What I Wish I Knew – Giuseppe Baidoo, founder of Gusto

Starting a business comes with a whole host of challenges. Fortunately, there are always plenty of people who have been there before and are more than willing to share advice.

Giuseppe Baidoo is the founder and CEO of Gusto, a snack business on a mission to reduce food waste. He recently took part in Virgin StartUp’s Collective Impact programme. We caught up with him to find out what he wishes he’d known from day one of starting the business and the tips he’d share with other entrepreneurs…

Be prepared for rejection

I think in our journey we have had so many no’s along the way – more than we have yesses. But when people have said yes, it has pushed us forward so much as well.

Gusto

You may get many rejections but, always keep going because the yes will come. And it’s a bit like buses – as soon as one yes comes along, the others will follow. So don’t be discouraged because there will always be someone else out there. Take every opportunity as one to get feedback, and take that feedback on board – there’s always an opportunity to review what you’re doing and do it better.

Keep an eye on market trends

We came up with the idea for our product – air dried apple crisps – because potato crisps are great but they’re not always that healthy. We spent around two to three years developing and improving that product. And by the time we launched it, there were competitors with similar products on the market.

It was then difficult for us to get into supermarkets because they already had similar products on the shelves. We had to find a different way to improve our product and make it stand out, make it more unique and something that our competitors were not doing.

Gusto

Don’t be afraid to seek advice

The entrepreneur journey can be a lonely one. But there are so many people that are willing to give advice and help you if you just ask.

You can go to networking events and meet people on the same journey as you, people who understand what you’re going through. Just this week I met somebody that has connections in the industry with a store that we wanted to speak to. And I’d have never known that if I was worried about asking for advice.

Inspired to start your own business? Visit Virgin StartUp for advice, guidance and Start Up Loans.