Heaps Normal co-founder Andy Miller on how to find and cultivate your first believers

In many ways, starting a business is a lonely road. No one is going to care about it as much as you do. Part of the job of being a founder is harnessing your belief in the business you’re building to ignite belief in others. These ‘first believers’ play the all-important function of feeding your motivation to succeed. First believers help you gain traction and grow your network, therefore increasing opportunities for luck to strike and for momentum to build.

When we started Heaps Normal, we thought there would be a few people like us — people who wanted to cut back on the booze but who didn’t all necessarily identify as sober. We didn’t anticipate just how many people would embrace our brand and product. Here’s how we found them.

The founding team

Role: perspiration.

Co-founders are the OG first believers, so finding co-founders who’s strengths cover your weak spots is essential. Chances are you’ve already met them, so start by catching up with people in your network to discuss your idea. 

This is exactly how Pete Brennan, Ben Holdstock and I found each other. After pitching the idea for a non-alcoholic beer brand that would change the status quo of Aussie drinking culture to several people in the industry and getting zero interest, Pete approached me with the idea. I, in turn, approached Ben, an award-winning beer brewer. The conversations between us were easy; none of us had to convince each other of the opportunity. We all felt it and we could all personally relate to the idea, albeit in different ways. 

Before long, we recognised the need to commit to our first hire. Hiring your first employee can be very daunting. We approached this milestone in two key ways: we found the right consultants who could start with a small, low-cost service and scale with us as the needs of our business grew. Secondly, we looked to our networks and started slow. Our first hire, Kath, started on a casual basis but quickly added value to the business, which made the decision to hire her full-time much easier. 

Resist the temptation to hire your friends or accept offers of free labour unless there is a clear, mutually beneficial value exchange. The short-term gains are often offset by allowing room for bad habits, like avoiding developing effective processes early on. 

The Heaps Normal co-founders sharing a cheeky beer. Source: Supplied

Family and friends 

Role: inspiration. 

Friends and family are likely to be the ones that make up your first fan base. In the early days of Heaps Normal, this community was essential in keeping the fire burning for us. As well as being your biggest cheer squad, this group of ‘first believers’ can provide the feedback you need to unlock progress. 

When developing the Heaps Normal brand, we sought feedback on key decisions from friends we trusted and who inspired us. In a founder deadlock on our first can design, we put it out to a small group of trusted friends and family to vote. 

When the time comes for launch, friends and family also play the critical function of advocacy. If your cheer squad has been along for the ride, chances are they’ll feel invested in your success and want to talk about it with their own friends, colleagues and networks. Whether it’s on social media or in conversations at work or the pub, word-of-mouth is powerful, especially when those who are sharing your brand or product really believe in it.  

Advisors

Role: consideration. 

Advisors help you identify your knowledge gaps and understand how to fill them. We approached building this segment of potential first believers in two key ways.  

The first was via our existing industry connections. When we started Heaps Normal, we actively sought feedback and advice from people within the craft beer industry. Sharing your passion with experts in your field and courting their expertise not only helps you make better decisions for your business, but can help those all-important industry connections to advocate for you too. 

The second was by actively seeking out and engaging with the Australian startup community. This was a game-changer for us. The Australian startup community breeds camaraderie and feeds the appetite to help others build something from scratch. Actively engaging in this is a force-multiplier for a new business. 

We were lucky enough to get into the Startmate Winter ’20 Accelerator program, where we tapped into Startmate’s stellar network of mentors, alumni and investors. Even if a program like Startmate isn’t for you, there are a plethora of organisations, funds and groups that run ‘office hours’ for founders and aspiring founders with experts and leaders in the startup space. These sessions are an incredibly effective way of practicing your pitch, getting objective feedback from experienced operators and maybe even stumbling on one of your first believers.

Source: supplied.

Consumers

Role: validation. 

Turning consumers into first believers requires a mindset shift. Instead of ‘selling’ to them, talk to them. Engage in a conversation with them about why you’re excited about your product or idea, and build a relationship with them. There are no shortcuts in this process. Like any relationship, it takes time and effort. 

When we were first getting Heaps Normal into the market in early 2020, we were in the depths of lockdown. I spent my days researching the best bars, restaurants and bottle shops in every city around Australia, cold-calling them to ask if I could share some samples with them. Every day, I’d walk to the post office with my list of names and addresses, hand-packing little boxes with a couple of our tins, stickers and a handwritten note. After a week, I’d call each contact and have a conversation with them about the changes to consumer habits they were seeing and what they thought of the beer. 

There’s a lot of marketing theory out there that suggests you shouldn’t talk about yourself. That can be true, and sharing other people’s stories through your brand can be a great way of building first believers through community. But in order for consumers to find you and get behind you, they need to know who you are and what you stand for. You’ve got to have something to say –  an opinion, a stand and a view on the world – or it can feel a bit hollow.

Investors

Role: multiplication. 

Investors can help transform your prospects, but it’s all too easy to fall in the trap of searching for money and money alone. 

Instead, look for strategic investors who fill a knowledge gap in the founding team, or who can open doors for your business that you can’t (or that would otherwise cost you a bomb in time or money). Early-stage investors who are more invested in you as a founder than they are in immediate financial returns are gold. 

Many of the investors who have rallied behind Heaps Normal have all been in the driving seat of an early-stage startup before. Although they represent different industries and have different personal and professional experience to us, each of them has solved many of the same challenges we have faced, or will likely face in the future.

Start seeking out conversations with other founders who have successfully tapped into an investor network that you think would be a good fit – e.g. start with investors who specialise in your category. The investors who back your idea are first believers with financial skin in the game — it pays to have those who have not only reached the top of their game, but who are also personally invested in your mission.

Andy Miller is the CEO and co-founder of Heaps Normal.