Pip and Nut

Pip & Nut are hugely active on social media. How does this help the business?

We have a good brand story and we use social media to tell people about our product. We also choose influential people to send samples to so they can promote the product and hopefully tell all their followers how much they love our product, however this can also happen organically. Just last week a member of the Pussy Cat Dolls tagged us in a post on Instagram without us even getting in touch! We treat our marketing as a 360 approach and look at all touch points for our brand.

What advice would you give to small business owners on how to deal with the competition?

Try to focus on your business and what you’re doing. Set yourself ambitious goals, and try not to get distracted by the competition too much. You are a small team, so time is valuable and you need to stay focused. If you’re not creating anything new in the industry, you will always have competitors. What is important is that you create a product that is better, so spend time and money making this happen. For Pip & Nut, it was important to create a nut butter that we believed tasted better than the other brands out there. Once you believe that your business makes something that is amazing, you will have confidence in selling it.

Have you used any of the support available from Start Up Loans?

My Start Up Loan mentor has been one of the best sources of advice that I’ve had whilst starting up the company, and had vast amounts of experience in fast moving consumer goods. I have to say the mentoring that comes with the loan, for me, was far more valuable than the loan itself! I can’t thank my mentor enough for sharing her time and experience with me.