Meet Geeta Sidhu-Robb, Founder of the innovative and multi award-winning company Nosh Detox, the UK's first ever home detoxification and weight-loss delivery service. The company produce freshly made, non-pasteurised Juice Diets, Detox and Nutritional Plans, delivered across Europe & UK. Clients include Gwyneth Paltrow, Georgia May Jagger and Poppy Delevigne.
Can you tell us about your career so far? How did you come to be the CEO of Nosh Detox
I originally was a corporate lawyer specialising in telecoms. I left my job while struggling with a divorce which resulted in me having to support three small children under the age of seven and put them through life and school. I therefore had to make some hard decisions. My ultimate decision was that I wanted to be able to spend time with them as my son had been so ill he’d spent nearly two years in hospital. He suffered from severe allergies and anaphylaxis, which doctors were struggling to treat. I decided to teach myself nutrition and health in order to heal him, which thankfully I managed successfully. At about the same time, my best friend came to me and was complaining about her weight. I was dismissive of it as a problem and wrote up a list for her to follow. She lost all the extra weight within weeks and came to me saying ‘you know, people would pay you for this!’ The rest is history; I went on to set up Nosh Detox in 2008 and haven’t looked back since.
Can you tell us a bit about your business and the services on offer?
Nosh Detox is the UK's first ever home detoxification and weight-loss food and juice delivery service. We produce freshly made, non-pasteurised Juice Diets, Detox and Nutritional Food Plans across Europe and the UK. We extended our services by opening the health inspired Nosh Garden Kitchen in the Anouska Hempel designed La Suite hotel in Bayswater, which offers raw and vegan cuisine, as well as the Nosh infusion Clinic, which offers a wide range of wellbeing treatments on King’s Road, Chelsea. I am a health and lifestyle coach and offer individual and Corporate Performance Coaching, as well as Wellness Coaching.
How did you know there was a market for this?
I didn’t begin this journey knowing there was one, as a matter of fact. What I knew was that I was facing a problem and therefore imagined other people did too. In those days, it was impossible to find food that was prepared in a gluten and dairy free fashion - so that was what we offered. My first clients came to me from the school my children were attending, as their parents didn’t have the time to cook but needed help. Standing out wasn’t a problem as we were the first, so of course the specific market was relatively untouched. We don’t just sell food and juice. We offer health solutions for high-performing individuals, which span from physical to emotional support. All our customer services staff are trained as Health Coaches from the renowned Institute of Integrative Health, so we invest in offering knowledgeable advice and practical solutions.
What has been the biggest challenge as an entrepreneur to date and how did you overcome it?
The biggest challenge I faced when starting the business has been believing in myself and my decisions. Especially when they go against perceived wisdom. Nosh Detox works in the space of Wellness which is a wide area encompassing ‘I feel amazing’ all the way to ‘I feel terrible but my doctor has no idea as I’m not sick!’ We have literally fought to create programmes in the face of huge scepticism and criticism. Nevertheless, I have always known to follow my gut in how to make people feel better and to then succeed in wonderful amazing transformations. I find it elating when you show someone the power they hold in their own hands and mind to feel better, and how quickly they can get there.
What has been your proudest moment?
This would most definitely be curing my son of his chronic eczema and asthma. He is the reason why this all began and will always be a reminder of the wonderful things we achieve at Nosh Detox. Other fantastic moments have been the strong growth of the Nosh group of companies by adding on Nosh Infusion clinic and our restaurant Nosh Garden Kitchen which have helped us build long-lasting relationships with both old and new clients.
Crowd Sourcing played a big part in the initial financing of your business, what advice would you give to a fellow entrepreneur looking to go down the crowd funding route?
Crowdsourcing is a really fast and effective way to fund your business. You can crowdsource publicly on one of the many platforms out there or you can also do it privately to your own clients and existing database as we have done. Our campaign was only 4 weeks long and very successful.
However like everything, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Maximise your chances of success at the outset. Invest time and money in creating an attractive pitch. Create attractive incentives, compelling videos and pitch pages. Spend time and effort checking other winning pitches and analysing them before you start building your own.
The biggest secret to success with crowdsourcing? Secure around 10 – 15% of your funding before you start. We all like to follow a crowd
Nosh Detox is largely ran through the use of e-commerce. Can you give us an overall outline of your business model?
My Business model is very much based around providing a luxury, personalised prepay Wellness service for high performing individuals. We are a one stop shop in that we highlight the problem create the solution and then deliver it to the client. We have always been an ecommerce business until we launched our first clinic earlier this year on the Kings Road and then our restaurant in Bayswater. We also place a lot of importance on social media. As more and more people searched for us, our social media channels became the place they would go before they decided on which products to buy.
What lessons would you give to a young entrepreneur looking to one day be a CEO of a top brand?
Be prepared for the long haul and for people to copy you incessantly. We developed a mantra when we first put RAW juices into wholefoods and supermarkets in 2012, 'Buy it or bless it as you walk past' because the minute we launched, we were copied and it’s never stopped. The good news is that it makes a bigger pie for us all. So just hang in there.
And never ever give up, just pivot.
Where do you see Nosh Detox in 5 years’ time?
Well I am a very ambitious person and I have so much I want to do. I have long been fascinated by Thought Leadership in the Wellness arena so I foresee a lot more coaching in the business in the next 5 years. And an IPO has crossed my mind too. I think the future will hold a lot more growth, fun, joy and happiness along the way
