Inside Track: Q&A

Sophie Morris, co-founder of Kooky Dough

What’s unique about your business?

The product really didn’t exist in Ireland before us. We thought, why would it not do well in Ireland; we love tea and biscuits here.

It’s unique in that we’re 100 per cent natural; there is nothing artificial and no preservatives. When people buy it, it’s as if they are baking from scratch.

Its baking parchment packaging is unique too in that you can use it in the baking process.

What was the best piece of business advice you ever received?

In Ireland, business people are so open to you picking up the phone and asking them questions. Bord Bia calls it “co-opetition”. Something might seem like a massive obstacle for us but someone else has solved it before and can give you the answer straight away.

Enterprise boards, when you are starting out, are fantastic as well.

What’s the biggest mistake you ever made in business?

We’ve changed our labels about five or six times so I wouldn’t invest too much in packaging and design at the very beginning. There are things you won’t notice until a customer points it out. Talking to customers is the best way to pin down how your product should look.

Any major successes to date?

From the very beginning, we wanted to create a product that would travel. We got our first listing with Waitrose in the UK last year.

They started us in 54 stores but are looking to put us into the full 200 this summer. We’re launching into Monoprix in France in a few weeks, which is huge for us. Selling a pastry product to France is a pretty good achievement.

Who do you most admire in business and why?

Fraser Doherty of Super Jam in the UK. Aged 14, he went to a Waitrose supplier event with jam he made using his granny’s recipe and they stocked him. By the age of 16, he left school to make jam full time and now at 23, his jam is in loads of countries. It’s so amazing that someone has achieved that at such a young age.

Based on your experience in the downturn, are the banks in Ireland open for business to SMEs?

We haven’t had any problems to date. Anytime we’ve gone looking for something, we’ve always had back-up with forecasts and we’ve been able to justify what we’re looking for.

I think the main thing is, don’t give them a reason to say no. I think it’s important to stay in close contact and maintain a good relationship.

What piece of advice would you give to the Government to help stimulate the economy?

For years, we’ve been shipping commodity-type products like beef and fish around the world and I just think there is an opportunity for the Government to stimulate jobs by incentivising people to add value to them. The reputation for clean, green Ireland is strong and we can build on that by adding value to these products to create jobs.

What’s been the biggest challenge you have had to face?

Distribution from the very beginning has been a massive challenge. When you start out small, you tend to have to deliver direct to stores. To do that in a cost-effective way in Ireland is a really big challenge.

When you start exporting, you might only have a few stores so the volume isn’t going to be huge and the cost is massive, so you are constantly looking for more efficient ways to distribute.

How do you see the short-term future of your business?

We start to sell in France in the next few weeks so we’re going to focus on getting the brand known there. We’re also in talks with a number of retailers in the United Arab Emirates and hope to start shipping there in the next few months.

What’s your business worth and would you sell it?

I can’t say it’s worth anything until someone is ready to hand me a cheque. Would I sell it? It would definitely depend on the size of the cheque. There is so much more potential in the next few years. It’s an exciting time and it’s something we want to crack on with.

Sophie Morris and Graham Clarke founded Kooky Dough in 2010. Kooky Dough products are rolls of ready-to-bake cookie dough that you slice and bake to make cookies. They have just released a muffin dough product called Kooky Dough Muffin Melts