Entrepreneurship For Running A New Business: The Story Of Janine Allis And Boost Juice

Janine Allis

Discuss about the Entrepreneurship for Running a New Business.

Entrepreneurship refers to the process of designing, launching and running a new business. Australia is one of the continents that has seen the birth and growth of many successful entrepreneurs in the world who have and continue to have great impact on people all over through creation of employment opportunities, creating products that simplify life, providing solutions to problems etc (Allis,2016). My focus however, will be on an Australian woman whose entrepreneurship story inspires me since it’s so powerful and unconventional who goes by the name Janine Allis. 

Janine Allis

Australian entrepreneur Janine Allis, founder of Boost Juice and part-owner of Retail Zoo, which is the parent company of Boost Juice, Salsa Fresh Mex Grill and CIBO Espresso was born in the year 1965 at the Ferntree Gully Hospital, East of Melbourne Kirby, J. (2005).She traces her roots to humble beginnings as she was raised in the suburb of Knox field in a small house where she even shared a bedroom with her two sisters. As a teenager, she referred to herself as ‘miss average’, never the stand out student. She went to a technical college referred to as Knox Technical College which is no longer in existence today. Janine dropped out of the college at 16 and opted to explore other avenues. Being as adventurous as she was by nature, Allis wanted to travel and explore the world and so she worked upto three jobs at atime to save up for her travels. She took up a job at an advertising agency, did a little bit of modelling before embarking on a six-year adventure overseas which saw her working as a nanny in France as well as on David Bowie’s yacht. In 1995, she was lucky enough to find her soul mate, Jeff Allis whom despite being a life partner, ended up being her business partner when she decided to set up business in the year 2000(Allis,2016).

Janine claims that her entrepreneur’s spirit had been dormant for quite a while in her earlier years but it reached a point where she no longer wanted to be employed. In one of her trips to the US, she noticed that juice bars were popping up everywhere and thus saw an opportunity to start something similar in Australia (Davey, 2013). She however, chose to toy with the idea of coming up with healthy food options and thought that healthy juices and smoothies would be the way to go since during her trip she could barely get fast healthy foods for her and her kids. So upon returning to Australia, she did further research on the idea, consulted with nutritionists to create a menu of healthy juices and smoothies free of preservatives, artificial flavors and colors. She developed a business plan and with the help of her husband was able to raise capital and so in 2000, she opened her first Boost Juice store in Adelaide (Kirby, 2005).

Background

Janine is quite a driven person and did not stop at just having one store. She desired to have more and her husband being her cheerleader always believing that she could achieve more, that they as a unit could achieve more, was a great motivation(Burt & Jubenville, 2013).  With a leap of faith, Janine and Jeff signed for 28 leases at Westfield Shopping Centers which meant a personal liability of over $ 5 million and a deadline to open every store in just 18 months. Due to determination and amazing franchise partners, it happened on time and on budget. The success of this business stems from the philosophy that Janine has, that it’s not a matter of trying but rather just doing it which she passed down to her employees. Janine has built her brand around the love for life. Her goal is to help people be healthier by eating more fruit and vegetables by making them taste great and generally to just have a positive outlook on life (Allis,2013).

Over time, Janine and her husband Jeff were looking to expand upon the Australian Boost business by utilizing the solid foundation that had been created with Boost to be able to bolt on new and exciting brands and so in 2007, they purchased the Fresh Mex Grill which had four stores and have expanded it to over fifty stores now. Furthermore, in 2012, they acquired CIBO Espresso, the Italian espresso bar franchise. Janine’s empire has created employment opportunities to almost 7000 people working across the four businesses under the holding company Retail Zoo which has over 400 stores which have translated into over $2 billion in global sales (Baker,2013).

Boost Juice has been able to stand out and survive competition due to various factors:

Having the right team; According to Janine, she realized at the very beginning that in order for your business to survive and reach its full potential, you need the right team behind you. You need to hire people that share in your vision, that see the full picture, that are passionate about what your concept is and that is exactly what Janine did. She took her time to find the right people to join her in her new venture and that is the best decision that she ever made (Green,2014).

