Fraser Doherty
Jammy fellow
Edinburgh schoolboy Fraser Doherty went into the jam-making trade at the age of 14, after his homemade preserves sold well locally. Now he has a thriving business which sells his luxury jams all over the world. He tells us how he did it.
What gave you the idea for Doherty’s Preserves?
I have always been a big fan of jam and since I was about eight years old I had lots of little projects on the go, trying different ways of making pocket money.
I suppose in some ways it wan inevitable that I would start my own food business given that enterprise and food have always been my two passions in life!
The catalyst came when my Gran taught me her top secret jam recipe and I had something of a 'eureka' moment when I realised I could make jam myself and sell it door to door in the local area.
What were you doing at the time you had the idea?
I was still at school when I started the business. I had spent a couple of years working for a bacon wholesaler, selling bacon door-to-door across Edinburgh.
I learned a lot from doing that and the boss was an archetypal door-to-door salesman who taught me everything I needed to know to start my own business. I was paid 30p for every packet of bacon I sold and I was the top sales boy for Edinburgh!
Although I was selling hundreds of packets each week, I wanted to try my hand at starting my own business.
What was the first thing you did to try and make the idea happen?
I went to the supermarket and invested two pounds in a dozen oranges and a bag of sugar. I filled a plastic bucket with six jars of homemade marmalade and started knocking on doors, charming all the old ladies in the village where I lived.
Once I sold those first six jars, I made a batch of 12 jars, then 24 and so on until, a couple of years later, I was making thousands of jars of jam each month.
Who helped you, and how?
When I started, I didn't really look for help anywhere. I liked the idea that this was something I was doing by myself, totally independently. I obviously got help mastering the art of jam-making from my Gran when I started, though, which I was really grateful for.
After a couple of years, I started to get advice from places like the Princes' Scottish Youth Business Trust (PSYBT) and have gained a lot of experience, contacts and PR since winning an Enterprising Young Brit Award two years ago.
When did the idea start looking viable?
Well, the first six houses that I visited all bought a jar of marmalade from me so I suppose it was clear that it was a good idea from the outset.
For almost a year the business didn't expand beyond the grey-haired customers of the village because I was quite content making twenty quid a week when I came home from school and at the weekends.
Just by chance, a TV producer from a fairly unknown cable channel asked for a jar of jam to include in a tasting session and I started to receive a few orders over the internet from all over the world. It was at that point that I realised the business could become my full time career.
What obstacles did you encounter along the way?
I encounter obstacles every day and overcoming them is what makes running my own business so thrilling and ultimately satisfying. For the past six months, I've been turning business away because I simply can't produce enough jam.
As a result, the major obstacle I’m now facing is moving the business on to the next level, which involves investing in new packaging, developing new products and moving into a factory.
Probably the hardest thing I've had to do so far has been finding a way of making jam without using any sugar at all. This has taken about four months to develop but I am now able to make 100% fruit jams, sweetened with fruit juice rather than sugar.
These are very healthy and with more than two thirds of people in this country overweight or obese, the demand for these is clearly massive. The major supermarkets have expressed an interest in stocking them once I'm able to produce large enough volumes, so things are getting increasingly exciting and also very challenging.
When did the idea officially get up and running?
I have been selling jam since I was about 14 but I plan to launch the range of healthy jams in September 2006, if all goes to plan.
Future plans for the idea?
I plan to apply the brand to many other areas of food. There are lots of foods which are traditionally very unhealthy that, with a bit of innovation, can be made much more healthy. I've got loads of ideas for the future but I'm focusing on launching my range of 100% fruit jams into the major multiples at the moment.
Advice to anyone else who wants to make their idea happen?
At 17, I don't really think I'm in a position to give you my philosophy of life or anything like that, and I also don't believe that there's any secret to making a business a success.
What I will say, though, is that I don't think there's anything inherently difficult about having an idea, starting a business or growing it into a career. The difficulty lies in motivating yourself to get up in the mornings and keep working at the idea until it is finally a success.
Anyone could achieve what I have with just a lot of hard work and a bit of imagination. You really don't need to reinvent the wheel and the best businesses are usually very simple. I started mine in an afternoon with a dozen oranges and a bag of sugar.
That was something anyone could have done, but it's something which has taken a lot of hard work, sacrifice and determination to make into what it is today. I suppose people should just give their idea a shot and if it doesn't work out, try something else.
It also helps if you're laid back about the money side of things. I couldn't care less if my business makes me rich or not. If I'm honest, I probably earned minimum wage for the first couple of years of running my business, but I'm not doing any of this so I can buy a Ferrari or a big house.
I'm doing it because I really enjoy the challenge and the satisfaction that comes from making a product that thousands of people enjoy on their toast every morning. If I didn't love what I'm doing, and if I ever stopped to think about how much I was earning, the business wouldn't be where it is today.
There's no way I'd have got out of bed at 6am every Saturday and Sunday to go to farmers' markets if I'd been thinking about the money!