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🤨 What makes each brand popular? It’s not just a logo or a tagline.
But knowing the pain point of the customers and making a small business brand out on that pain point. Solving a problem of customers is the key aspect.
Today we have a guest on our podcast, Ms Sara Chemma, Founder of the brand Citron. A brand leading company in the field of innovative lifestyle products with a presence in over 27 countries worldwide. Sara is a mom herself, who never gave up on her children’s needs.
From the very beginning, the story of Citron’s vision is close to a mom’s heart❤️. What began in 2018 was the dream of a visionary working mother who was finding it hard to get products for her children that were safe, stylish, and sustainable. Sara Chemma takes you through the story of how her lunch box became the world’s favourite among mothers.
Sara Chemmaa is the CEO and Founder of Citron, a Dubai-based brand that creates and supplies innovative mealtime products to families. Inspired by her own children’s needs, Sara founded Citron in 2018 after she identified a clear need in the market for stylish and leakproof lunchboxes.
Since its launch, the brand has grown to include over 200 products including a sustainable range, a bamboo range, and a range specifically designed for teenagers. Citron has gone on to dominate the lunchbox and back-to-school market in the GCC market, selling over 500,000 products, and winning a number of awards…
Tell us a bit about you and Citron
“I am originally from Morocco. I am a person who has been working in different industries.I came to Dubai in 2008. I started my career in Investment Banking. I also worked as a consultant and after that, I worked in MBC, which is the largest broadcaster in this region. I worked in the field of Strategic Investment.
I started Citron in 2018 because my son was a very fussy eater, didn’t want the food to touch, and refused to eat anything. So basically from an idea, the world-famous Citron brand was born out of. So it is basically a mom finding a solution for her own Sons eating.
How long did it take you to bring your business idea to the stores, to actually start selling them?
“We took a little bit of time because we had to create the product from scratch. Turning an idea into a Final product was no small feat. We had to hire Engineers & review the shape, size, and measurement of every single element. It took about a year to turn it into a prototype that everyone liked. The only priority when launching this product in the market was that it should be absolutely safe for children.”
💞 MADE BY MUMS, INSPIRED BY KIDS..wow love that tagline… I mean as a mom, I remember buying a Citron lunchbox for my boy a few years ago, without a second thought!!
When you know there’s a mom behind the brand it automatically brings a trust factor to your product! How was it when you first started selling your products? How did you manage to convey your Unique Selling Point to your customers?
“About eighty per cent of our employees and colleagues are women, and another fifty per cent of those women are mums. So this is why we say, made by mums inspired by kids because it’s not only Sara. It’s all the mums that we have in our office together who are inspired by our own kids. Every single employee comes with ideas and comes with a value-added as a mother of a struggle.”
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You have a presence in over 27 countries worldwide. That’s a huge growth in just a few years!! What are the criteria that helped you in doing this?
“So my colleagues and family tag me with the title – A Hyper One. I do work a lot and enjoy doing what I am doing so I end up working more and more. Plus I have a personal mission. I want all the kids around the globe to be eating in boxes that are safe. I also want to teach & educate parents, that if we don’t take the right decisions now for our environment, our kids would be in much bigger problems than what we have seen.
So this starts with buying the right products and that is good for the environment & safe for the kids. So the environment plus good safety is something that I have started, which is why we are growing fast.
What was your biggest challenge when starting your own business?
“Our biggest challenge was when the team tried to go to the retail store, but they really did not understand their value proposition. They didn’t understand our pricing. They really thought that there will be no parents willing to pay so much for a lunchbox because they were used to buying cheaper-priced products.
So our biggest challenge was to convince them that the consumer has moved and the consumer is willing to pay for the right products especially if they are safer for their children.
I overcame this struggle by never giving up and didn’t let the failure stop me. Kept trying and trying. I also remember who my team would come back to each day and tell me how badly they got insulted. But today its the same people who come to our office to work with us. So today we are not only in the retail stores but we are dominating the shelves”
Are you struggling to price your products/services? Learn “How to price your products and services”
How did you secure your first round of 7 figure funding?
“My small message to all the Entrepreneurs out there – Raising funds for a business is not easy.
Business owners should know
– There is a lot of competition out there.
– You should know that your business is scalable.
– You need to know your markets by heart.
– Who are your clients?
– Who are your competitors? What is the size of the market?
– What is your USP?
Create a product/service that will solve people’s problems. Make sure that your business is scalable in a long time. The product shouldn’t only be specific to you or your friend only. Cater to a larger market. The product you build should make people’s lives easier.”
Have you ever created a marketing plan for your business, obviously, I know you have, can you share with our listeners, how important it is to have one?
“A marketing plan is the core of every business. Our story is against everything we read in books and magazines etc. We had the prototype ready and then the production mentioned they needed 3000 pieces to launch the product. At that time I was working full-time and never thought of Citron as a business career.
After making the items, I didn’t know how to sell them. It was at this stage that the marketing strategies and plans came into play. I reached out to e-commerce stores strategically and to my surprise, the products were sold within three weeks.
I was not active on social media, I was not an influencer. It was at that time that we realized that our product had some potential in the market. Then once we saw a growth in our products then we went full proofed Marketing Plan”
Did you lay an idea for your small business with a proper business plan and strategy? How did that help in your business growth?
“I knew where and how the Business was going but a proper plan & strategy was developed only when I was approaching Fund Raising stage”.
Have you had to make any changes in your business model because of the pandemic, and how has it affected your business? When there were no schools, kids were stuck at home. I mean how was the experience and how did your leadership skills evolve during the time to hold the ship together and then rise back in action?
“I must say that I was very fortunate during that time. The team was very small so I could carry on and keep paying my employees and I didn’t have to lay off anybody. Our revenues were one-third of the year before the pandemic. So we had literally crashed at a very high speed, Basically, this is the year where we started fundraising.
One of the reasons was because of the pandemic, we lost a lot of money but we wanted the story to keep going.
Then we went ahead and started looking for investors. So during the dull time, we utilise the time to pitch and approach people.
I prepared my plan and started reaching out to people too many people until I found somebody that was interested. I may have reached out to 100 people before somebody said yes. The number is important because a lot of people think that it’s quite easy if you have a product.”
Do you have any advice for aspiring small business owners, especially Mompreneurs, who are still in the early stages of development? Any key tips to grow their business successfully?
“You always start small. Test the market and make plans and strategies. Your goal should not be to make quick money. Build a business through passion and not only focusing on money because the reality is that you won’t be making money that easily in the initial years.
Keeping learning and learning, it’s vital to have knowledge in different areas. Many small business owners get demotivated because they are not making revenue the next. It takes time to scale and grow. Dont’give up quickly and be patient.”
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