At the mere age of 32, Hamish Buckley is already a respected entrepreneur, businessman and co-founder of three successful brands; Coco Vodka, Mr Bright and Bean Body.
Coco Vodka is a premium white spirit RTD that is the first of its kind in Australia. Hamish co-founded Bean Body in 2014, a caffeinated body scrub. The beauty brand offers premium, organic and affordable products that have been welcomed by household retailers such as Coles, Priceline and Myer. On top of this, Bean Body has successfully cracked into the Chinese market with 60 percent of the company’s volume selling into China and recently celebrating the sale of its one-millionth unit.
To add to the list, the established businessman introduced Mr Bright, a range of peroxide-free teeth whitening solution, to the market, with international distribution soon to be on the cards.
We chat about juggling three businesses…and what it takes to not only start, but maintain, a business.
You’re the founder of Coco Vodka, Bean Body and Mr Bright. Phew. What inspired you to start each business?
Myself and my business partner Simon Hill had a previous business that we were in on together and we wanted to team up again on a new project. We saw there was big opportunities happening online and figured it would be a walk in the park…make a product, sell it online…however it wasn’t as easy in the initial stages as we were hoping for. Online became quite flooded with products of all kinds, so we had to evolve and find our niche. We changed up our strategy and started to heavily focus on taking online trends into mainstream retail. Since the change in strategy we’re now the largest coffee/caffeine skin care range in retail in the world – over 12,000 stores world wide and growing.
Mr Bright was the second brand we have added into the mix – a range of non-peroxide teeth whitening products. We’ve recently signed up Boots in the UK, along with Myer and Shaver Shop here in Australia. We’ll follow a similar path to Bean Body and implement everything we’ve learned along the journey so far.
Tell us about your career and background.
Both myself and Simon came from two totally different backgrounds – Simon was a physio and I was in hospitality. We started a tech based business which we ran for 5 years and sold…how we got into retail type products, we’re still trying to figure that out ourselves. We really enjoy it though. Seeing your brands hit shelves all around the world is quiet a humbling experience and we’re rubbing shoulders with household names.
Describe a typical work day for you.
I would love to say that my ‘typical day’ starts off the same each day, but it doesn’t…I’m not as cliché as most new ages entrepreneurs.
I generally wake up around 7am – meditate (when I remember to) for 10-15min.
I then make my way over to my laptop and get cracking on replying to any emails that have come in over night – mainly UK/USA partners.
Once I have made my way through a few of those I hit the gym or go for a walk – I do this every day of the week and this is my ‘me time’.
After gym I’ll have my breakfast and then make my way into the office.
Generally my day mainly consists of calls/emails with our retailers, staff and distributors. I’m a little bit OCD with my emails, I ensure that I’m getting back to people as quick as I can to keep the momentum moving forward – I believe this is really important, especially when you’re split between several time zones.
I try and free my days up from ‘clutter’ – this is basically meetings that could be done over a call or email. Spending time traveling and being stuck in traffic – this is time that could be spent elsewhere and being focused. One of my pet hates is ‘coffee meetings’ – the longer you’re in business for the more you’ll realise your time is valuable and I tend to simplify things where I can.
I usually leave the office around 4pm (I know this is a little earlier than most) – but I need that couple of hours to ‘chill’ before I start getting hit with UK/USA emails.
Come the weekend I try and switch off – I do tackle anything ‘urgent’ but generally I try and switch off. I believe it’s important to give your mind a bit of rest, or you’ll drive yourself crazy or burn out…I’m not getting any younger.
What advice do you have for those wanting to start a business?
I could write a book on the advice that I could give someone when it comes to starting up a business… where do I start?
Some of the most important advice is ‘if you’re going to start a business, you need to be prepared to dedicate the next 5-10 years of your life to it’. I have seen many people try and treat is as a part time thing…you get what you put in. If you treat it as part time, you’ll see part time results.
Myself and Simon have really dedicated ourselves towards these business and that has played a very vital role in getting them to where they are.
What’s next for you, and the three businesses you’ve created?
Three business is keeping us busy.. but who knows. I’m not going to try and fill time ‘just because’. What we’re doing now is doing well, but hey if great concepts come my way I’ll always listen and see if there is potential. The difficulty with products these days is that the ‘online’ element is slowly fading off and you have to be pretty established to keep picking up retailers…so right now focusing on what is working is important. Pick your battles.
