WHEN Dan Ford left his job as a lawyer at the Department of Innovation and Industry in Canberra and moved back to his home town of Tenterfield to follow his dream of starting a beef jerky business, the gutsy move raised a few eyebrows.
The 34-year-old poured all his life savings into Bald Rock Beef Jerky and after about 18 months of planning, the fledgling business got off the ground this time last year.
And the gamble has well and truly paid off with his tasty snack, which uses meat from his parent’s cattle farm, Bald Rock near Tenterfield, being sold by 90 retailers across Australia and rapidly growing.
He has also garnered a solid international following, selling about $2000 worth of the meat strips from his website to overseas foodies each month.
Mr Ford said it was a family holiday to Zimbabwe in 1994 which introduced him to the idea of drying meat and planted the seed in his mind.
“I learnt the basics of drying meat there and by the time I was 18, with the help of my mother’s cooking expertise, we put together a basic recipe,” he explained.
“Then we just sort of tinkered with that recipe and improved it for several years then came out with a few different recipes.”
As could be expected, not everyone was convinced that Mr Ford should take his kitchen hobby to new heights.
“Initially my parents were unsure of me giving away my legal career, but they have seen how quickly my business has grown and have always been very supportive of me in following what it is I really want to do,” he said.
The unique way in which the entrepreneur secured extra start-up capital has also been lauded, with Bald Rock Beef Jerky receiving a Regional Development Australia Northern Inland Innovation award late last year.
“Crowdfunding is fairly new to Australia and I ran a crowdfunding project that resulted in getting 722 backers from all over Australia and also lots of international backers including from countries like the US, Russia, the Netherlands and probably another 20 countries,” Mr Ford said.
“The total raised was $26,500, which is still, as far as I know, an Australian agribusiness crowd funding record.”
If the enterprise continues on the up-and-up, it could also have positive ramifications for the town, with Mr Ford hinting at the possibility of opening his own manufacturing plant.
