There’s a big difference between providing home delivered muesli and running a platform which tests your online marketing, but that’s the jump Nathan Murphy made, following a product announcement by Google that saw his startup Eyecrowd become little fish to the search giant.
“I was in the US doing the Mecca thing, visiting New York and San Francisco for my previous startup, Eyecrowd,” says Murphy.
“While I was over there, Google launched a product that did the same thing [as Eyecrowd], plus more.”
The change of focus seems to be paying off. Murphy’s latest startup, Muesli for Me, is a subscription commerce site, inspired by the likes of the Dollar Shave Club in the US.
“We got our first 50 customers through word of mouth,” says Murphy.
“That happened in the first few weeks. Our goal, or our mission, is to revolutionise breakfast.”
Murphy says the good thing about a subscription commerce model is that it collects revenue from day one. “The barriers to entry are low,” says Murphy.
“People are habitual creatures. They love being cared for.”
Breakfast is big business too. Murphy lists Carolyn Creswell of cereal sensation Carman’s as someone in the breakfast industry he looks up to.
“Carolyn Creswell makes $50 million a year, although 75% of her sales come from Coles and Woolworths.
“Our model is direct to consumer.”
The goal for Murphy is to reach 1,000 customers by the end of the year, and 10,000 by the end of 2013.
“There are plenty of opportunities. We’re looking at taking muesli to corporates too.”
He says there has been interest from New Zealand and the UK in the model.
It’s only been four months since Muesli for Me launched, but already the team have their own office space, a couple interns and are now looking to raise capital.
“It’s cash flow positive (I don’t like it when startups say ‘profitable’). We’re not yet paying ourselves a wage.”
It won’t be long though, says Murphy: “we’re not too far off our targets.”
Murphy will be travelling to New York in December and will look to meet with investors. He is looking to raise a six-figure sum, in order to scale the business and increase marketing efforts.
How to get the word out the Muesli for Me way:
- Give your customers love. Online, you can personalise the customer experience — something the big players can’t do. Murphy gives the example of a customer who received the wrong order last month. The Muesli for Me co-founders ended up making an apology video on Facebook that landed them a few new customers;
- Target bloggers and journalists in your space. Murphy says the team have just started reaching out to mum bloggers, offering free samples and prizes for their readers. It’s an effective way to get the word out. Muesli for Me have also just recruited three intern positions to help with social media and PR;
- Tap into Facebook groups. There are Facebook groups for Sydney startups, including Sydney Startups. Murphy says this community has been useful to tap into.