Still getting a boost out of business

What has been happening with Boost Juice since we last spoke?

In 2004 we really looked at where our growth profile is and we decided that the growth profile was international and also acquiring other Australian brands that we thought had the potential to grow into another Boost-style success or bigger.

We have done that by acquiring a small chain of Mexican stores called Salsas. We took a majority share in that business 18 months ago when they had four stores and we now have 14 and are still on an aggressive growth profile for Salsas.

Looking back over Boost Juice’s story, would you say there was a particular tipping point where everything suddenly fell into place?

I think there are always tipping points. There are tipping points with brands and with businesses – but it can tip both ways. In 2004 it started to plateau and then it has taken off again lately in the last few years of strong growth.

It is always just little stuff and I think you have to just chip, chip, chip away at it, whether it be PR or advertising or radio or giving good customer service – it all builds up like a waterfall and then it is suddenly over.

In 2004 there were issues when A Current Affair were running stories saying juice had sugar in it – god forbid, forgetting all the nutrients and all that – and that ridiculous campaign affected sales for a little while. Also, a brand cannot sustain the type of growth that we had in that period. It was nothing substantial, but it was a little bit.

Obviously there has been a glut of juice bars across the country – what are you doing to stay ahead of the competition?

Our competition is still fighting for your $10 and where you will spend it – we want to make sure you will buy a juice and not a subway sandwich. We need to make sure that those dollars that you spend are spent with us.

The competition has changed a lot from two to five years ago which is when the ‘juice wars’ were happening. At the time there was everyone and their dog [opening juice bars], but the main problem for us wasn’t necessarily that they were going to take our customers – because we felt pretty strongly from continuing to improve ourselves that our service experience would continue to deliver – it was more about the competition for rent. When the deals for stores came up we were worried that they would pay ridiculous yields for rent and we wouldn’t. That has been really good that there are no longer the other bars saying ‘we’ll pay an extra 20%’ and you know that they will just go broke.

What has been the biggest thing you have learnt over the journey?

My husband put it well the other day. Business should be a bit like a Volvo in that it has lots and lots of airbags. You know you are going to hit something, whether it is interest rates rises or a faltering economy – you don’t know where you could get hit from.

At the moment, the Boost business is in fantastic shape. We have a great team on the executive, sales are growing year by year, internationally we are going well – at the moment everything is great. But you never know what is going to come around the corner.

I think every business has to bullet proof itself by surrounding it with lots of airbags just in case you do get hit, because you won’t know where it will come from. The robustness of Boost is that we do attack ourselves quite hard so we are prepared for most things that come this way.

I never knew that the cyclone hitting bananas in Queensland was going to be such an issue for us, which it was.

What have you regretted the most?

Without question there are things that you look back at and wished you did something better. However, I know this sounds corny, but without those things going wrong then we wouldn’t have the business we do have today. There are now systems in place and processes and legal documents and everything has a checklist.

Most things that go wrong are people based, but having said that most things that go right are people based too. We had a brand called Tossers, a salad bar that didn’t go very well for us because we got the wrong person to run it. But on the other side we have had fantastic sales and success stories because we have people doing a fantastic job.

It is all very well doing a strategy, but 90% of a strategy is the execution – if you are not executing the strategy well then it is all over. It is all very well sitting in a board room saying ‘we are going to do this, and this, then this’ but if you haven’t got the people to do it then it is just hot air.

What advice would you give to others beginning their entrepreneurial journey?

I think you need to plan effectively. Business plans are really critical – there is no point getting in a car and turning on the ignition if you don’t know the destination and I think businesses are no different.

Often you will find – and we found this – that you would come up with a plan or a strategy but when you actually did the figures it wasn’t a sustainable business in the end. You think you have wasted time and money, but you have actually saved a lot more time and money by not going down the wrong path.

You need to research effectively and surround yourself with great people. A lot of people will say that it can’t be done but those are the people that haven’t done it – try and find people that have done it and get advice from them.

A lot of media coverage of you has concentrated on your ability to find work-life balance between Boost Juice and your young family. How have you managed this?

In all honesty, Boost Juice has been around for 10 years and life balance has only come around in the last 18 months. I don’t know where [the media] saw that, there was no life balance at all!

But it really comes back to having the right people. We now have a fantastic executive team that gives us the chance to have a life balance that we have never had before. The business is at a size that we can employ that quality and calibre of person.

The other thing is that there were many times when it wasn’t a chore. It was 2 o’clock in the morning while I was still on the computer and it wasn’t like a job because I was so excited and having so much fun. And then there are times when you are glad you don’t live on a six-storey building because you might throw yourself off it.

You really do see it on both sides of the pendulum.

What’s next for you?

We are looking to do a similar thing to what we have done with Salsas – find a young Australian brand that has proven to be profitable and look at how we can build that brand into a large chain across Australia. We know we have the model and the internal structure right. Our back end is great, our systems are all core retail. So we are keeping our eye out for the next Boost to come along and helping them along the journey.

It is exciting. The only thing is that you find some people who are really excited to talk to you and they tell you they are worth $10 million. You say ‘Wow, that’s great, what’s your profit?’ and they are not actually making any profit. They still think it is a great brand, but the brand is only as good as the profit it can deliver. If the brand is not delivering profit then the brand has no value. It is really interesting what people see as the value of their business.

But if people are awake to realise that they could offer a great concept and we could offer everything else and together we can do great things, then it is a fantastic journey and in the end it is a big win-win. With Boost I have had all sorts of different sharings – I have had 70% or 50% or 40% – but it is all about the overall growth in the business, not necessarily the percentage.

At a glance

Name: Janine Allis

Position: managing director Boost Juice

Recognition: Telstra Business Woman of the Year in 2004, BRW Young Rich
(2003-06), BRW Fast Franchises (2005-07)

Staff: 400 (not including franchisees)

Turnover : more than $100 million in smoothie sales

Stores: More than 185 in Australia, 45 international

Spread: 16 countries