Accountant Turns to Ice Cream Entrepreneurship

Vivien Wong, a 28-year-old entrepreneur, has made a significant career shift from an £80,000-a-year accounting job to starting her own ice cream business, Little Moons, with her brother.

Growing up in her family's bakery, Wong had always dreamed of running her own business. Her father's cancer diagnosis prompted her to take the leap and create Little Moons, which has since become a popular brand of mochi balls filled with ice cream.

The company's success on TikTok was not an overnight phenomenon, but rather the result of over a decade of hard work and preparation. Wong shares the lessons she has learned along the way, including the importance of not waiting for perfection and being prepared to make sacrifices.

## Launching a Business with Imperfect Products

Wong recommends following the "80-20 rule," which means launching a product that is 80% complete and improving it as you go. This approach allowed her to get Little Moons to market quickly and make adjustments as needed.

For the first five years, the company sold mochi to restaurants and cinemas before investing in branding and moving into supermarkets. Wong's advice is to focus on getting a product to market quickly, rather than waiting for it to be perfect.

## The Importance of Knowing Your Brand

Wong emphasizes the importance of knowing your brand and staying focused on your values. She advises against blindly taking advice from experts and instead encourages entrepreneurs to think for themselves and make decisions that align with their brand.

Wong and her brother would discuss advice they received, sometimes taking it and sometimes rejecting it. Over time, making these decisions helped build her confidence and allowed the company to stay true to its values.

## Working with Family: Setting Boundaries

Wong and her brother had to learn to behave like colleagues at work rather than siblings. They set boundaries for how they interacted in the workplace and made a conscious effort to respect each other as colleagues.

Now that the company has a chief executive and wider leadership team, Wong and her brother are less involved in the day-to-day running of the business, which has allowed them to "just be brother and sister again."

## The Reality of 'Overnight Success'

Wong's company became a TikTok phenomenon during the pandemic, but she emphasizes that this was not an overnight success. The company had spent years learning how to manufacture at scale, train staff, export products, and supply major retailers.

Wong's advice to entrepreneurs is to remember that the viral moment is often the part of the story everyone sees, rather than the beginning. She encourages entrepreneurs to focus on the hard work and preparation that goes into building a successful business.

| | First Five Years | Current Status | | --- | --- | --- | | Sales Model | Restaurants and cinemas | Supermarkets | | Investment | Branding | £500,000 annual rent | | Factory Size | 5,000 sq ft | 30,000 sq ft |