Some weeks feel like you’re moving mountains, and other weeks are spent laying foundations.This week was definitely about foundations.
When people see a new business, they often see the finished brand, the products, and the marketing. What they don’t see are the hundreds of small decisions, delays, and challenges that happen behind the scenes.
Here’s what we’ve been working on at BioClover this week.
Building the Business
One of the first jobs was officially registering the business.
While we had already secured the BioClover trademark, registering the company itself wasn’t as straightforward as we expected. After a few hurdles, we ended up registering under a different company name.
Now comes the next decision.
Do we continue building under the BioClover brand name that we’ve already started creating awareness around, or do we make changes?
It’s not a huge decision in the grand scheme of things, but it’s one of those things that takes time and thought. Building a business isn’t always about the big milestones. Often it’s the smaller decisions that shape the direction of where you’re going.
Alongside this, we’re also starting to look at facilities, production space, and the practical side of what future growth might look like. There are phone calls to make, costs to calculate, and plans to put in place.
Sometimes it feels like there are ten different projects running at once.
I suppose that’s entrepreneurship.
Testing, Data and Building Our Ingredient Portfolio
The most exciting part of this week has been sending our samples away for laboratory testing.
Over the past few weeks, Dave and I harvested plant material from the farm and prepared ten separate samples for analysis. Each sample represents a different extraction process, solvent system, or variation that we want to understand more deeply.
For me, the science is the most important part.
I don’t want to say an ingredient does something simply because a similar ingredient has data behind it. I want BioClover to generate its own evidence and build its own scientific story.
That’s why we’re testing not only the extracts themselves but also the solvents, extraction ratios, and different processing methods. We’re comparing approaches and looking at how each one influences the final ingredient.
We’re also investigating protein levels and exploring whether certain processes preserve proteins. Can we make peptides from plants.
Our long-term goal has always been peptides.
But before we can get there, we need to understand exactly what’s happening within each process.
I’ve always been someone who wants to know why.
Why did CloverCell™ reduce inflammation?
Why did it improve skin barrier function?
Was it the plant itself, the extraction method, the solvent, or a combination of all three?
The only way to answer those questions is through science.
Looking Ahead and Trusting the Process
One thing I’m learning through this journey is patience.
I have a very clear vision for what I want BioClover to become. My goal is to build an Irish bioactive ingredient company with a portfolio of scientifically supported ingredients sourced from our farm and developed through a combination of agriculture, biotechnology, and science.
The vision is clear.
The challenge is that I can’t rush it.
Before we create brochures, finalise branding for new ingredients, or position products within our future portfolio, we need the data. The results have to support the story.
As much as I may believe an ingredient will perform in a certain way, assumptions aren’t enough.
Sometimes the results confirm exactly what you hoped.
Sometimes they surprise you.
Right now, we don’t know which plant is going to lead the race. It could be red clover. It could be nettle. It could be gorse.
That’s part of the excitement.
At the moment, it’s a waiting game.
The samples have been sent, the testing is underway, and now we wait to see what the science tells us.
One thing I’ve realised is that writing these updates has become surprisingly therapeutic. It gives me a chance to stop, reflect, and appreciate how much has happened in a relatively short period of time.
There is still a long road ahead, but we’re moving forward.
One test, one decision, and one step at a time.
Until next week,
Sinead O Keeffe
Founder