HUMAN HEALTHY VENDING

Culver City

BUSINESS: Snack food vending

FOUNDED: 2008

TWO-YEAR GROWTH RATE: 514 percent

2012 REVENUE: $8.1 million

Responses from Chief Executive Sean Kelly:

What did you do to achieve the company’s growth?

In the past three years, we went from being a distributor and licensor to a franchisor approved in almost every state in America. Additionally, we went from offering one product, our health food vending machine franchise, to becoming a complete nutritional distribution platform. Finding the right talent and retaining the right talent is not easy, but it’s truly one of the best uses of my time. Co-founder Andy Mackensen and I have built our team from one person who worked out of his home to a team of 30-plus in our headquarters.

How did you manage the growing workload? For example, did you have to add space or move into new facilities?

First, we moved from 2,000 square feet of cramped office space spread across several offices into one free-flowing, open and creative office environment that’s over 9,000 square feet. Second, we’ve strategically grown the head count in the departments that are the bread and butter of our business.

What was the biggest challenge for your staff?

Being flexible. When you work for a startup, you have to understand that projects and goals change incredibly quickly. At our company, you must thrive on change and be able to turn on a dime in order to succeed and enjoy our environment.

Do you plan on continuing a fast-growth path or has the time come to slow down a bit?

In 2013, we made the decision to build out our infrastructure further. We realized we were growing really fast, so we decided to improve our foundation to allow for what we expect to be rapid growth in 2014 and for the next three to five years. Now that the platform has been created, we’re looking to flood the streets. We feel like 2014-16 will be our best time to grow.