The African food brand building a community of food lovers

Being furloughed from her job as an events coordinator for a London hotel gave Simona Fynn the push she needed to start the business she had been dreaming about for years.

She spent the summer working on launching Fudien which delivers Ghanaian food in south London.

But she's not just sticking to her local area; Simona has big ambitions to expand nationwide and from the start she was determined to create a strong brand to encourage people to join the 'Fudien tribe'.

She shares the story behind the company and how the Amazon Small Business Accelerator has helped build her business skills.

The free Amazon Small Business Accelerator e-learning programme is advice from more than 30 business experts in 218 bitesize videos.  
 
If you're already an Enterprise Nation member, log-in to your learning dashboard to access the e-learning. If you're not an Enterprise Nation member, you can join the Amazon Small Business Accelerator for free here.

How did you come up with the idea?

It's something I've wanted to do for a long time, but I just kept on postponing it. When I was put on furlough from my job, I decided it was the best time to launch.

A few friends and I are currently delivering the food locally. We are planning on getting a driver as we grow and then eventually sending food to the whole of the UK.

We make the food at home, but we are already thinking about kitchens we could hire. Being a start-up though, we don't want to shoot ourselves in the foot by spending too much money when we don't have a big income so although I've got big dreams, I'm being cautious.

You already have a strong brand. How did you create it?

I found a lady online who was able to do my branding. I thought about what the customer was going to perceive when they looked at our colours, our logo, our mascot etc. Africans are very loud, lively and welcoming. I wanted to translate that in the visuals, hence why our brand is so much in your face.

We've incorporated some symbols in our pattern which are called adinkra symbols in Ghana. They represent peace, wisdom, unity and community. Ultimately, we want to build a tribe of people that enjoy spending time with each other around food.

I had the idea for the name about five years ago. It's a saying in Ghana for people who like to eat. The brand is now like a person. It's exciting because it was just in my head and now having people calling us Fudien and singing our jingle is just amazing.

My husband is a musician so he got a producer friend to do the jingle. I wanted a jingle because it would set us apart. A lot of people who start a business don't have that. The vision I had in mind was like the 'I'm lovin' it' jingle for McDonalds that everyone knows.

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How do you reach customers?

It started as mainly through friends and family. Now we're using LinkedIn to try to connect with people in a professional setting to see if they need some help with food.

Doing the Amazon Small Business Accelerator e-learning programme really helped me with social media. I don't post personally on social media so having to do it on my business pages was initially a hassle.

Watching the e-learning prompted me to think about my content because I'm all about building a community. In one of the videos, Rachel Whittaker speaks about how to build a brand, having a tone and content that keeps people coming back every day. I've now got a spreadsheet of things to use as social media posts. I need to be present online every day if I really want to build a brand.

Having access to the e-learning for free during COVID-19 was a blessing.

Which other businesses are you inspired by?

Nike. I like the sense of community and how everyone in the company knows the story behind the brand. Everybody feels they're part of a family. Once we grow and have our own offices, that's one thing I'd love to have with my future employees. People that work for Fudien, we are a family, we care about each other. It's not just about work, work, work. We care about the human being behind the desk.

I also really like Nandos. I like the legend behind their chicken mascot. It gave me the idea for our mascot.

What are your plans for the future?

Due to COVID-19 my job has become very flexible. I previously had to be at work five days a week and sometimes more if my clients required it. Now because the company is trying to save money and have less people on payroll, if I was to say I want to go part-time so I can focus some of my time on Fudien, it'll be easier for me.

What are your tips for business success?

The most difficult thing is starting. It came as a lightbulb for me. When I get an idea, I can sometimes overthink it and think myself out of it but when my husband said 'go for it', I picked up the laptop and started doing some research and the next day I contacted the branding expert. Just start! Don't think about it too much.

The free Amazon Small Business Accelerator e-learning programme is advice from more than 30 business experts in 218 bitesize videos.  
 
If you're already an Enterprise Nation member, log-in to your learning dashboard to access the e-learning. If you're not an Enterprise Nation member, you can join the Amazon Small Business Accelerator for free here.