180 - Alex Gransbury - Founder and Managing Director - Dreamfarm

Arete Podcast with Richard Triggs

We speak to a truly inspirational guy on this episode. An inventor, business owner and thoroughly entertaining conversationalist, Alex Gransbury regales us with his personal journey from wannabe financier to world-renowned inventor, and how his company Dreamfarm took the kitchenware market by storm. In Alex’s words, Dreamfarm “takes problems in life that haven’t been solved… and we solve them”. Based out of Brisbane, Dreamfarm sells to 35 countries and approximately 4,500 retailers, and has attained the holy grail of being able to sell products to people who didn’t know they needed them. How did he do this? Listen to the show to find out! Episode Highlights: - How Alex got started as an inventor - His grandfather’s influence on creating an income source that didn’t require his own effort - The impact of moving to several different countries as his father changed Foreign Affairs postings - An early start in the world of patents, while still in High School - His epiphany where he decided he’d rather be an accountant’s client than an accountant - His brief stint selling his own products at the market, before a hardware store took on his first product - His thinking behind the choice of kitchenware over coffee products - How ‘staying in the lane’ of kitchen products has helped Dreamfarm get to the point where they can now consider other homeware products - How Alex made it work with a Chinese manufacturer - ”If a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well” - Why the driver should be ‘creating something great’ rather than simply money - How to create solutions that people don’t know they need yet - Why he’s turned down offers to buy Dreamfarm - How to market to people and persuade them why they should care - The true value of the exchange of time for money - The importance of having a Board of Directors for wise counsel - How Alex could justify not paying himself for five years - The benefits of recruiting people who don’t need to be moulded - Why you should hire people who are better than you, rather than subservient - Do elite performers really need 8 hours of sleep every night? Useful Links: Dreamfarm website: https://dreamfarm.com/ Richard Triggs on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardtriggs/ Arete Executive Website: https://www.areteexecutive.com.au/