Amy Bell overcame obstacles—from natural disasters to COVID-19 lockdowns—to build her business, The Meat Club
We love entrepreneurs and small business owners at Honeycombers, which is why we’ve created Launchpad, a comprehensive digital networking platform (with IRL benefits, too) that encourages connection, business support and community. It’s a privilege and pleasure to learn from so many talented and inspiring folks, so we’ve decided to share the love by interviewing some of the lovely Launchpad members. Looking for inspiration? Check out how Amy Bell, founder of The Meat Club, gets it done like a boss.
How I get it done: Amy Bell
How and why did you decide to become an entrepreneur?
I am a former lawyer and I moved to Singapore as a typical trailing spouse in 2013. I started The Meat Club after feeling frustrated by the quality and price points of beef and lamb at local butchers and supermarkets at the time. While I was—for a time—bringing in product in my suitcase after travelling home, I knew that was not sustainable. I wanted to make the meat products accessible and affordable to everyone in Singapore, so I set up an online butcher offering home delivery to meet that need.
What does the Launchpad community mean to you?
I don’t pretend to have all the answers. Having Launchpad as a community of likeminded business pioneers is like having several mentors—the more you lean in, the more you learn.
How I get it done: Lightning round
On the hardest part about the job: If you’d asked me four years ago, I would have said balancing my time between work and my two young daughters. These days, thanks to COVID-19 lockdowns, I’m more kind to myself and I appreciate the flexibility of working from home to spend more time with my girls.
Fast forward four years and my answer now would be that the most difficult aspect of running a business is maintaining great staff, and ensuring consistency of supply. Between freight issues, droughts and flooding, we are constantly facing issues in ensuring our products from Australia and New Zealand reach Singapore on time.
On keeping stress levels low: I am a lot better at dealing with stress thanks to age and experience. I don’t like to use the word, or label work as ‘stressful’ any longer. Everything about life can potentially be stressful, which often makes me feel like issues are bigger than they are.
Instead, I’ll go for a walk or sit outside and plan a way out of whatever pickle we are facing. I try to remind myself there is a blessing with every curse… An opportunity with every obstacle… It is how you frame it that makes the difference… Every day brings new challenges and it’s up to us to balance the good with the bad.
The secret to success: Don’t take no for an answer.
Check out The Meat Club and enjoy $10 off with the discount code WELCOME10!
Launchpad is a comprehensive digital networking platform (with IRL benefits, too) that encourages connection, business support and community. It is designed to make the entrepreneurial journey not only easier, and more successful, but also a whole lot more fun. We offer almost daily activities for members to connect, along with weekly masterclasses, member networking roulette, small-business mentoring and media profiles on Honeycombers. Check it out and join us!
