Founder Journeys: Liv Cochrane and Benji Biswas
Liv and Benji from Crunchy
Liv fills us in on juggling a start up with family life, having endless ideas, and working with partner Benji on their business Crunchy, an urban microgreen farm based in Invercargill.
Tell us about Crunchy and how it all started.
We had just had our daughter Arya and we were looking at a way to be with her a bit more and build our own empire! We wanted a low investment way to earn a living and when we found out we could do this with something that supports our health as well, we were intrigued. Plus it’s food. Sold.
You are both entrepreneurs, how do you find this works as a couple?
To be honest, some days it’s easy to sit and dream of ideas and figure out ways to make things happen together and other days it can feel like more of a push and pull. We have two very strong personalities and some days we have to remind each other that it’s love first and the love of growing our businesses second.
As founders with a busy family how do you find juggling family life and running a startup?
Great question. When we figure that one out to the point where we feel smug enough to tell you, you’ll be the first on our list. Haha. At the moment, we’ve noticed that so long as we have routine, roles and compassion, most days are manageable. Our family is growing and changing every single day, so we try to be as flexible and forgiving as we can.
You are both ideas people, do you have an initial process of elimination or filter for working out which ones to look into seriously?
We tend to explore everything. Our spare time is often spent researching and talking over things we’re interested in and whether we could transform them into a viable business. If we can’t sleep because we’re excited about it and it connects with our purpose, then we’ll explore it. Some ideas are too big to chase just yet. At the moment we are working more *in* our business. Once we can flip that to working more *on* the business, we’ll have the chance to really dig into those ideas.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given about being a startup?
"Find something to care about and care about it deeply." Pretty sure that was from Grey’s Anatomy… inspiration comes in all forms….
What’s the last great book you read and why?
Benji: No Limits by Joanne Black. It tells Craig Heatley’s story. He was so tenacious in the beginning and believed in what he was building when nobody else did. It talks about taking on challenges and coming out the other side stronger in every way.
Liv: Honestly…. It’s Legacy - the book about the All Blacks internal culture. I don’t watch sports unless I’m trying to impress Benji, BUT Legacy has taught me so much; about my own drive, about raising kids and about how to learn and grow from perceived weakness and failure.
Head to www.crunchy.co.nz to find out more.