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Founder@ Interview
With Alli Briaris
“Go for it. You only get one life so live it to the full and make it happen. But, you still need to do your homework, do your costings and plans thoroughly to give you the best chance of success! ” – Alli Briaris
Today we feature Alli Briaris, the founder at Drinks Kitchen. We hear their story in their own words, their successes, their challenges and their insights.
Let’s start by getting to know you. Can you please tell us a little bit about you and what you do?
I’m Alli, maker of the Drinks Kitchen Non-Alcoholic Aperitif range. I am married and between my husband and I, we have 5 children, 2 dogs and a cat!
A great introduction and start to this interview. Can you please tell us, how did you start, from what age, and what made you decide to change direction and start?
I have pretty much worked in the Drinks industry all of my career. Initially as a wine shop manager, and then in Brand Marketing and Innovation. After giving up my job in 2020, I spent my new found freedom getting fit and part of that included giving up alcohol. The same year a food development centre opened in my town enabling start-ups to rent kitchens by the day. It seemed like fate that I should use my expertise and the facilities to make my own drinks.
Thank you for that insight. So can you tell us…What does your business do and where is your company based?
I am based in Weston Super Mare, Somerset and I had make my Non-alcoholic aperitif range with botanical distillates and extracts at The Foodworks development centre. I sell the range at local markets and shows and also to the trade.
What’s the story behind your success? What led to your aha moment? how did you get to where you are now?
Well its early days in my business journey but its going well so far. When I gave up alcohol that first summer, I suddenly realised for the first time that alcohol is promoted and pushed everywhere! Watching tv at night, everyone is cracking open bottles of wine and then going to work and solving crimes for example. Going out for dinner, there is usually a massive drinks list but about 95% of it is alcohol. It really struck me that this seemed wrong! We should be promoting and pushing not drinking alcohol as the cool thing to do. After all, there are over 10 million people drinking at levels which increase their risk of health harm. I thought, I need to bring out some non alcoholic drinks and make sobriety sexy! My friend Neil helped me with my recipes – he and I worked together in innovation for drinks for years and we both have a big passion for flavour so that really helped. My husband helped loads as well – he reviewed all the website packages out there and got me started on building my own website. The hardest part was finding the bottle – when you are a small player starting out, you just aren’t a priority. The team at the Foodworks have been really helpful and I did lots of online courses with the British Library which were brilliant. The NSEA were also really helpful. It took about 8 months to get everything ready for launch – at the beginning the task list was really long and there were lots of 1 step forward, 2 back moments but suddenly the list was mostly completed and Drinks Kitchen was born!
Thank you for sharing that. What’s been your life’s biggest lesson so far?
It’s really hard running your own business and quite lonely at times. Remember how I said that there was a big task list during the set up phase? Well when you launch, there’s a new list and it goes on and on and you can’t see the bottom of it. So you have to be able to get up everyday and just start working through the list and try not to worry how long it is. I really struggle to take days off, I feel like I have to work on something on my list – but I also do know its important to have down time and I’m working on getting better at that. And you have to be resilient. I’d say that this is the biggest lesson and I’m still learning it! For example, maybe I have been out all day in the rain and cold at a market or festival – hardly any customers turn up – why should they?! And so you go home having hardly sold anything. It can really get you down and you begin to question why you are doing it! But you have to be resilient and keep going, the next day will probably be great.
Make sure that you check all the facts before you spend money on things. There are so many people out there trying to make you spend money on marketing, systems, festivals etc etc. Do your research. Alot of it won’t add much value to your business and you need to protect your cash flow.
If you were to go back in time, what piece of advice would you give to your younger self?
Well firstly I don’t think we live in a culture where starting your own business and being an entrepreneur is particularly encouraged and I think this should change. It would be great to be encouraging kids at school to be entrepreneurial and I think Business should be a compulsory lesson as most of the skills are appropriate to all jobs and life. I didn’t grow up thinking that owning my own business was my right of passage. I was encouraged to do the best you can in education, get a job with a secure Company and work hard. I remember my parents getting really worried when I applied for new jobs in different Companies as they thought I was throwing away job security. Moving Companies develops your skill base and you as a person. Starting your own business is a really extreme version of that!
What do you know now that you wished you had known before?
Make sure that you check all the facts before you spend money on things. There are so many people out there trying to make you spend money on marketing, systems, festivals etc etc. Do your research. Alot of it won’t add much value to your business and you need to protect your cash flow. 
What has been your greatest or proudest achievement or moment?
There have been quite a few but anytime a customer messages me to tell me they love my drinks, it makes my day! There is nothing better than that. Also in September 2022, my Herb Verde won the champions award for best cold drink in the Taste of the West Awards – that was a proud moment!
What future life goals do you want to achieve and why?
I would like to scale up my brand to have national recognition and listings and then look to export. There is so much opportunity in the no and low alcohol drinks category which is just fantastic.
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To finish our inspire questions…”We believe that sharing inspiring words can inspire others.” If there was one positive thing you would say to someone to inspire and empower them what would it be and why?
Go for it. You only get one life so live it to the full and make it happen. But, you still need to do your homework, do your costings and plans thoroughly to give you the best chance of success!
“Thank you it has been great learning more about your founder story and Drinks Kitchen”
To learn more about Drinks Kitchen Visit www.drinkskitchen.online
Find on social media @
Instgram: https://www.instagram.com/drinks_kitchen/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/drinks_kitchen
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drinkskitchen/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/drinks-kitchen-limited
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