Bode Juice: "Natural" Success

On November 13, 1999, 31-year-old Dale S. Wishewan quit his job as a sales manager for 8 years to start a business in Canada with his college classmate Jon Amack. Booster Juice, a fruit bar chain company with the concept of health and naturalness.

Five years later, Burdock Juice now has 120 fruit bar stores in Canada, the United States and Saudi Arabia, making it one of the fastest growing companies in Canada. As the company's founder and CEO, VIA Wang is listed on the list of the most accomplished Canadian entrepreneurs under the age of 40. Talking about his own entrepreneurial experience, VIA Wang has no emotions: "At first people didn't believe that I would be successful, and my neighbors made fun of me. But I firmly believe in my ability, and there is no difficulty that cannot be overcome." With his experience in the food industry, how did he achieve "natural" success?

"Inexperience helped me a lot"

VIA Wang's childhood dream was to become a professional baseball star, and he was awarded a baseball scholarship when he was in college. However, a small talk with a friend led him to start his own company and become a successful entrepreneur.

Why did you choose to start your own business?

In the spring of 1999, my friend Jon told me that juice bars were all the rage in America and that this new industry was expanding north. And I didn't know the concept at the time, and Canada didn't have it at all. So we thought, why not grab an American juice bar before it enters Canada? And at that time, I had been doing sales for 8 years, and I felt that I should have my own company and my own team.

You have no experience in restaurants or similar industries, is this a hindrance for you to run Pod Juice?

Not only was my lack of experience in this area not a hindrance, but it was a huge help. Because I am in an emerging industry, the management here is different from traditional fast food management. If I have experience in food operation or restaurant operation, and have my own way or idea, it will limit my franchise management. And I'm hiring people who don't have a background in the food industry, so people don't have any limitations when it comes to speaking their minds.

Did your experience in sales help you to run Pode juice?

Yes, 8 years in sales have forged my team spirit. And because I used to be a sales manager, constantly setting goals for my team and motivating my people to work hard, I also gained some management experience. Being a baseball player as a child also taught me the importance of teamwork.

Are there any entrepreneurial role models that you have set an example to learn from? Who is your most important role model? What did you learn from him?

Franchising has become quite prevalent in Canada, and there are people who are very successful in this space, expanding very fast, and much larger than us, with 300 or 400 stores. These people are my mentors, telling me what I should do when the company has 200 stores, and what I should do when the company has 300 stores.

For me, there are two most important mentors. One is my grandmother. She's been dead for many years, but she helped me build my values, ethics, etc. that are the foundation of my success. Another is the founder of a deli with 400 franchises in Canada. I knew him when I was in sales and he taught me a lot about franchising. What matters to me is not how much money I make from franchising, but whether my franchising business is successful as an entrepreneur.

"Trust your gut"

VIA Wang described the four months leading up to the first store opening as "embarrassing". As a first-time entrepreneur, he wasn't very sure about the decisions he made. Driven by intuition, coupled with tolerance for risks and uncertainties, and persistence in finding opportunities, VIA Wang has made a step-by-step approach to success on the road of exploration.

What research have you done? Besides, what preparations have been made?

The concept of the juice bar originated in California, USA. The Canadian climate is very different, our temperature here sometimes reaches minus 25 degrees to 30 degrees. Since the juice bar's main products are smoothies and freshly squeezed juices made from natural fruits, our initial research focused on whether Canadians could buy our products in cold weather conditions.

During our survey, we found that because Canadians have become more and more concerned about their health in recent years, and are no longer fond of unhealthy foods such as cheeseburgers and fried foods, fast food restaurants operating these foods are in decline.

The food and beverages provided by Juice Bar can be used as a substitute for those junk food, meet people's demand for healthy food, and provide people with nutrition in a fast way. We believe that juice bars have great market potential. Although the cold climate in Canada will affect sales in winter, people's demand for convenient and healthy food cannot be denied, so we decided to put our own ideas into practice. And we have made appropriate adjustments in product design to make the taste of cold beverages milder and acceptable to people in cold weather.

Time flies before the opening of our first store, and we are very busy with too many decisions to make every day. For example, venue selection, menu setting, logo design, determination of opening time, etc. Four months later, our new store opened.

How much is the start-up capital for starting a business? How did you and your partner get this funding?

The total start-up capital is $400,000. Jon and I used to run a car safety company in college and made some money; a successful exit before the stock market went down gave me an income; plus savings from previous jobs. Our start-up capital is entirely self-raised, not a penny is a loan from the bank. We have benefited greatly from the zero loan that allows the company to grow without hindrance.

How is your team organized?

I built my team based on corporate culture. Because we have a positive corporate culture, it attracts people who share our values.

In terms of selection criteria, since I have no experience in running a restaurant or similar experience in the food industry, I don't care if my employee has previous work experience in this area, but pay more attention to his previous work and learning to see if he has been successful in previous experiences. I think if he's successful at everything else, he's going to have a pretty good chance of success at Bodega as well. In terms of personal qualities, I attach great importance to whether he has team spirit, dares to think and do, is energetic, and is self-driven, all of which are advocated by the company's values.

My childhood baseball experience taught me that it's easier to reach your goals when you're relaxed. So our company strives to create a relaxed atmosphere where employees are encouraged to make mistakes and take risks. I believe that as long as you dare to think and act, nothing will stop a person from being successful. I'm very happy to have hired a group of people who are stronger than me.

