TURNING A SIDE HUSTLE INTO A BUSINESS

When does a pandemic side hustle become a real business?

Approximately two million people have started a side project during lockdown, according to Virgin Startup which helps founders kick start new businesses.

But few will put in the hard graft to turn their side hustle into a serious business.

Schoolfriends Will Clapham and Jonathan Jones put their enforced furlough spare time to good use last year thinking up new business ideas to keep themselves motivated. And when they discovered a drink being enjoyed in Japan wasn’t available in the UK, they reckoned that idea could be a winner.

The drink was a whisky seltzer which Jonathan had enjoyed on a trip there,

After much research, business planning, expert advice and (the best bit) tastings done among friends and family during lockdown barbecues last summer, Will and Jonathan launched Mogul & Dram.

It is, they are fairly sure, currently the UK’s only flavoured whisky soda in a can.

Their new brand taps into the fastgrowing hard seltzer market, currently worth more than £10 million in the UK and predicted to rise to £73 million by 2023.

Hard seltzers contain alcohol and carbonated water with a variety of fruit and other flavourings added.

A whisky and soda is a great introduction to whisky for those who’ve not tried it, said Jonathan, and the seltzer market is increasingly popular with younger adults.

According to Tom Mallett at brand consultancy Kantar: “Hard seltzers represent a shift away from the sugary image once associated with ready-todrink products, offering a low-calorie option likely to appeal to healthconscious consumers.”

Furlough led to redundancy from their marketing roles for them both, but by then Will and Jonathan had spoken to industry advisers, including a flavour consultancy in Newbury and Gloucestershire’s Growth Hub, and decided to launch their idea as a business.

“We were challenged on our business plan but overall, everyone felt it was a good concept,” Will added.

The Stroud-based pair have come up with a light, tasty drink which has a small number of carefully selected and measured ingredients. But making a small quantity for a few people is one thing. Scaling up costs money. They both invested £5,000 and together secured a start-up loan of £25,000.

The funding paid for Bristol design agency Orca to work with them on the name, look and feel of the brand.

It also paid for their first big production run, being done by a company in the East Midlands.

Will and Jonathan are now selling direct to the public through their website and social media channels and marketing to independent food and drink outlets. Later they aim to engage with buyers from larger supermarket chains.

“We are launching in Gloucestershire, Bristol and Southwest London. If we gain a strong foothold in the places we know best, it will make expansion easier,” said Will.

“Now it’s all about getting drams in hands,” he added.

Both men have loved abandoning corporate life to launch their own business.

“With the world in turmoil and while we were on furlough, we didn’t want to waste the opportunity,” said Jonathan. “I loved the sampling we did. Engaging with strangers trying our drink was great.”

What surprised Will most is how much he’s enjoying the financial side of the business. “The bit I thought would be the most boring I’ve enjoyed the most, I’m learning so much.”

And they’re not stopping at just one whisky soda. There’s a whole range to be developed. “We want to do special editions, more varieties and we’re already looking at other potential products,” said Jonathan.

Technology can be a force for good. It is also riddled with unintended consequences.

However, in monetary terms, it seems it pays to be good. In 2019, Scaleup accelerator Tech Nation revealed that the UK is a global centre for socially responsible technology innovation. “Tech for social good” companies were worth £2.3 billion in 2018, with a collective turnover of £732 million.

But the man who invented the World Wide Web, the most adopted technology in the world, has said that too much power and personal data now lies with companies such as Google and Facebook. Through his new business Inrupt, Tim Berners-Lee, a graduate of University of Oxford, wants to put individuals back in control.

This feature showcases companies putting technology to good social use.