While most of us use holidays to chill out and think of anything but business, Chanelle O’Sullivan uses that time to plan out cool business ideas on paper, napkins, anything she can find. This was the beginning of her meadery Borage and Bee,  a sparkling mead in a can sold here in New Zealand, gaining huge interest overseas. 

Chanelle operates Borage and Bee Meadery from her home in Glenorchy in the South Island of New Zealand, arguably one of the most beautiful places to live in the world. 

Mead’s core product is honey, and has no artificial preservatives, cane sugar or anything not created by nature. It’s surprisingly unsweet (for those who’ve never tried it,  the honey gets “eaten up” in the fermentation process) 

Chanelle is now two years deep into her business, the third she’s launched and run. This is the first business she’s developed with a clear goal for growth, and she’s spent time taking on advisors to help her think bigger. 

One of the defining moments was when someone asked her “What’s your exit strategy?” 

It was a question that stopped Chanelle in her tracks and made her rethink how her business would grow. It helped her to think bigger, and continues to help her create a strategy that serves her business now, but also helps her plan for the future

In this episode we talk about what an exit strategy can do for your business, and why it’s not all about “preparing to sell.”

Today we cover

• What Chanelle’s plans are for Borage and Bee Meadery 
• The benefits and constraints of running a business rurally
• The impact in getting external help
• How investors have helped the business grow
• What having an exit strategy has done for the business
• What the next steps are for Borage and Bee
• What Chanelle would love to accomplish. 

Important Links

Borage and Bee on Instagram

Borage and Bee on Facebook

Other recommended Episodes

How to build a business without a ready to sell product

Getting into the USA market - with Getting Lost

Going from Markets to selling in stores

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