Advice Line with Ben Goodwin of Olipop

The episode features Guy Raz hosting the Advice Line segment, where callers seeking business advice share their challenges. The show is sponsored by JustWorks, which helps small businesses manage administrative tasks smoothly.

Ben Goodwin, co-founder of Oli Pop, recaps the company's journey from previous struggles with a different soda brand to the success of Oli Pop, a health-centric, better-for-you soda valued over $2 billion. He discusses recent rebranding efforts, including packaging refreshes, a sonic identity, education campaigns, and reaching higher demographics. Ben emphasizes the importance of maintaining the brand’s mission and impact focus, and shares thoughts on future growth strategies, including potential public offerings or acquisitions. Additionally, Ben critiques common business advice—particularly the idea of accepting market constraints—and advocates for entrepreneurs to refuse compromises that harm their standards.

Darren seeks advice on how to educate consumers about his ghee-based snack, Gheelish, highlighting the challenge of building awareness for a niche ingredient in a competitive snack space. Ben advises Darren to focus on taste, quality, and storytelling, such as leveraging culinary advantages and cultural relevance, while suggesting innovative marketing strategies like QR codes and social media. They discuss the importance of product testing, branding, and possibly starting with small-scale partnerships before scaling further.

Sarah runs a cottage food operation creating fresh, allergen-free baked goods. She wants to expand her reach beyond farmers' markets while avoiding frozen or shelf-stable products. She questions how to scale her business, considering the need for more capital and commercial kitchen facilities. The advice emphasizes starting small, improving operational capacity, and considering options like local grants and small business loans. They suggest leveraging her brand’s trustworthiness and community story-crafting to build loyalty and increase sales, rather than rushing into large infrastructure investments.

John manages a local natural food co-op that has experienced decline post-pandemic due to management issues and competitive pressures. His focus is on revitalizing the store through community-driven initiatives like farmer meet-and-greets, highlighting local and curated products, and enhancing the in-store shopping experience. The discussion stresses maintaining quality and exclusivity, leveraging the co-op’s unique offerings, and improving community engagement to boost foot traffic and sales. The hosts caution against over-investing in online sales too soon, suggesting a focus on strengthening the store's core customer relationships.