Some time ago Entrepreneur Ken Kinsella left a well paid job and took a 90% cut in salary to set up a juice bar in Antwerp. The bold move was one to set him on the right career path. It all worked out in the end as Ken now store owner in Dublin is part of The Source Bulk Foods a zero waste food store franchise with over 500 bulk organic wholefoods, cereals, herbs and spices, cooking liquids and oils, healthy snacks and sustainable personal and household products. Now with online ordering with delivery and Click & Collect options.
You can visit The Source Bulk Foods Website here
What are your main priorities and goals in your role?
To enable the brand to build strong relationships with its customers
What are your biggest challenges?
I wouldn’t say that I have any big challenges. I would prefer to say that I have many small challenges and each day I try to work towards making a positive impact on those challenges.
How has your business strategy been adapted in the context of the Covid-19 crisis?
We went online in late March and that was new for us in Ireland and it was new for me. Our overall business model has not changed much though. Online has given us a new route to market and enabled us to reach customers that we didn’t expect to reach only a few months after opening.
Tell us something interesting about the business.
The Source Bulk Foods has its roots in Byron Bay Australia and is only eight years old.
Tell us the about the biggest risk you have taken in business.
In 2006 I moved to Antwerp to set up a juice bar concept with a friend. I left a very well paid job behind and I took a 90% pay cut. I had no French or Flemish and I’d never worked behind a sales counter before. It all worked out well in the end but people thought I had lost my mind.
Tell us about the worst day you’ve had since you started in business.
To be honest there hasn’t been a bad day. Even throughout the worst of covid 19 I have enjoyed every moment of running this concept.
How can IIBN members help your business?
I think that through IIBN I can improve my network of suppliers and perhaps make new connections with property partners.
How will Brexit affect you, or have you started to feel the effects already?
It will mean that we will have to source some of our products elsewhere however we have already done most of the hard work. We are hoping there won’t be long delays at customs, but we think that we have done everything that we can do at this stage.
How do you define success and what drives you to succeed?
If you are happy in your work and making enough money to live the way you want to live. I think that that is the definition of success. What drives me to succeed is competition. I don’t like to lose and I enjoy carving out market segments and then growing that segment.
What’s the best advice you’ve been given, or would give, in business?
To be the best you have to be the best at everything you do.
What have been your highlights in business over the past year?
Watching the business grow when there has been so much uncertainty has been a huge highlight for me.
What opportunities or plans for growth do you see in 2020/21?
Its difficult to say what 2021 will offer us in relation to opportunities. There is so much uncertainty, however, I intend to grow The Source Bulk Foods and I have another idea which I’m hopping will come to fruition in 2021.
