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| Business Chick Jane Milton is the founder of Not Just Food and The Food Network. Chicklit talked to her to find out exactly what makes Jane tick. Jane, tell us about what you do with your different hats. Not Just Food is a consultancy, we have been helping food businesses for 14 years in 4 key areas 1) Strengthening their marketing messages, tightening up in their target markets, making sure they get their messages out to consumers and the trade 2) Products- helping people develop and improve food products, find contract manufacturers or modify products to meet changes in customer expectations, legislation 3) Recipe writing and testing …creating recipes that promote food products, testing recipes for books, working with chefs and others to help them turn their foodie ideas into recipes consumers can follow at home effortlessly 4) Sourcing and connecting…. Sourcing ingredients, packaging, the right photographer, designers, solutions for all sorts of foodie conundrums and bringing together the right team to help people do what they want with their business The Food Network is a virtual network for food businesses …it sprang from my natural aptitude to network and wanting to connect clients to people I thought would help their businesses…then it just ‘mushroomed’ and became a business in its own right , it still supports work I do with clients and it also helps a lot of other businesses grow and develop independently of the NJF work Do you work alone? If not, who works with you? I work with a very strong virtual team…. Carmen my virtual assistant is amazing and she is constantly anticipating what I need…she has a whole team of experts around her too, then I have Tony who is in Chicago…he is the PowerPoint king and keeps us constantly moving forward in presentations and tutorials for our members etc , newsletter subscribers, and for new client presentations and pitches. There are around 20 qualified home economists who all have different skills such as recipe testing, cooker demonstrations, recipe writing, factory trails for food businesses, and then another 40 people from sales team to specialist packaging designers, food photographers and copy writers who we build teams from for every job we do. I love working like this as it means I am not tied to working from a set place, we can assemble a team of specific experts for each job where if I had to employ a small team permanently I would have to use generalists, and I feel it offers clients the best value possible. What made you start the business and why? I loved food so I always have worked in the food industry, 14 years ago I was writing freelance but working full time for a food manufacturer in foodservice expoet, I got made redundant and decided I may as well start working for myself then as having a permanent job had not offered me the security I thought it did . How do you deal with stress? There are a few things _ I garden ,I love my garden, I have been in this house 5 years and have totally transformed the garden , I have even lifted the lawn and done all the big jobs except laying patio myself. Equally I am happy just to sit out there and read. Another great stress relief is walking the dog- either alone or with other friends and their dogs , although I am in West London there are some fantastic pieces of country park etc accessible to me and we walk along the Grand Union Canal. I get involved locally whether its helping to set up a Neighbourhood Watch Group, volunteering to deliver leaflets for the Horticultural Association or new for 2010 taking my turn in the local Horticultural Association shop – I get to meet lots of people, there is no time to think of anything to do with work and I pick up tips on gardening from seasoned experts too. And not too surprisingly I find cooking and baking relieves stress and will often bake or cook something after a hard day just to take my mind off it . This may be a casual supper for friends, as I love sharing food and chatting with friends or I may just cook something tasty for myself - I often see recipes or ideas and think ‘I’d like to make that ‘ Can you run through a typical day for us? One of the great things for me, someone who has entrepreneurial ADHD is, that no two days are often the same. Recent days have included a visit to a spice producer to help him create a blend for a butchery client, we had a few weeks recently testing recipes before they went into a big new Master Chef cook book so I was liaising between my testers and the editors and making sure everyone had what they wanted…that was lovely as the team was big 22 and gelled well, we got to know each other so well by end of that intense few weeks. I do an hour or two of book/article writing every day as there is always a book on the go. I have at least 3-4 meetings a week- usually just coffee or drinks, occasionally lunch but always in places where the food is good…they can be with clients, suppliers, people who make up my team or with networking contacts… I probably spend 10% of my time networking. I am always learning new things and take advantage of opportunities to attend workshops, meet suppliers, travel to understand the food and culture of different countries and regions, nothing inspires me more than meeting artisan producers and others who are passionate about their food. Most weeks I spend a few hours updating the websites we have , putting up news, events, information about things I think may help others or discussing with our team what needs to go up. I am using Twitter too now for work and spend about 30 minutes a day reading and interacting with people – I learn so much from it and have found people and trade bodies etc I never knew of before, plus it’s a great place to meet passionate food producers . What advice do you have for someone who wants to set up a food based business? Research the market thoroughly whether you are making a product, setting up a shop or café or wanting to prepare food for photography. There are lots of free PDF’s on www.thefoodnetwork.co.uk and more which are exclusive to members. They tell you what’s involved on some of the key tasks people undertake from costing things properly to finding a manufacturer or what’s involved in branding or food photography. Is what you are going to offer genuinely unique, if yes then it is worth thinking about going to the next stage. Next I recommend you cost it out realistically – can you offer the product or service at a reasonable price, depending on its market , and still make a good margin…. Only then should you take it forward . The food industry is great, I have worked in it for over 20 years and still love every day, but there are easier ways to make money and it is definitely hard work What's been the highest point for you? There have been a lot of high points…having my first book published and do well, winning a Best New Food Business Award for the chocolate brownie business I used to have, the trouble with being driven is that as soon as I am happy with something I think what next…next book, next challenge…. What are your plans for the future - where do you see your businesses going? I have a pretty clear idea of the way I want things to grow, I want to spend 2010 building our networking site for food businesses - the site was revamped last year and is really great so I want to encourage lots more people to get on board and benefit from all it has to offer. I want to speak more to larger audiences, I run a lot of workshops and am often asked to speak but had never until recently thought about actively seeking speaking dates …so that’s the direction I want to expand into more. There are likely to be two books out in 2010 – a cookbook for an award winning Scottish chef with stories of all his suppliers in it and a coffee table nostalgia book on food and advertising featuring some great food ads from the 40’s to now… |
| Posted: 03/01/2010 20:08:08 Last Updated: 03/01/2010 20:32:21 |
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