S4: People are the most important thing in business, with Keith Abel, founder of Abel & Cole

Conversations of Inspiration

Holly Tucker MBE

Education, Society & Culture, Entrepreneurship, Self-improvement, Business, Personal Journals

5.0 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 15 April 2019

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This week on Conversations of Inspiration, Holly meets Keith Abel, founder of Abel & Cole.

A successful and well loved entrepreneur, Keith started his entrepreneurial journey as a salesman selling potatoes door to door, where a chance encounter led him to discovering organic vegetables.

At a time when everything grown was covered in chemicals, Keith quickly realised people would pay more for organic, chemical-free produce and so Abel and Cole was born, over 30 years ago.

Leading the way in subscription models, Keith shares his business lessons, recounting his highs and lows with a huge dose of humour and charm. But shining throughout, is Keith's passion for nurturing and supporting talent, as well as his commitment and belief that in order to build a successful company, you must also build a strong, passionate team around you.

Enjoying listening to these unfiltered chats? It's worth following Holly Tucker MBE and Holly & Co on Instagram, and subscribing to our weekly newsletter on our website, where Holly downloads her thoughts, and exclusively shares small business finds and topical, 'ungoogleable' business advice.

Show Notes

Jim Carrey's Commencement Address at the 2014 MUM Graduation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V80-gPkpH6M
Conversations of Inspiration episode 19 with Freddie's Flowers https://holly.co/podcast/freddie-garland-freddies-flowers/
In five years’ time…Royal Mail’s subscription box report unveils key trends for success in the market https://www.royalmailgroup.com/en/press-centre/press-releases/royal-mail/in-five-years-time-royal-mail-s-subscription-box-report-unveils-key-trends-for-success-in-the-market/
Keith mentions the laundry subscription service SMOL https://smolproducts.com/
He also mentions houseware brand Joseph Joseph https://www.josephjoseph.com/en-gb/about-us

Transcript

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0:00.0	This week on Conversations of Inspiration, I'm chatting to Keith Abel, founder of Abel and Cole.
0:06.0	After failing his bar exams, Keith started his entrepreneurial journey as a salesman selling potatoes door to door where a chance encounter led him to discovering organic
0:16.5	vegetables.
0:18.1	At a time where everything grown was covered in chemicals, Keith quickly realized people would pay more for organic chemical-free
0:26.0	produce and so Abel and Cole was born over 30 years ago.
0:31.6	His business went from strength to strength amongst the huge ups and downs, but his
0:36.8	clever marketing ideas, a genius tone of voice, impeccable service and beautiful wonky vegetables has now made Abel and Cole into a household
0:46.7	name with an ever growing subscription base.
0:50.4	I had the complete pleasure of meeting Keith at Freddie's Flowers HQ, where he's now an investor and mentor.
0:58.0	We sat down with our cup of organic tea and I belly laughed over the wonderful anecdotes, his honest and truthful accounts of his business
1:07.6	journey and his inspiring words of wisdom from the 30 years he's been in business.
1:13.6	Bow your head and let your eyelids close on down where we're going you won't need to bring
1:20.1	your frown.
1:21.1	I'm Holly Tucker and welcome to conversations of inspiration. Back in 2006 I founded
1:27.6	not on the high street from my kitchen table and since then I've gone on to launch
1:32.3	Holly and Co. I'm the UK Ambassador of Creative Small Businesses
1:36.8	and I believe that having a business doing what you love is the key to a happy fulfilled life.
1:42.8	My dream is to help everybody start theirs.
1:46.2	I'm here to offer advice, inspiration, wisdom, and encouragement.
1:50.9	And in my view, the best way to do this is by sharing stories.
1:55.0	So I've reached out to my favorite small businesses,
1:59.0	entrepreneurs and those who simply inspire me
	...

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