Business & Work

It might not seem a blessing at the time, but redundancy often provides the kickstart many entrepreneurs need to start their own business. Anila Vaghela, managing director of Anila’s Authentic Sauces, had been talking to family and friends about setting up her own business selling curry sauces for six years. But it was only when she was made redundant in 1998 that she finally took the plunge.

It turned out to be the right decision. Within a week of setting up operations in her kitchen, Anila had received her first order from Bentalls, a department store, which wanted to stock her sauces in its London food hall. Six months later, another stockist came knocking at Anila’s door: Fortnum & Mason, one of London’s oldest and most prestigious department stores. “Gradually the number of stockists I worked with – from department stores to delis and farm shops – reached 100,” says Anila. “Then a year later, I began attending farmers’ markets and now I sell at about 28 markets each month as well.”

Anila spent nearly five years producing her famous sauces from the family kitchen. “Then three years ago, I moved the business to a factory in Hounslow,” says Anila. “We have 1,400 square feet, three staff, 18 products and two distributors now.”

Business Link in London cooked up success for Anila’s Authentic Sauces

Once Anila had found premises for her business she contacted Business Link in London. “I realised that now I had a factory, I needed professional help,” she explains. She met with Business Link in London's Business Adviser Aneel Singh Golhar, who listened to Anila’s concerns and conducted a review of her business. It was clear the main issue she faced was constantly ‘fire fighting’.

“I was buying the produce, making the sauces, marketing, looking after accounts and selling,” admits Anila. “Aneel showed me that I had a resource issue – I needed to recruit another pair of hands and look to outsource to various suppliers to help me lighten the load and get on with running my business.

“Business Link in London showed me what I needed to do, which was to either recruit a supervisor or extra pair of hands. It was good to hear things I knew, but which nobody had voiced to me.”

Business Link London also signposted Anila to various suppliers, such as Sage, an accountancy software provider, and the London Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS), which helps manufacturers operate more productively. In addition, it gave Anila access to funding, which helped her subsidise marketing costs by 50%. The investment was used to print sales brochures and create the company’s website.

After eight years’ in operation, Anila’s Authentic Sauces has become a brand name in the South and Anila received critical recognition for her merchandise when she won two gold awards at the 2005 Great Taste Awards. The business is also growing rapidly with turnover doubling two years ago. It is likely to increase further this year, as Anila plans to start exporting and selling into pubs and restaurants.

“One thing led to another and I joined the Passport to Export programme run by Business Link in London and UK Trade & Investment (UKTI),” says Anila. In June, she travelled with UKTI and Passport to Export to Dublin to meet buyers and distributors. Two weeks later, a buyer from Fallon & Byrne, Ireland’s first food hall, contacted Anila to order a pallet of her produce.

Anila's Authentic Sauces - www.anilassauces.com

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