Defining Moment

I’d just finished my degree in Documentary Film Making at the University of Sunderland as well as the Colorado Film School. I won a Royal Television Society award for Best Student Factual Film, but after working at ITV for a short time, I knew the… read more

Lifestyle Story

Sometimes I think the business has had both a positive and a negative aspect on my lifestyle. On the one hand, I get a great buzz from achieving new goals every day, and working towards a dream. On the other hand, I tend to have less time to spend with… read more

Mistake To Avoid

We originally had quite small ideas for Chooba; we wanted to open up a little stall in a shopping centre, selling a product we would have imported. This was my biggest mistake however - not listening to my mum when she said “If something feels wrong, it… read more

Pearl Of Wisdom

I would always say that if you don’t know about something, then ask someone who does. That doesn’t show weakness - far from it, it shows that you’re strong enough to admit that you don’t know everything and that attitude will take you far.… read more

Pearl Of Wisdom

If you’re thinking about starting your own business, all I would say is, you can do it. Don’t make excuses; it’s too easy to say “I don’t have a good enough idea”, “I don’t have the time”, “I’m not good enough”… you can spend your life surrounded by… read more

Pearl Of Wisdom

You can do it. In the words of Goethe “Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Begin it now. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now”…or in a similar vein, in the words of my typically Yorkshire mum, “Might as well or… read more

Challenge

The biggest challenge so far for us has been in the creating of the ‘instant Cassava balls’- currently this product must be cooked for up to an hour before being added to the drink. We realised that, whilst this is fine in a shop just selling this… read more

Success

Last year we won the national UKBI award for best new business. That was a very proud day, and the award also gave us professional business assistance from IXC UK. We wouldn’t be where we are today without their business support.… read more

Aspiration

I strongly believe that if you aim as high as you can, then what you end up with is often better than what you would have ended up with if you’d aimed lower. Our aspirations now are to become the biggest seller of this product in Europe. And seeing as… read more

Support Story

When we first started the business, we moved into St Peter’s Gate; Sunderland University’s business incubation centre. It was a great idea - professional business space should never be underestimated. We received some great support from the manager… read more