HE’S FRESH out of university, and this Wokingham entrepreneur isn’t letting the pandemic stop him.
David Brown launched non-alcoholic drinks company Nocktails last summer, after spending a year dreaming of the brand.
“Because of the first lockdown, I ended up finishing university three months early, and I was always planning on launching Nocktails once I graduated,” he explained.
“I had invested so much time into researching and building the brand before the pandemic was even a thing.”
He said he was inspired to launch Nocktails after witnessing groups of young people ditching alcohol for health and lifestyle reasons.
“There wasn’t a brand on the market that was talking to younger people,” Mr Brown said. He felt a lot of non-alcoholic drinks were marketed as premium, luxury products.
But Nocktails wasn’t his first business venture, after starting a clothing line at 15 and then launching his own record label a few years later.
“I’ve always been quite entrepreneurial,” he said.
As the coronavirus hit, Mr Brown was forced to take a step back and figure out if launching Nocktails was still a sensible idea given the impact of the pandemic on the hospitality industry.
“It was a bit scary because the virus closed off an entire potential distribution channel,” he explained.
“Lots of people kept telling me I had a great brand and great drinks, but it wasn’t the right time for them to bring in new products.”
And Mr Brown said that something he had to grapple with when setting up his own business was not only whether to launch it at all, but learning to balance a lot of new responsibilities.
“I was organising all of my sales, my marketing, my packaging, my website and more, but I quickly realised that there’s only so much I can do,” he said.
This prompted him to adapt his entire business approach to take advantage of the pandemic, and he devoted all of his attention to e-commerce and captivating customers online.
“In lockdown, everyone’s attention turned towards the internet,” Mr Brown said. “We found that we could capture all of that attention, and put all of our focus and effort on growing the brand online.
“We were able to build a strong community of loyal customers, and it’s become a really powerful thing as we look to working with retailers again.”
He said having an online presence is essential for business success during lockdown, because it allows brands to forge relationships with customers and get instant feedback.
So far, Mr Brown says Nocktails’ feedback has been “amazing”.
“We’ve built a massively engaged community on Instagram and the interest is huge,” he said.
“Everyone’s got amazing things to say about our drinks, and we’re even already exporting to Australia, as well as a few local shops too, including Phil’s Good Food.”
So, what’s his top tip for anybody starting their own business journey during lockdown?
“Do you research”, Mr Brown said. “Think about where the opportunities are.
“If we didn’t focus on our online presence, I don’t think we would be surviving this.
“Normal social interaction has gone out the window, so think about how you can get word of mouth going and how you can talk to people about your business in a new way.”
And Mr Brown says if he’s learnt anything from the pandemic, it’s that every business has its low points.
“People never warn you of the roller coaster that business is,” he said. “They never speak about lows, only the highs.
“But it’s important to have that perseverance to keep going and be confident in your vision.
“You’ve chosen to do something for a reason, and just because something bad happens it doesn’t mean you’re a failure.
“Ride out those lows and enjoy those highs when you get to them.”
