Image courtesy Sips Smoothie Bar
Anyone who has ever had a smoothie from Sips knows
that their smoothies are mouth watering, highly addictive and nothing short of magical! Since opening, this mobile
smoothie bar has been taking the Barbadian public by storm, leaving loads of
satisfied Sipsters in their wake. From the products, to the branding and marketing this is Caribbean entrepreneurship and innovation at its finest. This week I am honoured to feature Corey
McClean the mastermind behind the Sips Smoothie brand.
What did you do
before Sips?
After university I worked with my brother at a
construction firm for a year while working on the concepts for Sips. Then I did
product testing and launched at the end of the year.
What prompted you to
open Sips Smoothie bar?
I had an idea for a traditional coffee shop, and
decided to go the way of the smoothie bar because there wasn’t a big smoothie
market in Barbados. Coffee and protein shakes had taken off but smoothies had
not been explored deeply and people who were making smoothies were not really making smoothies they were making
beverages from concentrated syrups. I decided to introduce Barbados to real
fruit smoothies. I also had funky flavours such as Cookies & Cream and Chunky
Monkey, as well as a wide range of healthy protein shakes. I especially wanted
to introduce protein shakes that were inviting and packaged in way that was
appealing…shakes that you did not have to brace yourself to drink because they tasted
good.
Were you afraid when
you launched Sips?
I was scared that what I was doing would not work,
that people would not buy into the brand idea. I had fears that I was deluded
and had quit my job for nothing. There was a lot of fear but I had to ignore it.
When launching a business, you need a support system, people that can give you
positive feedback, people that will literally tell you that you are great, people that would lie to you to keep your spirits up, people that will tell you no matter what happens it will be ok. You need people in your corner that keep you grounded but will
also lift you up from the doldrums when the pressure descends. Any entrepreneur
will tell you that highs and lows are part of this game you can have the
highest moment today and then wake up tomorrow morning and get hit with something.
That’s why you can’t just say that you did great today and relax, you have to
continually fight the fear and push.
How has your
University education prepared you for managing Sips?
I studied Management at UWI, this will not prepare
you for running a business but it helps because it teaches you to analyse
what’s beyond the surface of a business. This information is good when
developing a business from scratch. It helps you to pay attention to things
that would otherwise be overlooked by a novice. I took courses in marketing and
psychology so I incorporated this when developing the brand for Sips, everything
from the colours I chose to the font. These are things that the average person generally
does not consider. You become meticulous about small things, the way things
look, the way things sound , it’s like building a story. The degree helped with
market analysis and approaches to traditional market research.
How did you break
into the market? Did you have a defined strategy or did you just wing it and
learn as you went along?
Traditional market research can’t tell you yes or
no, only what people like on a particular day but if enough people say yes, I am going to go ahead with it. I remember the first major event where we did market
research for Sips, we borrowed everything, the blenders, the tables, everything and
we sold out in two hours. I had to send friends to the supermarket to restock, it
was overwhelming and it continued like that for the rest of the day. That’s the
first time people really got a taste of Sips.
I used a concept called “The Lean Startup”. The idea
is to get to your target market with the product as soon as possible instead of
extensive product development. So you start as minimalist and as basic as
possible and get the product out to market. I have a business partner and I
also did crowd sourcing. I leaned a lot on the expertise of friends and persons
in my circle of influence, these were people in areas such as graphic design,
marketing as well as people working in bigger organizations.
How are you
marketing the brand?
We focus a lot of our efforts on social media, so we
are on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. We have good relationships with the
radio DJs they give us shout outs, we are able to pop in to the stations and
shout out our customers. You get more mileage from this kind of marketing. We
even had DJ Puffy as the face of Sips for a few months. The idea has always been
to set up Sips as that other friend. We were one of the first businesses on the
island using Blackberry messenger to interact with our customers back in 2010. Customers
can message Sips, interact with Sips via social media, take photos of your
smoothies and tag us on Instagram, have your photos taken with us at Sips… it’s
as if Sips were a person. That was always our aim. With marketing, you just
have to dabble until you realize what works.
What is a typical
day like at Sips?
We are mobile so during the week we go to different
locations. Every day we make multiple stops at different offices and one of the
vans goes to the boardwalk in Hastings from 7pm. On weekends we’re stationed at
Accra beach.
How many different
combinations does Sips Offer?
The menu currently has 7 smoothies, 3 health shakes,
and 9 milk shakes. However we give customers the option of building their own
shake. We also have a secret menu which features different combinations created
by our customers. Customers tend to be surprised when they see other customers
ordering drinks that are not on the set menu. What happened is that
after customers become a part of the
fold they explore the menu and they may settle on a favourite or they may offer
suggestions on how to tweak it. We test taste some of the combinations of our
repeat customers and if they taste really good we will offer it as the smoothie
of the month with the name that the customer has chosen for it. It’s an
interactive process and our customer gets to be a Sips celebrity for the month.
Which smoothie
creation is your favourite?
