Hakim Halim is the founder of Ripe Cheese, the world’s first all-Australian artisanal cheese shop.
Hakim moved to Australia from Singapore in 2011. In 2017, he pivoted from digital marketing to cheesemongering at the iconic Queen Victoria Market. Noticing a gap in the market for local cheeses, he founded Ripe Cheese, showcasing over 50 varieties from local artisan producers. Ripe Cheese was awarded the 2023 Melbourne Small Business of the Year and the 2022 and 2023 Australian Good Food Guide Readers’ Choice Winner. Also a judge at the Australian Grand Dairy Awards, Hakim champions the Australian cheese industry, marking Ripe as an industry beacon.
Want to learn more? You can read or listen to our chat with Hakim Halim on YouTube, Spotify, Listen Notes, or Player FM. It’s also available anywhere you listen to your favourite podcasts via Buzzsprout.
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Authored by Hakim Halim, Founder of Ripe Cheese.
To scale a business, you need more than good business knowledge, you need to be a great leader. As someone who has grown a once-small business, I’ve experienced the rollercoaster of entrepreneurship, especially with unexpected challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic. In this article, I’ll share some important lessons and strategies that have helped me grow my business by empowering and leading my team effectively.
Overcoming challenges
Every business faces challenges when they’re trying to scale, but the real test of leadership is how you handle them. When I launched Ripe Cheese in November 2019, I couldn’t have anticipated the global crisis that soon followed. After a strong start, our sales plummeted due to the pandemic. This hit me hard, not just as a business setback but personally – it honestly felt like I had signed a death warrant.
But, with the help of creative thinking, customer and stakeholder consultation and even some mental health support, I soon learnt the key to overcoming this massive hurdle was to be open to pivoting our business model. Dwelling in self-pity wouldn’t help. I needed actionable strategies to bounce back. We rolled out online cheese masterclasses, online sales and direct-to-home deliveries and introduced new products like our now-famous truffle toasties. We were going viral! This experience taught me a valuable leadership lesson: view every challenge as an opportunity to learn, adapt and grow. This is the foundation of being a good leader and the basis of what this article will explore.
Let go and delegate
Scaling your business means changing how you lead. One change you can make that will transform your business is learning to let go. As my business started to grow, I quickly realised I couldn’t handle everything alone. I started to trust my team and create an open culture where everyone could freely express their ideas. This shift was key. Stop being so hands-on, encourage your team’s input, and embrace calculated risks. It’s about letting go of the need to control every detail and focusing on guiding the broader vision. It can be challenging but it will lead you to innovate and improve your products and services.
Innovation should be a constant in your business, not just a response to challenges. Encourage everyone in your team, from the receptionist to the finance manager, to suggest ideas no matter how out-of-the-box they seem. When we started experimenting with different toastie varieties, it was about being open to new possibilities, not guaranteeing their success. Many ideas might not work, but the ones that do can be game-changers. Build a workplace culture where taking smart risks is encouraged and failure is not the end of the world; it’s a learning opportunity.
Once ideas have been pitched, as a leader, your role is to give those ideas that final push. Think about it like this: most ideas start off great, about 95% there. But it’s that last 5% – that little extra nudge – that turns them from good to amazing. Take my chef, for example. He might whip up a new sandwich and it tastes good, but not quite knockout amazing. I push him to go back, tweak it just a bit more, and find that magic 5%. It’s a bit like those motivational posters you see – “magic happens outside your comfort zone.” Pushing that bit extra can turn something good into something unforgettable.
Empower your team
True leadership is about teaching others to lead themselves. At Ripe Cheese, we encourage each member to take initiative with each decision they make. I always tell my employees, if they want to try or eat anything in the shop, “Don’t ask me, just do it!” If they feel a customer is valuable and deserves a discount or freebie, “Don’t ask me, just do it!” Empower your team to be the best version of themselves, and they’ll want to make your business the best version it can be.
A resilient team is not built overnight. It comes from consistently empowering your team and equipping them with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed. For example, at Ripe Cheese, we developed a month-and-a-half-long training program and created resources like the ‘Cheese Bible’ so each team member is well-informed and confident in their role. We even take our team on excursions to meet cheese makers, giving them a firsthand look at the production process. All this care and empowerment is an investment that will help them connect with customers and sell products better. At the end of the day, we are storytellers, not salespeople and you need your team to tell the story of the product as passionately as you do.
Be vulnerable and honest
Leadership is as much about strength as it is about vulnerability. During tough times, I’ve always been open with my team about my limitations and struggles, which has helped to build a supportive and understanding work environment.
By sharing these struggles with my team, I learnt the importance of being transparent. Honesty will bring your team closer together and help each member better support each other through challenges. Letting your team know it’s also okay to seek help is vital for maintaining a healthy, productive work environment.
As I mentioned before, as Ripe Cheese started to grow, the dynamics of my role evolved. I went from managing every detail to overseeing a larger team together with my store manager and business partner. That is a very tough shift for me because I like to hold on and control whatever I can in my life. Sharing these internal changes with my team was much needed; it helped them understand my leadership style and the pressures that came with it. There are times I might not perform at 100%, or I’m more quiet or stressed. I must let my employees know that these are not reflections of them but part of the ups and downs of managing a business. Even during interviews and team meetings, I make it clear that while I aim to lead effectively, there are going to be times of personal challenge. This honesty sets realistic expectations and builds a team resilient enough to navigate any storm together.
Have a clear purpose
Finally, a big part of being a strong leader is guiding your team back to the business’s core purpose. At Ripe Cheese, for example, our mission to champion Australian artisanal cheese (support small local producers) shapes everything we do. Identify your purpose – the reason you’re in the business – and base every decision around it.
In saying that, staying focused on this core purpose is tricky. Sometimes you can get tempted by money, especially for small businesses where funds are tight. Our summer night market venture is a prime example. We thought that what we did at our primary retail location would work just as well at a night-time event and we could just boost our revenues and profits. It flopped! This taught us a key lesson: don’t assume you will always be successful and base your business decisions on your mission, otherwise you can risk losing authenticity and momentum.
A strong, straightforward elevator pitch about what your business stands for can open big doors. You never know when you’ll run into big players in your industry, so you need to have your purpose and pitch prepared. Keep your core message consistent across all platforms and interactions. This helps build a trustworthy and respected brand. At Ripe Cheese, this consistent messaging has been crucial in attracting loyal customers and insightful investors.
‘Purpose’ may sound like a fancy word big companies use to sound better, but purpose is the cornerstone of a small business. With limited funds and resources, you need a purpose to guide every decision. Chasing quick profits at the cost of your core mission can waste resources and weaken your brand. Always weigh each opportunity not just for its financial potential but for how well it matches what your business stands for.
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Scaling your business depends on how well you lead and empower your team. By embracing challenges, encouraging open communication, empowering your team, being honest about your limitations, and staying true to your purpose, you can build a resilient and successful business. Remember, leadership is not just about steering the ship but also about nurturing the crew that helps you navigate through the stormy waters of business.
