Meet Mel Sims, founder of Mooze
I’m Mel Sims, founder of Mooze. My Award Winning Business was forced to shut March 2020, due to Covid Hospitality Restrictions. I owned a 7y old successful PlayBarn & Restaurant for Under 5’s and their Carers. I plugged a real gap in the market for Wooden, Natural Play with Allergy friendly food and so people would drive up to 90 minutes to spend the day at ours. We led advice sessions on: Breastfeeding, Weaning, Sleeping, Development, along with Music and Activity Classes. These were services that local agencies used to offer to Parents for free, but as with everything, cuts in funding left parents lonely and needing info.
In June, I was homeschooling and contemplating making the eight redundancy whilst drinking up to 50 units a week as opposed to the recommended 14 units, after my 10y old daughter went to bed. I was also putting on ‘booze weight’. I was supping a few white wines and G&Ts every evening to give myself a dopamine hit (aka The Happy Hormone). I felt lethargic with mind fog, more distracted than ever and very forgetful. I seriously thought I had the early onset of dementia and decided to research why I felt like this and also create a lower alcohol, low calorie spirit I would buy myself.
I got my very old friend involved, who is the technical brain behind us and in September we appointed a local Essex award-winning distiller to create Mooze. We wanted an adult drink, quintessentially British that you could serve as an alternative to a G&T, packed with botanicals, including juniper of course, made in the same way as gin, but a third less alcohol so people could ‘moderate their booze’, hence the name Mooze. We created the branding and website and got the socials ready to shout about it. We also bought a horsebox to convert for food fairs.
How do you set yourself apart from other businesses in your industry?
Mooze sits in a category of its own as a 12% spirit. There is a great choice and demand of no/low drinks under 1.2% available in large supermarkets and online, especially with lockdown causing many people to drink up to 5 bottles of wine a week. Unsurprisingly, 6/10 people gave up their Dry January and I am not sure how helpful a Binary Scale of drinking or not drinking is for our society.
Mooze is an alcoholic spirit at 12% which sits sit between the no/low market of under 1.2% and the higher ‘normal’ alcohol industry i.e wine 13%, Spirits 37.5%. Whilst the beer sector seems to have embraced mid-market offerings, people still seem to see lower alcohol wine and spirits as options for those with alcohol problems only. We talk about how swapping in Mooze 12% will help your drinking habits. Any reduction of units is better than none.
What’s the biggest lessons you’ve learnt so far as an entrepreneur?
Since Coronavirus, sadly, never think a non-online model is safe. And make sure your website works on mobiles as the majority of views will be done from a phone. Also, ask to see copies of documents.
With all the success stories around entrepreneurship and how innovative people have to be to take the leap.
How do you think you’ve innovated your sector and why?
Don’t try and sell to everyone, focus on a specific market. Targetting the gin market was a mistake as they accept there are units in every glass. Trying to be there for everyone and you will be drowned out by the Big Boys. Choose a niche and do it well.
What are your thoughts on failure?
I hate failure. I haven’t worked for anyone else for years and I enjoy getting a job done, as well and quickly as possible. If I enjoy something I will hyperfocus on it and must be careful, that I am kind to myself and take breaks. I realised during the summer, without work distractions, that at 48 years old, I had Undiagnosed ADHD. As with many Entrepreneurs, this had gone unnoticed for years, by me being busy and distracted. ADHD’s lack Dopamine, so that is why drinking booze is enticing. Plus throw in the Menopause which means your Oestrogen depletes; Oestrogen triggers your Dopamine.
What are your top tips for entrepreneurs wanting to do their research?
There are some fantastic Food & Drink Trade groups on social media which cost nothing or little to join and full of people offering advice. You can learn so much from talking to people in the same industry as yours. I have found the Drinks Industry to be very friendly. Plus with lockdown, so many trade events and Q&A sessions can be watched from your PC and there is a real Community Spirit.
What plans do you have for Mooze over the next two years?
We would love to see a bottle of Mooze 12% in everyone’s home, in bars and restaurants. Making lower alcohol options available on trains, planes, any commuter vehicle selling refreshments. People need to start totalling up their Alcohol Units (14 a week) in the same way they think about what they are eating to be healthy. We are also working closely with large organisations involved with Women’s Health at Menopause Age. Too many women think that if they feel rubbish, they might as well have a drink. Many people drink out of habit, so we want to be the top swap in alcoholic drink.
What’s the most important question entrepreneurs should be asking themselves?
At the moment, is your business sustainable during future Lockdowns? Do you have an online proposition and does it work on a mobile phone where most visits occur.
What would be your top marketing tip, to grow a business that is niche?
Get on Twitter. Start following journalists that cover Niche subjects and interact with them.
What social media channel would you say has worked the best for your business and why?
To talk to journalists it is Twitter, to talk to the general public Instagram and Facebook. For PR use hashtag #journorequest and there is a fantastic Facegroup group called Lightbulb Entrepreneur for small businesses where the journalists come in asking for content.
