There are worse places to start an entrepreneurial career. Several miles to the South and East of central London, historic Greenwich still manages to hold its own as a tourist hub, thanks in no small part to the presence of  a Royal Park, the National Maritime Museum and, last but not least, a very trendy market with a weekend emphasis on arts and crafts and artisan-produced products. During my time living in the borough, a Sunday walk through the park and down to the covered market area was something of a personal ritual.

And I had looked very carefully, I might have noticed Susie Ma. She started selling her own brand of body lotion at the market when she was still at school. It was a decidedly small-scale business - her products were manufactured at home to her own recipe and then sold in recycled jars - but in its own terms, it was successful.

“I could make as much as £1,000 a week,” she says. That wasn’t going to propel her onto anyone’s rich list, but it was money that could be squirreled away to pay for continuing education and to help her mother buy a house. At that point, her aim was to go to a good university and, from there, get a high paying job.

Fast forward to the present day. When I speak to Ma she is moving her company - Tropic Skincare -  into a new £4 million headquarters where all the aspects of the business - marketing, administration, manufacturing, and dispatch will be taking place under one roof. The company itself has just announced record sales of £29.5 million.

And perhaps the surprising thing is that despite a short spell in the banking industry, and a stint on the U.K. version of The Apprentice, Ma has emerged doing much the same thing as she was doing on cold Sunday mornings in Greenwich Market - namely selling organic and sustainably sourced beauty products.

The difference is, of course, that she is doing it on a vastly bigger scale.

Now the U.K. is choc a bloc with artisan producers who can do very nicely selling to relatively small customer groups through local independent shops and market stalls. But the beauty/skincare world is dominated by big brands, supported by massive marketing budgets. It’s a highly competitive market and building a national business is never going to be easy.

So how did Ma build her business? Well the first thing that has to be said, is that she had help. Although she became third on her series of the Apprentice, Sir Alan Sugar - the entrepreneur lynchpin of the U.K. version of the show - invested £250,000 for half the business. He also provided additional mentoring and support, but as she stresses, the day-to-day running of Tropic Skincare and its ultimate success was up to her.

A Tried and Trusted Sales Model

The model she chose was social selling. Backed up by an e-commerce website, the strategy was to recruit a small army of direct sellers who hold events and demonstrate the products.  

This effectively de-risks the selling process. The “ambassadors,” when recruited, pay £180 for a starter kit containing £400 worth of products and are sent out into the world to make a return for themselves. Ongoing, ambassadors receive 25% commission.

It’s a familiar model, but the secret to making it work is to find the right representatives and that was the part that required real commitment and Ma says it was tough at the beginning.

“I used to drive constantly all over the country to try to recruit people, “ she says. “They were long, long car journeys in an old car. But I kept going and it began to snowball - very soon, we began to gain traction.”

Countless Meetings

Traveling the country by road to conduct countless meetings with potential recruits is a long way from the rather glamorous image that we tend to associate with today’s generation of headline-grabbing, tech-focused entrepreneurs, but curiously, it’s an experience that reflects the many tasks that Apprentice contestants are given week by week. Often they are required to design products and go and sell them directly.

I’ve always been a bit skeptical about the relationship between the Apprentice and the real world of Entrepreneurship, but Ma says the show was a useful primer. “Essentially you had a to start a new business every week. Doing that made me realize that I did want to go and start my own business.”

Driven by the Migrant Experience

But her hands on approach owed as much to her family background. Susie was born in China and moved with her family to Australia before coming to London. One aspect of the migrant experience is that it can be hard to take advantage of pre-existing qualifications and skills when you move to another country. Entrepreneurialism was a key to survival. “My mother used to make and sell ties. I used to hustle on the street with my parents,” says Ma.

Today, the work of building the company continues and Ma is determined to pursue a sustainable model through the ingredients, their sourcing and a commitment to packaging that can be recycled. This is part of the brand positioning, but also a matter of principle. “I think the customers appreciate it, but it is also good to do the right thing.

Smartphones have taken over our lives. Take a quick walk around the block and you will likely see every second person (if not more) walking with their head down scanning their cell phones.

There were, as of 2018, some 230 million smartphones in the U.S., among 327.2 million people. And in the first quarter of that year, a study showed that Americans spent 11 hours a day interacting with media, up from nine hours and 32 minutes four years before.

Of those 11 hours, nearly four were spent on computers, tablets or smartphones, with 62% of that time devoted to scanning apps or the web using mobile devices.

Breaking it down even further, Instagram research showed that 84% of smartphone users examine products via a browser or mobile platform, and according to Criteo 36% of the online sales made in the fourth quarter of 2017 came courtesy of mobile devices, up 16% from two years earlier.

That represents a continuing opportunity for those dealing in e-commerce, who made $504.6 billion in sales in 2018, a number that is expected to increase to $560.7 billion in 2019 and $612.9 billion in 2020.

Amazon.com is, of course, the leader in the field, making $141.92 billion in retail sales in 2018, and drawing in some $232.89 billion in total revenue. Everyone else is scrambling to keep up – trying to get more eyeballs on their site.

