SWEET TASTE OF SUCCESS

Ireland is not renowned for its chocolate making, but Mary Ann O’Brien tells Niamh MacSweeney that despite obvious industry challenges she is determined to change perceptions

W ith cheaper labour and production costs elsewhere, many manufacturing businesses in Ireland are being forced to move their production facilities out of the country in a bid to remain competitive in the international business arena. Although tax rates in Ireland are very attractive in comparison to other EU countries, the fact remains that business running costs and labour rates are too high for many manufactures to remain viable or sustainable in this country. Mary Ann O’Brien, who founded Lily O’Brien’s chocolates in 1993, recognises the challenge of remaining in Ireland, but this steadfast business woman is not going anywhere. Determined to ride any storm that may come her way, she is unwavering and is wholeheartedly committed to keeping her business firmly on the ground in Ireland. “I’m just determined to stay here,” she explains.

REMAINING COMPETITIVE

Since her own baptism into the business world O’Brien has been keeping an eye on other manufacturing businesses in Ireland and in more recent years has witnessed their demise.

Although she admits she doesn’t have all the answers to the manufacturing woes of the country she is hopeful that the Minister for Enterprise is sitting up and taking notice of the problems facing the industry.

She is equally optimistic that indigenous business can remain competitive in global markets, providing more than 80% of Lily O’Brien chocolates are exported mainly to England, North America and Australia. O’Brien points out that it is important to remember we are on an island, and she says, “I don’t export much to Europe because I find it impossible to compete with a big Germany company to sell into their country, on for example, a contract with Aldi. It is very hard to take them on because they only have to transport their product a few hours down the road.”

Logistically one would imagine it would be easier to trade in Europe than in the US and although O’Brien agrees she also admits she is not one for taking the easy route, and besides “the prise is very good in America and they love Europeans,” she beams enthusiastically.

While Americans may have a strong affinity with the Irish this is not enough on its own to guarantee brand success and for Lily O’Brien’s it is more important to trade as a truly international brand rather than rely on Irishness to win contracts.

BRAND RECOGNITION

With brand awareness for Lily O’Briens steadily growing internationally does this persistent business women ever dream of her chocolates being on the same par with Guinness or Baileys? “Of course I do, that is why I’m here. Yes you can be here to run a fantastic profitable business, but at the end of the day I’m here to build an international successful brand, which it’s on the road to being.”

Although there are many challenges she must confront on the road to international brand recognition and while she may have some way to go to catch up with the bigger players in the market, she reiterates she has the staying power to succeed. “The main challenges are when you are small and you don’t have the experience,” she says. “Finding the right people to mentor you on the way and just having the sheer perseverance to get through the hard times and there are plenty of those, is the biggest challenge.”

O’Brien admits there are plenty of things, such as the currency crash or the coco bean price rises, which could have a dramatic effect on her business. “This coming year is not going to be easy because the costs in Ireland associated with manufacturing are just crazy and the cocoa market and the milk powder market are out of control. But there is not one of those things I can control, so it’s a case of trying to manage those issues and ride the storm,” she concedes.

GLOBAL INROADS

So how does she intend to confront and overcome these challenging times in the year ahead? O’Brien replies pragmatically,” we always work on our efficiencies. Our volume is much greater now and our factory is very automated and I think it is as sharp and as well run a factory as anything you would find anywhere in Europe and we just continue to try to drive it like that.”

Over the years O’Brien has doggedly made inroads into international markets and her brand of chocolates is becoming more and more recognisable on the global stage. According to O’Brien the success her chocolates can be attributed to “the worlds hunger for something real.” She adds, “it’s a real little family company and a lovely success story. The company was started by a woman and is named after my daughter. We are all still around, we are all still laughing and we produce fantastic products.”

Clearly proud of her product O’Brien says the growth of the company has been organic. She also maintains that anyone who buys Lily O’Brien chocolates gets excited. While she does concede that it’s not all straightforward, she still believes her sales team have an easy job selling what she considers to be an outstanding product. “It’s not something that you can buy once; you will need it again and again. You need chocolate in down times as well as in celebration times. You need it in a recession and you need it in depression,” she laughs.

CULTIVATING A VISION

O’Brien has many reasons to smile. She has after all grow her business from zero earnings in the early 90s to a whopping €20 million turnover. She had a vision, she cultivated that foresight and successful sold her idea. Although O’Brien has no formal training in business, convincing others was easy especially when you have a vision and a passion she says. “The product is so genuine and it’s such a fantastic success story that it is such a breeze because it sells itself,” the savvy businesswoman proudly reveals.

The inception of Lily O’Brien’s began at home in O’Brien’s kitchen. In 1995 she raised one million under the BES scheme, which enabled her to build her first factory.

Although the company has grown organically it didn’t happen over night and more than twelve years into her business venture O’Brien attributes much of the businesses success down to hard graft. “I’m not one of these entrepreneurs who grew a fantastic dotcom business that grew to one hundred million over night. It’s a manufacturing company which sounds fantastic but the very fact that we have always been an exporter of out products means we are competing globally,” she says.

SUCCESS AND FAILURE

A lot of the time it is the simplest of ideas that take off. O’Brien took a chance and clearly is has paid dividends, but it might not have worked out so well for the entrepreneur who could have failed in her business endeavours. Aware of her standing as a successful woman in business, who strived to compete with global contenders, she holds others who have not been so lucky in business in high regard.

She agrees that attitudes to business failure have changed in Ireland and accepts that we as a nation are more accepting and forgiving of those who have failed in business and got back up again. “I would admire more than anybody somebody that has failed and picks themselves up and starts again making a success of it the second time around,” she says. “For most entrepreneurs, myself included, it is more than just a business, it becomes you and you become completely entangled in the business. It becomes very much part of you so if you lose your business you lose your life. No matter how successful, everybody has faced times where they are going to bed sweating furiously because they have come to the stage where they could lose their business. So I have huge admiration for those who fail and pick themselves up.”

SUSTAINING GROWTH

The very fact that the Irish are not known for their chocolates means that O’Brien has some way to go before obtaining international brand recognition and respect. Yet something tells me this strong-minded business women will apply herself to any challenge that comes her way and continue to share her chocolate treats with the world.

Published in the Yearbook 2007 of Irish Entrepreneur