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 A hit with coffee
WORKING IN a Brisbane café inspired Phillip Di Bella in 2002 to chance his arm in creating a coffee roasting and distribution business that now turns over $47 million and has secured a place as one of the leading coffee suppliers across Australia. The remarkable success of the Di Bella Coffee business was a little unexpected. Back in 2002, his initial objective was to build Queensland’s number one boutique coffee company, based on nine years’ experience in a Brisbane café, and having gained a marketing degree. Di Bella said "I thought it was time to go it alone, to give it a shot. When I came into the market place I said what I am going to offer is what no one else in Queensland does – a great brand, a great product and consistency. Business CoachingPersonal values in businessCAN YOU AFFORD to build your business on your own set of personal values? Maybe a better question would be, "Can you afford not to?" When I first started in business, I adopted a personal credo for how I would approach business. + MarketingSpending on marketingIF I HAD a penny for every time a business owner asked me how much they should be spending on marketing — I’d never have to worry about budgeting for my own! + SalesThe art of effective networkingMANY SMALL business owners and salespeople attend networking events with the sole objective of finding potential customers but, unfortunately, most are ill-prepared for the task. + Managing your businessSweetening the relationshipsFOR A LONG TIME now we have been told 'not to mix business with pleasure'. However, as I am not one to play by the rules, I have always tried my best to mix business with pleasure — although this has not always been considered valuable work by my employers. + Business SuccessMore than skin deepBORN INTO AN immigrant Turkish Cypriot family in the inner-city suburb of Redfern in Sydney, Maureen Houssein Mustafa has built up one of the country’s leading private beauty colleges. + Managing your businessLearning from failureIT WAS 1995 and I was standing in front of my house with my wife and children as a "SOLD" sticker was slapped on the real estate agent’s board. But this was no happy moment of a property dream realised +
Di Bella said "I thought it was time to go it alone, to give it a shot. When I came into the market place I said what I am going to offer is what no one else in Queensland does – a great brand, a great product and consistency.
"My worst possible scenario was losing five thousand dollars cash that I was prepared to invest for basics such as packaging, initial labels, buckets and scoops."
Initially he was the jack of all trades – undertaking the roasting, invoicing, storage at three different locations and distribution to several more. Once the business was established, he decided to sell his home to fund commercial premises and, camping in a spare office, began clocking up a 120-hour working week.
One of the market trends that has worked strongly in Di Bella’s favour is that people want to buy freshly roasted coffee rather than imported coffee. Coffee is at its best within 48 hours of roasting.
Di Bella said: "So I took the approach that that I would walk in [to prospective cafes] and say that coffee is at its best fresh – this is what’s different about our product. We’re buying direct from farmers overseas, and you don’t need sugar for our coffee; it’s been formulated to blend with milk. I pointed out to the consumer all the competitive advantages." +  |
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In just eight short years Phillip Di Bella has developed a multi-million dollar business selling fresh roasted coffee to more than one thousand cafes across Australia. By Nicola Card.