What was the response to the opening of the first store?

Simply awesome! Customers flocked to me, took my hand and said, "Thank you for opening your store here!" We quickly responded, "Oh no, thank you for visiting our store!" Happening. We were very welcome, which I didn't expect. Thinking about it later, when we opened the store in November, we could get such a big response. If we opened the store in the spring, it would be more popular. The situation at the time gave me a lot of confidence.

The company was able to expand rapidly thanks to the franchise model you chose. In 2000, why did you choose to operate your second store as a franchise?

When we started our business, we thought of using the franchise model. Because a single store will grow more slowly, and franchising can help us expand quickly. Therefore, when the first store opened, our menus were designed according to the unified requirements of franchising. But at the time we didn't know if Podeh juice would be popular, so we just had the idea of giving it a try. After the great success of our first store, in April 2000, our first franchise store opened.

There is one characteristic of franchising: any problem with a franchise store will damage the reputation or interests of the parent company. How do you avoid the risks involved?

Each store is responsible for the company's reputation and profits. The head office has established a series of rules and regulations. If there is a problem with the franchise store, we will give him a warning at the beginning and help him solve the problem; if the problem cannot be solved, we will take the store back. The company has a team of field business consultants (FBC), each member of the team is responsible for several stores, through their supervision to ensure the normal operation of our stores. With them, it is possible to solve problems in a franchise store in a timely manner, or to detect problems early.

Sometimes we hire people to dress up as customers to check each store for compliance with company rules, service, etc.

"Innovation is the biggest challenge at present"

To his own surprise, the company he founded with a "stubborn" energy turned out to be an instant hit. In less than three years, the company quickly had 70 franchise stores and became a household name in Canada. Facing the favor of fame and fortune, Wei Shengwang is not complacent at all. He is very clear about his goals and knows what to do in order to achieve them. After opening up the US and Saudi Arabia markets one after another, this year he brought his team to China.

What's the market share of Produc Juice?

We have an 80% market share in Canada, and we have 5 times the number of stores in the next largest competitor; in the U.S. we are infancy, with 400 stores each. The size of the store, we still have a long way to go; we just entered the Saudi Arabia market this year, and there are no competitors there. We are currently in the No. 3 position in the entire North American region.

The years 2000 and 2001 were the fastest growing period of Baode Juice, and now it has entered a stage of steady development. What is the biggest challenge right now?

The biggest challenge is innovation, both in products and services. People's taste preferences are constantly changing, and the demand for service is more refined, so innovation is essential to attract customers. There used to be two coffee shops in Canada, one called Tim Hortons and one called Country Style. The former has a very good performance. It once had a daily income of 1.6 million stores and has been active in the North American market for more than ten years; while the latter is being protected from bankruptcy. Tim Hortons' secret lies in constant product and service innovation.

Now the work of innovation is my own responsibility. I'm thinking of forming a new team dedicated to product development. For new products, it is very important to ensure product quality, which must be in line with the "healthy" and "pure natural" concepts advocated by the company. In terms of services, we mainly improve services through market research. In the past two months, we have just conducted a Canadian-wide customer service survey.

When did you enter the US market? What are the advantages of Pode juice?

On October 6, 2003, we opened our first store in the United States. Better service and purer products are the two weapons of our competition. The raw materials used in Baode Juice are 100% pure fruit juice, and more fruits, high-quality sorbets and yogurt are added to the products, and less ice cubes are added. Competitors' juices are mixed with a certain percentage of water. Therefore, although the cost of our products is high and the price is a bit expensive, when customers taste our food, they will clearly feel the difference from other competitors. We will also be more attentive than them in terms of service.

The two juice bars in the US should have more experience in service and management than you. Where is your service advantage reflected?

Although their business model is more mature, the service also has imperfections. We saw their weaknesses and improved them accordingly. I can't disclose the specific service strategy, but an example can be given. When customers who are in a bad mood walk into our store, they will immediately be infected by the lively atmosphere of the store, breathe the natural and fresh fragrance of our products, and feel the enthusiasm and fast service of the store staff. I believe that when he goes out, he will feel better.

Why did you choose to enter China? In comparison, it will be easier for people in some western countries to accept your products.

There are three reasons for entering the Chinese market. First, China is developing rapidly, and people's living standards have been greatly improved; second, people have a demand for healthy food, and the market will be very broad; third, Chinese people's ideas are becoming more and more open, and many people will choose their own Start a business. When we seek franchisees in China, we actually provide the Chinese with an opportunity to get rich together, just as we provide many Canadians with a similar opportunity.

There is no obstacle for us to enter any country, such as China, Middle East, UK, etc. I believe it is only a matter of time. We don't expand for expansion's sake, Canada is our foundation. On the basis of guaranteeing the Canadian market share, Baode Juice is working hard to develop other markets.

China's franchising regulations are not perfect, does it increase the risk of entry of Baode Juice?

We will try to protect ourselves. There were also people in Canada who imitated our business model and imitated our products, which was a great danger to us. But things that seem simple to outsiders are not so easy to operate, and many details need to be considered. We have 5 years of experience in this area and have been very successful so far, I am sure we will do better than others. And for Chinese consumers, what we bring is Western life awareness and concepts, which cannot be imitated at all.