Branding; Branding basically means creating a unique name and image for your product in the consumer’s mind through advertisement campaigns in order to create a significant presence in the market to attract and retain customers. Janine understood this concept well and with the help of her team she created a strong brand by basing her business on celebrating and enjoying life to the fullest through ensuring that her customers were always happy after consuming her products which consist a list of healthy juices and smoothies that taste so good. Apart from offering a variety of unique and great tasting treats that make the consumers want to come back for more, Janine is keen on ensuring that her customers get exceptional customer service. This has resulted in such a strong brand that has enabled her to have a great competitive edge over the rest in the industry (Woodbury & Deora,2010).

The Birth of Boost Juice

Use of social media; In this era, social media is a great marketing tool as well as a platform for getting feedback from consumers in order to identify where their dissatisfaction with your product lies so as to rectify those areas. Janine has taken advantage of this and has a team for the business online presence and this has greatly improved sales and put this business way ahead of the competition (So?rman, 2013).

Mentor more people; Clearly, Mrs. Janine Allis is a role model to many aspiring entrepreneurs out there including myself and it would be such a great idea if she established mentorship programs in a bid to provide a platform for meeting budding entrepreneurs and offer them the much needed advice on how to be a successful business owner(Woodbury & Deora,2010). To give pointers on the do’s and don’ts of business as well teach these young souls on how to network

Never forget where she begun from; Sometimes when people become successful in life, with so much power and money at one’s disposal, they tend to become arrogant and insensitive to other people and their needs. I would urge her to always remember why she started this business and the struggles she went through and so to never look down on anyone or forget what is truly important to her.

To strive to always learn, grow and expand more; Entrepreneurship journey is a never ending journey meaning that learning never ends, each day gives one an opportunity to learn something new that can help improve your business. Also, in as much as one may feel like he/she has achieved great success, there is always room for expansion and it would be great if Janine expanded to those areas that are yet to be tapped (Green,2014).

Conclusion

Janine Allis is a role model to many and shares her knowledge with others, including through her role as a ‘shark’ and mentor on Channel’s Ten Shark Tank. Her impact in the business world has not gone unrecognized as she has been presented with numerous retail, franchise and business awards including Telstra Business Woman of the Year, Awarded Exporter of the Year, and Amex Franchiser of the Year. She was also inducted into the Australian Business Women, Hall of Fame and is among the Smart Company’s Top 30 Australian Female Entrepreneurs List.

References

Allis, J. (2016). The accidental entrepreneur: the juicy bits. Milton, Vic. John Wiley and Sons Australia, Ltd

Allis, J. (2013). The secrets of my success: The story of boost juice, juicy bits and all. Milton, Qld: Wiley..

Baker-Dowdell, J. (2013). Business + baby on board. Manuka, A.C.T., Editia.

(1999). BRW. Melbourne, Vic, Business Review Weekly.

Barber, C. (2014). A vivid message: how to have twice the impact with half the effort

Burt, M. J., & Jubenville, C. B. (2013). Zebras and cheetahs: Look different and stay agile to survive the business jungle.

Davey, L. M. (2013). You first: Inspire your team to grow up, get along, and get stuff done.

Green, G. (2014). The Smart Business Exit: Getting Rewarded for Your Blood, Sweat and Tears. Cork, BookBaby.

Kirby, J. (2005). Janine Allis: business secrets of the woman behind Boost Juice. Milton, Qld, John Wiley & Sons.

So?rman-Nilsson, A. (2013). Digilogue: How to connect with digital minds and analogue hearts. Richmond, Vic: Wiley.

Woodbury, L., & Deora, W. (2010). The invisible partnership: how to work with your spouse without getting divorced. North Ryde, N.S.W., Quantum Dynamics.