SURVIVING COVID BY GOING 100% DIGITAL – EXTREME ENTREPRENEURSHIP Ralf Fletcher, CEO of Topco Media speaks to Andrew Smith, CEO and co-founder of Yuppiechef - NBA Digital Company of the Year. Andrew Smith started Yuppiechef in his lounge, with co-founder Shane Dryden, in 2006. They had no money, 32 products and 1 brand. Today they have 7 shops, 400 suppliers and their e-commerce-first principle has served them well during lockdown. In this podcast - which is a must for all entrepreneurs - Ralf Fletcher, CEO of Topco, speaks to Andrew about surviving COVID, the enduring appeal of retail shops, the importance of customer service, the pain of being an entrepreneur – and not eating the spinach plant before it is ready. Andrew Smith is a Hilton College graduate with a ream of high school awards to his name in everything from poetry and verse to mathematics and science. The Dux student graduated in 1998. Eight years later Andrew and his business partner Shane Dryden decided to sell kitchen tools online. Dryden got in touch with a few foodie friends and, based on their insight into kitchen tools they just couldn’t live without, the idea for Yuppiechef was born. Something they got right from the very start was exceptional customer service and it is a trend that has continued to be a defining characteristic of Yuppiechef for 14 years. They wanted their customers to know that there was someone on ‘the other side of the internet’ who cared. To this day, Yuppiechef takes pride in every one of the close on 1 million handwritten notes that have accompanied their deliveries since the start. Yuppiechef is now a household name, stocking 9 000 products from some of the world's leading brands and boasting a long list of awards in advertising and website design, including the Best E-commerce Site in South Africa on 7 occasions. Yuppiechef surprised the market in 2017 with the decision to move into physical retail, and with seven stores across South Africa.

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