Today we interview Sophie Harvey from Soffle’s. I tried her chips at an exhibition in London, Olympia. I loved the chips so I thought I asked her for an interview and she gladly obliged!
What inspired you to start the business? Tell us about your background!
I started making pitta chips at home for friends to have with beers and dips, everyone loved them so I thought that everyone needed to try them, I started making a bit of a project out of it, designing a bag, making stories about my adventures then popping up at events with a tray. Bit by bit I started doing more events then had a small run of hand sealable bags made with my logo. This meant I could take them to my local Hackney pubs as this was the start of getting them out there. The inspiration has always been how much people have liked them and the enthusiasm about the brand that made me want to turn it into something. It was great to be able to make something that everyone enjoyed so much.
Previously I had worked for an Auction House and then onto a Art Gallery in London. I studied Fine Art for my BA so great to use my artwork for the brand as that was really the starting point of Soffle’s.
What is your USP?
There are so many! But these are my top 3:
1. The famous Soffle CRUNCH!!!!
2. Our ingredients is all FRESH! We bake this into the dough then oven roast with olive oil rather than using powdered extracts for flavours which is extremely important for the way our pitta chips taste.
3. They are so versatile! They pair up perfectly with a beer, hummus, fresh avocado, tzatziki, soup, salad, cheese……..basically you can have them with anything! A home staple in fact.
What was your biggest challenge setting up your business?
It has all been super challenging but always in completely different ways. At the beginning the physical labour and endless hours of producing the product was very hard and self motivation was key to this period and then upscaling and changing the way I had always thought I wanted to run the business was also very challenging As I pretty much worked alone until a few months ago every aspect was something that I needed to manage. So from doing the accounts, being a salesperson, artwork designer, making deliveries or roasting the chips it can become hard to focus or get things done as well or as organised as you would like them to be which can become quite frustrating.
What is your advice to new entrepreneurs? How to get started?
Just start, make it happen. There is definitely a lot to be said for planning and working out how you are going to do things but ultimately you need to get into action asap. Time can pass very quickly without anything happening and it can be possible to miss opportunities. I definitely didn’t do enough planning as it wasn’t something at first I planned to make into a business so all my time was spent in production and working out how I could increase the production. I also worked for a long time before I decided to give up my job which made it very hard to get to the next stage as time was so limited, if you think it will work and have good reason to think it will then put 100% in as soon as possible. It can become very tiring if you are dragging something out and not having the time to work out how you can make it work.
Ask for advice from everyone you can. Again something I didn’t do until about a year ago as I was so busy in production it was very hard to get out and about. As soon as I did I started to really learn how things worked. Always have in mind the key stages that you are going to need to make the business work. Understand what roles can be done by others so you can then focus on the next stage.
Are there any business books you recommend?
Not yet, next on the list start reading business books!
What is your favourite flavour?
Chilli & Garlic WILD, super HOT made with fresh scotch bonnets its comes with a warning and best in the pubs!
What are your future plans for the company?
Our chips are being introduced to selected Waitrose this month so we are really excited to work on that. In the early days of roasting chips in a garden shed it was something i had always hoped for and of course i always thought it would happen but the reality of it actually happening is a time to think back to the days when I spent endless hours in a shed roasting pitta chips!
But the main focus is all about having our chips with the beers in the pub and the breweries. It is what I made them for and for me is the best environment to be part of.
What is the best business decision you’ve ever made?
Move out of the shed!
For more information about Sophie’s pitta chips please visit Soffles.com.