The garden shed business that's popping on social media

The founders of kitchen table business Popcorn Shed discovered a recipe so popular with family friends that they couldn't cook it in the kitchen anymore and the entrepreneurs got relegated to the garden shed.

Since then they've been featured in a series of national newspaper articles, built a social media following numbering more than 10,000 and the product is now popping in two different factories.

What helped the business get into stockists from Ocado to the Co-op? Hard work, determination and building relationships, said founder Laura Jackson. She shared how the business has evolved since the shed.

This article of part of the Enterprise Nation Making Tax Digital hub, supported by Xero.

What does your business do?

Popcorn Shed is rewriting the rules of the snacking category, in the UK and beyond!

Our gourmet popcorn tastes better than the competition, is beautifully branded and our pack formats are unique and eye-catching.

Our production process is complex. Our competitors apply spray-on and powder coatings through an industrial process. Popcorn Shed uses an artisan cooking process by making a fresh caramel batch with each production run.

Our popcorn is tumbled in fresh caramel before being scattered with melted chocolate, nuts and dried fruit. This ensures a deep, rich flavour and provides a lovely texture to every single kernel.

Why did you launch Popcorn Shed?

The founders are passionate about great tasting products and building a lifestyle brand from scratch that has real meaning and resonates with
consumers.

We believe that our popcorn brings people together, enhancing those special moments we spend with friends, family and loved ones.

By sharing and consuming our popcorn treats, our customers' lives are made that little bit happier and more joyful! Popcorn Shed exists to build relationships and put smiles on our customer's faces.

What was it like at the beginning?

Our journey began in the family kitchen. We dedicated ourselves to perfecting irresistibly indulgent popcorn recipes. After months of trialling hundreds of different recipes - and breaking a hob in the process - we finally hit on our three launch recipes.

After numerous requests from friends and family, we made so much popcorn that we were banished to the garden shed! Our family started calling it the Popcorn Shed, and that's how we named our business.

How have you promoted your business?

We attend a number of consumer and trade shows every year, and we are very active across various social media platforms to promote the product. We use Buffer and Hootsuite to help schedule our social media channels.

Xero was instrumental in helping us get an article in The Sun and put us in contact with a number of journalists and forward for a number of PR opportunities. We've had press coverage from the likes of The Grocer to The Telegraph.

Instagram has been great for our business. We publish fun and exciting content so we get as much exposure to as many popcorn lovers as possible. That way more people can discover our brand.

Why do you manage your finances online?

Xero enables us to access all of our financial information quickly and easily using the app. We always know where we are with our cashflow and turnover.

Our admin staff and accountants can log on as well and take the information they need to file our tax return every year which save us a lot of time.

What's your best business tip?

Learn from your mistakes. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. Don't give up!

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