There are many buyers who peruse apps, appear to be interested in a product but then complete the transaction via laptop or desktop. Increasing the conversion rate for mobile devices is a matter of enhancing the user experience. The key is to clarify and simplify, and increase site speed. Users won’t hang around forever; in fact, studies have shown they will only wait three seconds for a site to load before they click away.

This is why everything must be lean, compelling and efficient.

The very first step in mobile optimization is to check whether Google deems your site to be mobile friendly, and correcting any errors that pop up. This can be done very easily by using Google’s Mobile Test tool.

Once that is complete, you can delve into these five steps that will further optimize the mobile shopping experience.

Prominent Placement Is Important

"Above the fold“ is a phrase that originated with newspapers, referring to the upper half of the front page, which was prominently above the fold in newspapers. The most important elements were displayed in that section of the paper, or today, on the upper section of the home page.

That is the case with e-commerce apps as well. Besides the company logo, the search window should stand out. Of particular importance is the call-to-action (CTA); digital marketer Neil Patel writes that it should be easily distinguishable from its surroundings – big and bold, and in an eye-catching color.

As an example, this technique is illustrated well on CanvasPop’s website. As soon as a potential customer visits the site, a pink call-to-action button draws the eye to the call-to-action that clearly says “Get Started.”

Tailor The Experience For Each Individual Customer

Amazon gives customers access to businesses in their areas. Walmart allows one to search those products that might be available at a local store. Trivago lists hotels closest to your present location, wherever you might be. And Starbucks allows you to accrue points on your loyalty card with every purchase, which can be redeemed for a free drink at a certain point level.

Tailor the online experience to the client – to give each of them reason to keep coming back. Retention is everything.

Site Speed Is A Key Factor

Site loading speed has become a major factor in customer retention. One study showed that 79% of the respondents would be less likely to give return business to a site they found lacking in performance.

Faster load times can be assured through things like image optimization – i.e., reducing file space through Photoshop or third-party applications – or content delivery networks (CDNs) which cache content, enhance speed, performance, and delivery of internet content for users.

Also, it’s important to alleviate as much friction as possible from the buying process – remove steps and form fields that will bog down a customer. Today’s consumers don’t have the patience for inefficient processes.

Simplify The Checkout

Patel also writes that 23% of the time, customers will abandon their purchases if they proceed through additional steps, only to discover that they have to register for an account before checking out. Make it simple for customers – offer guest checkout, so they don’t have to enter in personal information if they choose not to.

Remove distractions from the process to ensure that those near the finish line actually cross it. It’s also important to give customers access to digital wallets (Apple Pay, PayPal One-Touch, Visa Checkout, Amazon Pay). And it’s obviously critical to ensure security as well.

Analyze Your Site Metrics

Google Analytics metrics can provide a lot of valuable insight, including everything from the amount of time customers are spending on your site to which page they exit the site from, just for starters. Pageviews indicate the effectiveness of your content – whether it has drawn visitors in, and how engaging it might be. Another important metric is bounce rate, which measures whether a visitor stayed on a single page and then departed. This can hint at any number of problems, such as poor copy, performance or design.

You can also get to the heart of the matter by surveying your customers through such means as the System Usability Scale, a 10 question survey that provides insight at the ease of use (or lack thereof) of websites, mobile devices, software, and hardware.

The bottom line is that the customer experience needs to be as engaging and efficient as possible if you want to make the sale and gain customer loyalty.

On a recent evening in Manhattan's Soho neighborhood, stylish guests mingled in a spacious loft office/test kitchen, sipping "mocktails" and sangria and nibbling on Manchego cheese, baby squid and paella. In many respects, this soirée could have been an event for any one of the dozens of trendy meal delivery companies that have sprung up in recent years to cater to busy professionals.

But that's where the similarities ended: All the fare served that evening by Manhattan startup Epicured was gluten-free, and, surprisingly for a Spanish-themed meal, it was notably devoid of garlic and onions.  (The trick: using garlic- and onion-infused oils instead.) That's because Epicured specializes in delivering chef-prepared dishes that adhere to the low-FODMAP diet.

FODMAP is an acronym for the five classes of fermentable, short-chain carbohydrates that can particularly cause digestive upset for people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, or IBS, and other digestive disorders. Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) may also benefit from low-FODMAP diets with some modifications. A recently installed "extra-sensitive" filter lets patients request dishes with softer textures, less fiber and fewer spices.) Epicured also attracts many customers with celiac disease, who must eschew all gluten. Besides garlic and onions,  high-FODMAP foods include apples, honey, watermelon, cauliflower, wheat and many legumes.

The low-FODMAP diet was developed by researchers at Monash University in Australia. It is widely prescribed to patients with IBS, which afflicts about 15% of the population worldwide, according to Monash, and to those with a related disorder, Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth, or SIBO.  Up to 86% of IBS patients experience symptom relief on the diet.

