Starting a small business can be daunting and confusing but in the modern landscape a business can be started from your own home and run through the internet.
Lara Messer managed to garner some popularity on Instagram in her own right with lifestyle, food and travel posts. She has since translated this success into a small bean-to-bar chocolate company that launched at the end of November.
Bare Bones Chocolate has two products now – a milk chocolate and dark chocolate bar – handmade by Lara and her partner. The launch was bolstered by the company’s Instagram page that has been active since August and using the story feature to cross-promote with stockists and reviewers.
The internet is a vital tool for any modern start-up business and Lara doesn’t think the company would exist without it. She said:
“We’ve learned most of our skillset from constant research and made a lot of connections through Instagram. It’s an amazing tool for growth that we use daily. Having an online shop is brilliant for selling directly to customers but it’s the power of social media, connection and marketing that brings them there.
“Instagram is the equivalent of having a shop window. We try to make sure our brand is consistent in every image and that we are sharing our ethos through every caption or interaction. Without the internet, it would be much more difficult to find new stockists and convey our brand. With social platforms like Instagram, we have had stockists from across Europe and America contact us.”
Using the internet is a useful way to create free advertising and marketing. Bare Bones will post links on their story of people writing blogs that include the product as a stocking filler, good reviews and images of the product in small shops.
Marketing is backed up by a strong product and on a visual platform like Instagram, a strong aesthetic can go a long way to creating engagement. Lara said:
“It was really important for us that the packaging complimented the chocolate but didn’t distract from it. We love simple design and minimalism and wanted both the inside and out to be of high quality.
“The internet is full of great packaging and beautiful imagery, so it’s important to have a solid brand that will stand out against all others. It’s essential to consider how your product will look when customers share it on social media too. You don’t know what part of your product or packaging a customer will share – so make the inside, outside, front and back as nice as possible.”
The beginning of a small business is all about managing costs and with an internet-based venture you can do this by working from home and with a small team. Bare Bones do all their manufacturing from a tiny commercial kitchen in the south side of Glasgow, due to health and safety around food production, but Lara has said that the confined space can create inspiration. She said:
“I’d suggest working from home as long as you can. It’s important to keep costs down and progressively add to your toolbox as and when you need it. Limitations force you to get creative and can even help you understand your field even more.
“Working from home is great for cutting costs but it’s important to get out there. Go to coffee shops, hot desk or attend events in your field. You need to make sure you are meeting people and building relationships with other businesses/creatives. It will give you more confidence in the long run.”
While a start-up does not specifically require you to be an expert in the field, some previous experience goes a long way to getting the business off the ground as quickly as you can. Lara has been working in food for four years alongside pastry chef Rachel Khoo who also has a strong online presence that promotes her food writing. Lara says that the experience she had was a main inspiration for creating her business alongside growing up in a self-employed family.
This shouldn’t dissuade you from creating something that you are passionate about but might not have too much experience. Lara didn’t know much about making chocolate and learned a lot of the skills for it by researching on the internet.
The process to create chocolate takes a while with a full bar being created in four days and another two weeks of ageing – like wine or cheese – to make a 10kg batch that produces about 140 bars.
Lara also let us into the production process that creates one of their handmade bars:
“After sourcing the beans, we need to hand-sort the good beans from the bad beans. Next, we roast them to a very specific heat profile to bring out the delicate and unique flavours. After roasting we crack the beans to release the cocoa nib from the outer husk and winnow (the process of separating the husks from the nibs). After winnowing we grind and conch the beans for up to 72 hours in a stone grinder. This gives the chocolate that smooth texture and gets rid of volatile acids. After conching, we age the chocolate. Next, we temper to stabilise the chocolate and to give it that incredible snap. Then it’s on to the packaging table – where we wrap, pack and label each bar before it is sent out to customers.”
Bare Bones get their cacao beans from an importer in the Netherlands that works directly with farms in Honduras and Madagascar, that is important to the ethos of the company of having as little outside influence in the entire process as possible.
If you are thinking about using the internet as a base for your start-up then having a message that is communicated through the design, marketing and product itself can endear your business to potential customers and people who are able to promote it for you.
With Bare Bones, the message is simple: minimalism. This is communicated through the simple design of the product, the marketing on social media that is a clean and simple aesthetic, and the product: a handmade bar of chocolate with no additives.
In a massive marketplace like the internet it’s important to realise that there is a lot of competition and Bare Bones recognise this by wanting to grow slowly and organically, adding new flavours and source beans where possible.
If you want to try some of this chocolate visit www.bareboneschocolate.co.uk or follow them on Instagram @bareboneschocolate
