Joby Wood started his CBD food-related business, CBDgo, after suffering from Arthritic Psoriasis. He’d found that CBD products helped the various pains and discomfort caused by his condition. ‘It just started out as a hobby really, but it’s blossomed into a fully functioning business.’

‘People buy CBD products for a variety of different reasons. However, we like to think that ours are great quality. Our customers receive exceptional value for money as well as a host of health benefits.’

Having never started a business before, Joby was anxious about the admin involved in setting up a business but found himself surprised by the process. He said ‘we expected everything to be a lot harder than it was actually! We were surprised at how simple and easy it was to formally register our business with The Formations Company.’

Running a business

Turning his hobby into a full-time role means that Joby has a real passion for what he does and the products he sells. He’s determined to make his business a success and to continue to deliver products that improve people’s quality of life. ‘The best thing about owning your own business is being able to make your own decisions. And, if you’re like me, you can really enjoy the benefits of making those decisions and the products you sell too.’

As a key piece of advice to anybody thinking of starting their own business Joby suggests that you should ‘have a clear idea of what it is you want to achieve before you start out and how best you’ll stand out from your competitors.’

‘Being in the CBD food-related business the biggest lesson we’ve learned has been about the importance of legality and compliance. This means for us having a suitable business premises and kitchen from a health and safety point of view. As well as adequate public liability insurance and being able to perform online age checks.’

Marketing, accounting and Brexit

CBDgo is a business based exclusively online. ‘When we started the business, a lot of our products were sold through Ebay which allowed us to build up quite a substantial mailing list. Now we no longer sell through Ebay and have our own online shop. We keep in touch with our old Ebay customers with a regular newsletter and new customers come in through word of mouth or from our own marketing campaigns.’

‘There are a few challenges with marketing CBD products. We’ve found our best successes in marketing online via social media. We’ve also been able to reach a lot of people by leveraging Youtube as a channel and inviting influencers to try our products for themselves and review them online.’

Joby imports much of his stock from the EU and worries about the effect Brexit will have on his business. ‘Increased border control might cause us a few problems. There’s also the possibility of increased costs if the value of the GBP should fall against the Dollar or the Euro. Hopefully these things won’t happen but it’s too early to tell.’

The online nature of Joby’s business means that the day-to-day accounting and bookkeeping can be done in the cloud. Freeing up his time and keeping him clear of the admin he doesn’t enjoy. ‘We never physically handle any cash. All our payments are made online to us via bank transfer or Bitcoin. Our bookkeeping is done online through Quickfile, which is a great low-cost option we’d recommend to anyone.’

If you’re thinking about setting up your own business and becoming your own boss like Joby, it’s easier than you might think. We’ve helped more than 750,000 people turn their passion into their purpose. Find out more about making your business idea a reality here.