Before she founded beverage company Blume, Karen Danudjaja’s life looked very different. She works in commercial real estate and drinks five Americanos a day. But once caffeine started affecting her health, she began exploring alternative ways to boost energy by adding superfoods to her diet, and the idea for Blume was born. “The company is all about how to incorporate these nutrient-dense, healthy ingredients into the recipes you already love,” says Karen.
While Blume’s first product was a turmeric latte mix, the company’s product line has expanded to include other beverage mixes, such as the SuperBelly line of probiotic water elixirs. “When I look back at our first product and compare it to what we have today, the transformation is remarkable,” Karen said. The key to her success is iterating over time. Next, learn how she adopted this as a life and business idea.
There is no perfect product to start with
Karen’s first sale was at a smoothie bar in Vancouver called Victoria’s Health. As she chatted with the owner, he mentioned he was having trouble sourcing the turmeric latte mix locally and realized she could make it herself. In just six weeks, she formulated her first concoction, and Victoria Health Center became one of Bloom’s first customers.
“While we still have a turmeric latte product, the recipe is different, the ingredients are sourced differently, and the way we package it is different,” Karen said. Still, this is an important lesson for us to get started and not wait until we have the perfect product.
Prioritize customer feedback
One of the most important parts of being a founder is being open to changing direction, especially when that direction comes from your customers. Karen says some of Bloom’s most successful products are a direct result of customer feedback. “The more that happens, the more you understand how to build systems in the innovation pipeline that actually support what customers actually need,” Karen said.
Now, she’s on Bloom’s team conducting interviews, surveys and dedicated group Continue to get input from customers to help hone their product development. Her biggest piece of advice is not to ask for feedback if you’re not going to take action, as this will destroy your customer’s trust.
Stay up to date on new e-commerce tools and strategies
For Karen, iteration goes beyond product development. “In marketing and e-commerce, everything is not over yet,” Karen said. When she first started Blume, Karen taught herself the basics of online advertising and Customer Relationship Management (CRM)she transfers skills to other employees who are then able to continue to develop those skills.
Karen emphasized the importance of continuing to focus on analysis, improving user processes and discovering new tools. In fact, this was part of the impetus for reinventing the Blume platform through Shopify. She switched to Shopify to make it easier to adapt her online store, especially the app ecosystem.
build confidence
When founders hold such strong beliefs, it’s hard for them to be willing to change their product or strategy. “You can’t change the core values and core mission of the company, but you can change the path to get there,” Karen said.
She recommends always returning to the problem you’re trying to solve to cut through the noise. “I had to develop confidence in myself to iterate, listen, adapt, and Bloom today is a product of that,” she said.
To learn more about Karen’s iteration philosophy, listen to the full interview Shopify Masters.
