AS companies such as Deliveroo harness the internet to shake up the takeaway food market an Edinburgh entrepreneur sees potential to follow a similar approach in the drinks trade.

Name:

John Roberston.

Age:

37.

What is your business called?

Drinkly.

Where is it based?

Edinburgh.

What services does it offer?

Drinkly is a technology platform that allows customers to order beers, wines and spirits from their phone that will be delivered to their door cold within one hour - or at a time and date most suited to the customer - within licensing hours.

To whom does it sell?

Our customers tend to be time poor professionals, people who are ordering a takeaway but want a drink to enjoy with it and those hosting parties. Our gifting service is also popular with people who have forgotten, or want to be the first to congratulate, milestone moments such as significant birthdays, engagement announcements and anniversaries.

What is its turnover?

An estimated £150,000 by April next year.

How many employees?

One – me!

When was it formed?

November 2016.

Why did you take the plunge?

I had launched a consultancy business in 2015 that focused on selling drink brands internationally but quickly realised I was investing a lot of hours for the returns I was achieving so began to think of other ideas. I came across an online liquor store in America that was very successful and I thought, with the rise of On Demand businesses like JustEat, Deliveroo and Uber, that a similar platform could be a big success in the UK. I developed the software myself and identified an off-licence chain, Vino, in Edinburgh who would be our first retailer partner who would sell products through the site. Drinkly delivers to Edinburgh postcodes at the moment. My aim is to identify suitable off-licences and delivery partners in other towns and cities to take the platform world wide.

What were you doing before you took the plunge?

My degree was in mathematics but I’d always wanted to work in the drinks industry. My local pub got me the break I needed when it told me about a job with a drinks distributor. I successfully applied and that led to 17 years working in international sales, marketing and management for a number of global brands and emerging craft beer producers. Throughout that time I’d never lost the desire to launch my own business. In 2015 I left my salaried position to launch my consultancy business. That led me to Business Gateway Edinburgh, the Entrepreneurial Spark hatchery in the city and The Saltire Fellowship Programme which took me to Boston. Those four months in America opened my eyes to entrepreneurship and how it is viewed there – you go to a pub and folk are just talking about business and technology! I also visited Silicon Valley and Shanghai. Seeing the industries that were growing quickly there confirmed the public’s growing demand for businesses that add value and convenience.

How did you raise the start-up funding?

By going on Business Gateway Edinburgh’s Gateway to Investment programme (GTI) which helped me get my business investor ready and gave me access to a network of other start-up businesses all in a similar position. As a result of meeting other businesses on the course I was introduced to Seed Haus business accelerator, which bought into my vision and was willing to fund the next growth stage of Drinkly. The £30,000 from Seed Haus will help me refine the offering in the capital city before expanding.

What was your biggest break?

At the start, convincing Vino to come on board as a partner! More recently, securing significant investment from Seed Haus. Business Gateway’s GTI course gave me access to business experts and Angels I’d otherwise never meet. It also helped me perfect my pitch.

What was your worst moment?

For the first six months of the business I delivered everything to customers myself in a branded smart car. This gives you incredible insight into what our customers like and dislike about our service and the ability to get crucial feedback to always improve our proposition. The bad thing about delivering everything myself was that frequently I had to nip away from BBQ’s, dinners and networking event’s at the drop of a hat to deliver orders. Not ideal, but without doing this I could have spent crucial money employing drivers and not getting to know our customers or their needs.

What do you most enjoy about running the business?

On a daily basis you challenge your own skill set. In the last year, I’ve developed new skills in graphic design, ecommerce, digital marketing and logistics. Pushing boundaries and learning new skills to drive the business forward is very rewarding.

What do you least enjoy? At any time I have a ‘to do list’ of about twenty things that are all pretty pressing, many of them ideas that can drive the business forward. If I had additional finance I could build a team and grow the business at a faster pace.

What are your ambitions for the firm? I want to launch Drinkly in at least 15 major towns and cities in the UK by the end of next year and to have made headway in Europe the year after. Because it is a networked businesses model I only need to find suitable drink merchants and delivery partners in each area to scale up.

What are your five top priorities?

Refining the proposition; raising finance; building a team; scaling the business; making time for friends and family.

What could the Westminster and/or Scottish governments do that would help?

The support network we have in Scotland and specifically in Edinburgh is very good. There are many government initiatives that work well but I would like to see more flexibility in access to finance to test, launch and scale start-up businesses without some of the red tape that exists at present.

What was the most valuable lesson that you learned?

Not to be scared. It is tricky giving up an income and putting every penny into a business that consumers may not want, but without letting go of my fear I couldn’t make anything happen. Before I started Drinkly I was unsure if consumers would buy into our business but the only one way of knowing is by getting out there and testing the market, asking the right questions and applying the feedback to develop the proposition.

How do you relax?

I love socialising, travel, running, cycling, skiing, and sailing.