Typically, a patient's physician or nutritionist, will give them dietary guidelines and recipes for an elimination phase that usually lasts from two to four weeks. That period of avoiding  all high-FODMAP foods is followed by a gradual reintroduction of FODMAPs, one category at a time, to identify which ones are problematic and which ones can be eaten without discomfort.  But it can be daunting to follow the regimen, particularly if you don't feel particularly handy in the kitchen. And, even if you do love to cook, measuring out your Brussels sprouts portion to no more than 34 grams might just seem like more trouble than it's worth.

That's where Epicured comes in. Many of its customers are Millennials, who are used to ordering in from Seamless or eating out in restaurants, but they may find it challenging to find low-FODMAP options. Cofounders Richard Richard Bennett, CEO–whose previous career included starting a pharmacy chain, Vivo Health, for what is now Northwell Health and working as an investment banker–and Renee Cherkezian, a registered nurse- turned-chef who guides the menu development, consider Epicured  a health care company that's deploying "food as medicine."

"I never woke up and said, 'I really want to start a food company,'" Bennett said.  "If  we are truly going to improve health outcome and population health we need to think of a way to engage in nutrition that’s sincere, honest practical, and can really help people."

About a third of Epicured's clients don't even need to eat low-FODMAP or gluten-free. "They love the taste and convenience of Epicured," said Bennett. On average, nonclinical patients order eight meals a week while clinical patients order an average of 14 to 15 meals a week, spending about $130-150. The average entree costs $11.80. The company's executive chef, Chris Cortez, formerly worked at Bouley and La Vara. All meals are delivered fresh, not frozen, and keep in the fridge up to five days.  The company delivers over 3,000 meals a week to customers.

"We want to get around that whole idea of restriction," Cherkezian told me during a visit to the test kitchen, as she used a fork to tease out long pasta-like strands from a roasted spaghetti squash. "We want to make it like they have no restrictions, so they feel liberated in terms of eating and flavor."  

One of Epicured's largest investors is Mount Sinai Ventures, the investment arm of the big Manhattan-based health system. Brent Stackhouse, managing director and vice president, said he got interested in Epicured after hearing about the company from Laura Manning, clinical nutrition coordinator at the Susan and Leonard Feinstein Inflammatory Bowel Disease Clinical Center,  "I generally invest in things that the experts at Mount Sinai are using or are going to use."

"Because of our distinguished gastroenterology program and our massive IBD center, Epicured fit at a good moment," Stackhouse added. "We're looking at Epicured in the long run to understand how we might expand into other menus where diet and clinical nutrition are proven to improve outcomes." In 2016, Mount Sinai ran a pilot with doctors and nutritionists, who used Epicured with their patients and met with the company. They are now also offering Epicured to employees through its wellness program.

"When it came to evaluating Epicured and the revenue model, we definitely saw a lot of enthusiasm from the patient population," Stackhouse said. But he said he has gotten mixed feedback from the Mount Sinai medical community as to whether people should eat a low FODMAP diet indefinitely.

Alexandra Rosenstock, a clinical dietician for the Center for Advanced Digestive Care at New York Presbyterian Hospital, told me that many of her patients do benefit from following the  low FODMAP elimination diet, but her goal is to eventually expand their eating options.

"A lot of high-FODMAP foods are healthy sources of fiber. We don’t want people avoiding them for too long," she said.  Still, she said she could see Epicured being useful for about 10 to 12 weeks for patients who don't want to cook for themselves while they are completing the elimination and challenge phases of the diet.

But the truth is some people do stay on the low-FODMAP diet for a long time. "We certainly hope with all of our patients is that they’re able to find relief and some sort of balance," Stackhouse said. "We also didn’t want our patients to be buying boxes of food in perpetuity order to meet their nutritional needs."

To that end, Epicured, with Mount Sinai's help,  is educating patients about the low-FODMAP diet so they can be more self-reliant. It plans to install a television studio at its headquarters where they'll offer cooking demos and other programming. And because buying prepared meals can be a financial barrier to some patients, the company is also looking at various solutions to improve access, including philanthropic support, lowering the average cost of meals, offering discounts and working with insurers to get coverage for patients, Bennett said.

Epicured, which has brought in about $6 million to date from investors, is currently raising a $10 million Series A round. The funds will go toward expanding its delivery service, which now ranges from Washington, D.C. to Boston, with the addition of another factory in the South that will enable them to reach from Florida to Maine to Chicago.  Bennett said they plan to build a West Coast facility as well. In 2020, Epicured hopes to offer at least one other therapeutic menu for another medical condition.

One newish Epicured customer is Becky Davies, a, certified yoga teacher, health coach and student who is finishing the prerequisites for in a Masters program to become a registered dietician. The Manhattan resident has been diagnosed with celiac disease, pelvic floor dysfunction and SIBO. She said that with her busy schedule it's hard to prepare her own meals all the time. She sees Epicured as a useful tool, rather than a permanent solution.When we spoke she had ordered three times, requesting three meals a week.

"My food is pretty expensive anyway," she said. "It's actually a great option when I have a super-busy week."