I am a chocoholic so it’s the Chocolate dream which
contains ice cream, chocolate sauce and milk
What is the worst
combo you have ever tasted?
I can’t remember, I think I may have blocked it from
memory.
What drives you?
Success. It may sound clichéd but my picture of
success is more than just material things. I want a situation where my family
can grow in a way that I see as being healthy. One component of that is of
course being able to have material things, such as a home, a car, travelling. I
want to be able to do all that stuff without panicking about being able to pay
for things. When I have kids I want them to be able to take advantage of
opportunities, I want them to have all the things they need. If my daughter decides that she wants to go to
ballerina space camp I want to be able to provide it. I also want to leave a
legacy and do something bigger than Sips. I want to be known for creating this
brand that is bigger than me, a brand that leaves a positive impact on my
customers. I want to leave each person better than I find them.
What do you think
sets Sips apart and makes your business so successful?
From the basic end our products are different, compared
to our competitors we offer a premium product. We use real fruit instead of
concentrates and syrups and our milkshakes have a richer flavour profile. On the
deeper end, we do not focus specifically on selling smoothies, what we try to
sell to our customers is a relationship. We try to develop a connection with
our customers in so doing the customers become emotionally invested in the
brand, it is not just a transaction. Sips
becomes like another friend that you have, when you see that orange van you get
happy. No matter who is working you have the same type of conversation, the
same types of interactions. People drive past the vans and wave and smile and
honk their horns, these people don’t do that when they drive past KFC or
Sagicor. This relationship building has been our approach to marketing, we
spent no money on formal advertising until last year and even then it was only
for about 2 months.
What has been the
most amazing moment so far?
The fact that friends and family are not our only
customers. When total strangers develop a love for something that you started
in your head it is a very humbling experience. I remember scribbling ideas on
notepads back in the day and to see my passion come alive like this is
remarkable. It’s also great when I hear customers introducing new customers to
the brand and telling them all about it. It’s great when you have a whole army
of customers doing that for you. It’s good when family and friends do that for
you but they’re your friends and family so they will do this but when total
strangers do this for you that is remarkable.
We cover a wide geographical area so it allows us to
have a wide client base and the demand is crazy high. People have an emotional
connection with Sips they build us into part of their routine for the day and
when you put those two things together you have a pretty potent combination. People
think “this smoothie is what will fix my day” if they have a bad day or
relationship issues people want a smoothie. This kid got a belt in Karate, and
his mother had to drive around for an hour looking for us to get his smoothie,
and he was only like 3. People celebrate with Sips and people drown their
sorrows with it.
What has been your
biggest challenge?
One of the first challenges was getting people to
understand the product and the taste profiles, moving people away from a
smoothie made from syrup or concentrate to a real fruit smoothie. Another
challenge stemmed from the fact that Sips was mobile and not in a building
because of this we had to move past people’s perception that we were not as
high quality or were not as serious about the brand. Although we had built up a
clientele, when we started going to offices we had difficulty getting past
secretaries and security guards, their job is in fact to keep you out.
Additionally, since we are a mobile company the vehicles required continual
maintenance and broke down a lot. We have had mechanical issues that could have
been prevented and stuff that was unavoidable. While you save on the rental
costs by not having a building, you have to consider the cost of maintenance
for the vans. Being mobile can be a
drawback in terms of customer’s ability to find you, even if they figure out
where you are they may not be able to get to you.
Are you now where
you thought you would have been when you were 18?
Running my own business yes, but the thing is, where
you want to be is like an unattainable goal. You are never where you want to be
because you always want to be somewhere else. At that age I wanted to start,
run and build my own business, so from that perspective yes. However at that age
I wanted to be an Architect, I did an Associate’s degree in Mechanical
Engineering but I did not pursue architecture. I always knew that
entrepreneurship was my path, even when I wanted to be an architect, I wanted
to own the architectural firm.
How would you like
to see Sips Evolve?
I want Sips to be a
household name throughout the Caribbean. No matter where you are you should
have the same brand, the same level of service and same connection to the
customers, regardless of the accent.
If you could have
lunch with one entrepreneur or inspirational person who would it be and why?
Richard Branson is my idol. I have two of his books
and like 3 magazines with him on the cover. What I like about him is the fact
that he is very invested in building strong brands and brand connections, he is
pretty much fearless. He does not have any of the things that would inhibit a
rational person, he is not limited by boundaries, or even gravity for that
matter. I would have to say lunch with Branson on Necker Island… although he
might want to go kite surfing and I can’t swim.
What advice do you
have for aspiring entrepreneurs?
You need to be stubborn, don’t wait for perfection,
the time would never be perfect, just start as quickly as possible, as cheaply
as possible then learn from the feedback and change and grow. Surround yourself
with good people to support you and good people that you can learn from, I have
never met Branson but I read his books, and I learn from him. It’s important to
look at people like him, to understand how they think, how they act, their
rituals, methods, routines and draw inspiration from them.
To get your Sips fix check them out here:
