If you think selling ice to eskimos is hard then imagine selling Australian chai to passionate tea drinkers in India. As tough as that may sound, that is exactly what Martin Buggy and Melissa Edyvean list among their many achievements thanks to hard work, smart use of technology and brilliant networking. Martin and Melissa created, own and sell Bondi Chai – which they proudly claim is Australia’s most awarded chai latte drink.
They fell in love with chai during a trip to the US 15 years ago and after discovering they couldn’t find pre-mixed chai in Australia, they decided to set up a business in their home and sell it themselves.
“When we launched our own product in 2005, we sold 17 kilograms in the first month. Ten years on, we now sell more than six tonnes of Bondi Chai a month around Australia and overseas,” said Martin.
“When we launched our own product in 2005, we sold 17 kilograms in the first month. Ten years on, we now sell more than six tonnes of Bondi Chai a month around Australia and overseas”
“That’s about 70 tonnes a year and equates to someone enjoying a Bondi Chai Latte somewhere in the world every two seconds.”
Melissa describes herself as the “bricks and mortar” of the now international business as she drives the technology platforms that make it such a success. The couple carried the innovation mindset of their existing PR consultancy into the new venture. Their unique, fully-outsourced business model bound together a network of well-established companies by ensuring that each had a vested interest in Bondi Chai’s success. They also fully embraced the rapid-fire innovations in web, email, smartphones, social media and cloud-based technologies to manage the manufacturing, packing and distribution processes and market the product.
All of which has been central to fulfilling their principal lifestyle goal of growing and managing their entire operation from their home on the New South Wales North Coast.
“Australia is a massive country and as a small two-person business, we were never going to cover it by ourselves, let alone the rest of the world, so innovation for us has been about finding and linking together the right network of businesses and helping each of them to grow and prosper with our product,” said Melissa.
“Australia is a massive country and as a small two-person business, we were never going to cover it by ourselves, let alone the rest of the world, so innovation for us has been about finding and linking together the right network of businesses and helping each of them to grow and prosper with our product”
“Innovation is a lot like chai – there are almost limitless varieties and it really does mean so many different things to so many different people,” said Melissa.
Martin and Melissa actively encourage reviews and testimonials for Bondi Chai Latte, which has had a huge impact on the company’s marketing power and network growth. They are both acutely aware of the need to link up to and associate with other business owners to help retain a focus on growth and an innovative outlook – they are avid readers and ‘serial attendees’ of business seminars, webinars and other business networking events.
“The size of any small business that is operated by its owners is limited by the size and capacity of the owner’s thinking. We feel it’s critical to continuously expand our thinking to keep our business growing and we’ve found that association with other people who make you think is the best way to do that. It’s certainly paid huge dividends for us.”
“We feel it’s critical to continuously expand our thinking to keep our business growing and we’ve found that association with other people who make you think is the best way to do that”
Martin and Melissa take a keen interest in discovering what is unique to the success of other small businesses and firmly believe that the strongest indicators are the character and personality of a company’s leaders.
“In our experience, any business enterprise seems to mirror the true personality and character of the person or people at the helm,” Martin says.
“Our business is built around innovation and a determination to create win-win situations in everything we do and that’s really what has driven us forward.”
