in between jobs and looking to do something ourselves. We came across the concept of fruit juices made from whole fruit and that were only gently pasteurised, in North America and liked it immediately. Here was a great tasting drink that was also good for you and could be enjoyed by everyone. We loved the well being angle and the fact that we would have the opportunity to build a brand.

2. There are plenty of drinks and juices on the market – how do you make sure Emma and Tom’s stands out? We work very hard to stay close to our roots and not to falter from our excellent ingredients.  The multi national drinks companies do not offer a juice made from whole fruit that has been cold filled and needs to be stored below 4 degrees until it is consumed. This all takes a lot of care and effort that the large companies just have not been willing to commit to.

3.  Initially, how did you go about sourcing stockists for your product? Any tips for people looking to do the same thing? Before we launched we ran around and compiled a wish list of all the great independent cafes, foodstores, delis and grocers that we desired to sell our juice in. Fortunately, once we were producing and visited these stores to sell-in our juice, they were very receptive. We quickly learnt that we would have to always have a fantastic tasting product backed up by a similar level of service to remain competitive. Happily, most of the sites we targeted in our early days remain customers today and now not only stock our juice, but our raw fruit and nut Life Bars and our newly launched Lemon and Raspberry Quenchers too!

4. You started the business with your childhood friend, has this proved challenging at times?  Our relationship has remained strong and collegiate throughout our eight years in business and I think this is also reflected in the way our whole team inter relate. We both come from similar backgrounds and as such, have similar views on life and on how to behave. Importantly, we have very similar palettes too!

5. What has been the most challenging experience you’ve faced in your business so far?  From the outset we both believed that to grow a sound business would involve a marathon, not a sprint and so we have had to stick to our guns and back ourselves for the past eight years. It is very easy to wander off the path and be seduced by distractions.

6. As a business owner, what challenges do you think SMEs in Australia face?  Small business is tough, in many ways everything is stacked against you, as the incumbents enjoy the market they have calved out for themselves. Conversely, if your business is breaking new ground, then you have a whole lot of educating and marketing to do. Either way, you have to make your own way.

7. Has social media and word of mouth made an impact on the marketing of your product? Work of mouth has been a vital ingredient in our growth and marketing efforts. We have never had a lot of money to spend on marketing, particularly when compared to the larger drinks companies, so we have relied heavily on point of sale promotion, PR and the endorsement of the proprietors of our independently owned cafes and delis to their discerning clientele. Our customers then feel as though they have discovered our juice by them selves and do not feel as though they have been advertised at. Social media has it’s place and of course is free, so we do use it. However, nothing replaces having a quality product selling in as many retail outlets that you are able to get it into.

8.  How has your time in the corporate world helped you grow the business? We feel more that our time in the business has helped us grow the business. What I mean is that we were completely new entrants into the juice and well being foods sector. We have had to learn from the ground up and as we have learnt and met people, we have grown.  Corporate experience is generally very useful, you learn about management, systems, structure, good governance.

9. What advice would you give to women who are aspiring to start a small business like you? Try as hard as possible to understand what your challenge is and what is involved. Our reckoning is that it costs about three times as much and takes three times longer than you will forecast. This feeling is endorsed by others we know, who have gone it alone.  Starting a business is not easy but if you are committed it is very rewarding.

10. What's the vision for the business in five years time? We are focused on building a successful and ubiquitous Australian brand (hopefully that has a degree of international recognition). Stay tuned…..