"When you are first getting started, resources are tight and time is tight" with Alane Boyd
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Alane Boyd is the Founder and CEO of BurgerFit and published author - BurgerFit: Eat Burgers. Be Healthy., The Small Steps Planner, and BurgerFit Deconstructed (coming Fall 2020). Alane built her company with one mission: to help busy moms fight one less battle at dinner time by getting their kids (and picky significant others) to eat vegetables, whether they know it or not. BurgerFit burgers are made of ground meat and blended vegetables to get everyone from 2 to 92 years old to eat healthier.
Can you tell our readers about your background?
My background is far from within the food industry. I had a software business until 2018, which I exited at the end of that year. Following the exit, I wanted to do something that made a difference and decided to focus on BurgerFit, an idea I had years prior.
What inspired you to start your business?
I started BurgerFit after a lifetime of fighting being overweight and when I was diagnosed with high blood pressure in my late 20s. I decided I had to start making lifelong changes to my diet, or I'd be on medication for the rest of my life. I lost 40 pounds and have kept it off for almost ten years (here is a side-by-side of me https://bit.ly/2DFtZvb). I started eating healthier, but I realized my family didn't want to. I began sneaking vegetables like peas, cauliflower, beets, carrots, etc. into ground beef burgers, and it worked! Seeing the positive impact these healthy recipes made on my family, I continued developing several more and testing them out. After discovering all of the positive changes these recipes have made in my life, I am driven to give more families the opportunity to enjoy mealtime together and eat healthier, one burger at a time.
Where is your business based?
Cookeville, TN
How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?
I started making BurgerFit burgers at BBQs without telling our guests so that I could see if they would eat them, and again, it worked! That’s when I thought I had something people needed, and so I started BurgerFit in June 2019. We find ourselves in these situations frequently, whether it’s with our kids that won’t eat vegetables or sometimes even our significant others.
What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?
Prior to COVID, the best ways were events and television segments. We were able to reach a large audience and at events, people were able to taste our BurgerFit burgers before purchasing. Now we focus more on social media, partnerships, and written articles.
What have been your biggest challenges, and how did you overcome them?
Trying to juggle everything has been extremely difficult. It was hard managing the house, the family, and the business before Covid-19, and now it is even harder! With juggling meals, my son’s schooling, and business, I was completely exhausted by the end of the day! I had to make changes or I was not going to be productive.
I had to reprioritize how my day runs and let go of the things that I “want” to get done but don’t “need” to get done. I have the personality to squeeze every last second out of the day and not waste time, but I realized that looks different now. Relaxing and resting does not equate to wasting time; it gives you time to mentally and physically repair.
How do you stay focused?
Don’t try to do everything yourself. What can be taken off your plate? Can you hire a house cleaner once a month to help you? Can you hire a handyman to help you tackle things at your house? I recently hired a company called Miscellaneous Men that does odd jobs to help remove old furniture from our house and bring it to a donation place. It was a huge burden lifted off of me!
How do you differentiate your business from the competition?
We have completely focused on our audience, which is different from the audience our competitors have taken. From doing events and receiving customers’ feedback, we were able to adapt our messaging to our specific buyers. That has given us a competitive edge!
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
Partnerships with complementary brands have been our best marketing strategy. We’ve found those are the best way to give credibility to your brand, reach new customers that are already familiar with the other brand, and make a much larger impact using fewer resources.
What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
Use Upwork to delegate what you can inexpensively. When you are first getting started, resources are tight and time is tight. By utilizing experts from all over the world, you can get a job done quickly and get closer to bringing in revenue.
What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?
App:
Lightroom by Adobe with saved presets! It helps anyone look like a professional photographer with photos they’ve taken on their phone. I use it almost daily to up my photo game.
Blog:
I’m not much of a blog reader but I do love podcasts. My two favorite podcasts are How I Built This by Guy Raz (https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this) and RadioLab by WYNC Studios (https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab). The How I Built This podcast interviews entrepreneurs of big and familiar companies. It is so refreshing to hear that they all started out small and grew over time with the same hardships many of us face as entrepreneurs. The RadioLab podcast covers all kinds of interesting topics and does a deep dive into the science behind them. They are captivating to listen to!
Book:
Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller has become my top business book! After reading it, I have put it into practice in both of my companies and have immediately seen a change in customer interactions. As business owners, we have a difficult time succinctly representing our products to customers. We end up with a confusing mess for customers, and they leave your site before taking the action to purchase or find out more. StoryBrand helps you refine your messaging, making your customer the hero and not you or your business. In almost every business, I see them trying to be the hero. It is a mistake I also made until reading this book! As a business, we are a guide that can help them reach success. I wish I had read this book ten years ago!
https://www.amazon.com/Building-StoryBrand-Clarify-Message-Customers/dp/0718033329
What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?
I like using Asana (https://asana.com) for tasks, reminders, and templates, but there are other popular ones out there. Something amazing happens when you start writing those ideas down instead of letting them continue to rotate in your head; your mind can start relaxing and using that space for more important things! My husband and I have travel templates we use so we don’t forget things; for example, it can act as a reminder for when to give the dogs heartworm medicine each month or a reminder for housework that needs to get done (i.e. fix gate, paint house, reorganize guest room, etc.). We also use Slack (https://slack.com) for conversations. It is much easier to have longer conversations in Slack than it is in text. You can also make threads on comments so you don’t lose track of conversations on multiple topics. Both have free versions, so it doesn’t cost anything to start organizing your life! Something amazing happens when you start writing those ideas down instead of letting them continue to rotate in your head; your mind can start relaxing and using that space for more important things!
Who is your business role model? Why?
Notorious RBG (Ruth Bader Ginsberg). She had a fire, smarts, and a cause for good. We could all be a little more like her and live in a better place.
How do you balance work and life?
Make a list of everything running through your head. Even if it is just you and you don’t have a partner, getting everything out of your head helps you make a plan. I use Asana project management system to manage BurgerFit but also to manage our family (there are many others like Trello and Mondays but I prefer Asana). I even set up recurring tasks for when to water my house plants. When we think of something that we need someone to come fix, we put that in Asana as well so it doesn’t slip our minds. I can schedule that during parts of the day that my son and I are going for a walk. I can use that time to get a quick call to someone for scheduling to come to the house. My husband and I also can easily collaborate on things and know who is doing what and where we are at on it.
What’s your favorite way to decompress?
Get sleep. When I’m tired, I am not able to fully function during the day, so it is important that I get my rest. Sometimes it is hard for my brain to slow down — there are always a million things that I want to get done, new ideas that come to me, and thoughts about my next day — so I started meditating before bed. This helps my mind slow down so I can fall asleep quickly. It takes practice, so don’t give up after just a week of trying meditation. There are great apps that teach you how to do it when you are getting started. I like Headspace, but there are plenty of other apps for your phone.
What do you have planned for the next six months?
We are currently working on expanding our line of kitchen accessories that make mealtime easier. Everyone is so busy now that even a little help in the kitchen goes a long way. I also have a firm belief that kids, especially when they are young and excited to help, should have the opportunity to lend a hand in the kitchen. To make it easy for them to help and to give moms peace of mind that they won’t hurt themselves, we are launching a knife set specifically for kids and we’ve just launched our HANDLENVY line of leather iron skillet sleeves to keep from burning your hands when touching hot pots and pans.
How can our readers connect with you?
Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_hurricanealane
Personal Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlaneBoyd
Personal LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alaneboyd/
BurgerFit Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/getburgerfit
BurgerFit Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getburgerfit
BurgerFit Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/getburgerfit
BurgerFit Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/getburgerfit
BurgerFit LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/getburgerfit