When I first set out on this journey, I don’t think I anticipated just how tough some moments would be…
I came in with rosy glasses and a somewhat naïve understanding.
What a rollercoaster it has been.
In the following paragraphs you will read about some of the deepest struggles this business has faced and the emotional toll it took to withstand them, but as my mum would say “It’s all character-building darling”.
I began this business while I was traveling New Zealand in a camper van.
The original intent was to start something that would allow me to bring in some money and keep the travel alive. I bought a small over the counter juicer and started selling juice at farmers markets across New Zealand.
Eventually, my desire to build this business overtook my desire for continued travel. So, I took a leap of faith and attempted to scale from a campervan, to a commercial operation.
I took on new overheads, rent for a commercial kitchen, the cost of production equipment, I was responsible for employees and payroll, I opened credit accounts with my suppliers.
In short, I entered the door to a new world of responsibility, and was forced to grow at a rapid rate to handle this new weight I found on my shoulders.
Something that isn’t shared enough about starting a business, or anything difficult, is the inevitable phase of struggle (or growth)…
Everyone quickly jumps to the success story and ignores the journey, the building blocks which lead to success.
I faced many struggles through this phase, from running out of money and being forced into supplier debt, to clawing my way out of this debt through sheer will power and an almost stubborn resilience, a refusal to give up. To the struggles I face today, scaling an operationally complex business that demands heavy machinery and constant labour with rather thin margins and very little capital…
But the biggest challenge of all, trying to ship a highly perishable product that always needs to be kept cold across New Zealand at scale. (We now have a 96% delivery success rate, the other 4% is of course resent at our expense – I’ll be dammed if I let one of my customers down!)
All of this has had its toll…
But this toll is also the cause of my evolution, it has moulded a more resilient and more capable character.
The work has truly worked on me, more than I have on it!
I have come to realise the future is never guaranteed, there are always going to be unexpected tests along any journey, and these tests may lead you to a destination you had never intended.
But if you stick through it, the destination may be far grander than anything you were capable of dreaming.
All this to say,
I would be lying if I said I knew exactly where Juice on the Move was going to end up, or where I'm going to end up for that matter.
All I know for certain, the journey is guaranteed, and the destination…
well the destination doesn’t really exist.
So, I’m going to do by best to enjoy the journey, to give thanks for the tests and savour the success, while remaining grounded in the ultimate truth:
“One day this life will be nothing more than a long-forgotten dream.”
So, lets enjoy what we have, its really not that bad!
Thanks for reading this brain spill, I really needed to get that out!
Here’s 15% OFF your next order: LIVN15 (at checkout).
Bless,
Benjamin (founder)