The Journey of Travel Cutlery Kits with Lorna Wilson, Founder of Mnched
In this episode of the SOL Podcast, our guest is Lorna Wilson, Founder of Mnched. It is true that carrying your personal cutlery kit with you at all times is the best way to keep things hygienic, especially since the beginning of the pandemic. Besides, it keeps things sustainable, too! Lorna thought so as well and launched her travel cutlery kit brand Mnched in 2020.
Lorna started Mnched as an alternative to housed in materials, bamboo or small-sized cutleries. It is much more durable and hygienic than plastic forks and spoons and much more classy than sporks. With its full-sized, high quality, and easy-to-clean travel cutlery and straws sets, Mnched allows you to take your cutlery with you everywhere.
We started our conversation with Lorna by asking how she came up with the idea and what her main concerns were. Market size is an extremely important category when it comes to success in the startup world. Lorna explained how she validated the need for a product like this and what methods she used. She gave insights about the aspects you also need to consider besides just determining whether or not people want this product.
Next, we had a lengthy discussion about target audiences. We asked about her ideal persona when it comes to customers. Does it cluster around a certain demographic or an idea? She talked about the potential groups she wants to conquer next and how she might be able to do it. Moreover, keeping her current target market in the mind, we asked about her biggest marketing or customer acquisition channels. If you also want to know the benefits a PR campaign can provide, we touched on that subject, too.
Whether you are a small business owner or plan to be one, this next topic might interest you. Production process and pipeline! How does Lorna manage the design, production, and logistics? How does one take an idea and deliver it to final production? We discussed the invisible difficulties of being a founder, like unforeseen costs. The role expenses play in the market competitiveness. How do you decide on pricing? How does selling it yourself differ from partnering with wholesalers or retailers? What kind of businesses are more suitable to be funded?
Having experience in marketing has surely helped Lorna. But, do you want to know how it affects coming up with business ideas or the biggest obstacle Lorna wants to overcome in growing her product? Check our episode above to learn what Lorna has to share about her up and coming brand and her experiences as an entrepreneur so far!
