A new support initiative has been launched by the founder of Ethique to help reduce the failure of New Zealand startups with an environmental or social purpose.
According to latest Government data, less than half (45%) of New Zealand startups, including those with a social mission, will survive past their first five years.[1]
The Business, but Better initiative was created by Brianne West, founder of the country’s largest regenerative beauty product exporter, Ethique.
West will announce she is stepping down as Ethique CEO this week, almost 11 years after starting the $100 million business in her kitchen as a 24-year-old biochemistry student. During her tenure, the company has exported its range of sustainable shampoo bars and soaps to over 8,000 retailers in 22 countries and, prevented 25 million plastic bottles from entering landfill.
West says while she will remain with the company to support across product, sustainability and brand, her focus will be on supporting hundreds of entrepreneurs who want to start and scale up a social or environmental business venture that has the potential to change the world for the better.
Research shows women are more likely to start a mission-led business however they can face a number of barriers including poor access to information, funding and gender-specific networks and support.[2]
West says while there is a significant amount of entrepreneurial talent in New Zealand, who are willing to offer their time and guidance, there is a shortage of female mentors in NZ and research shows women prefer to be guided by other women.
She says other countries have a legally defined business entity category designed specifically for mission-led companies, such as benefit corporations in North America, which could be considered as part of a regulatory framework – to recognise the inherent value of social enterprises to the New Zealand economy.
West developed the Business, but Better initiative to help entrepreneurs learn from the “many” mistakes made while Ethique was in its startup phase and says they have had international interest from a wide range of environmentally and socially focused ventures.
The programme provides entrepreneurs with an extensive video resource covering a wide range of topics including branding, funding and exporting – as well as regular group mentoring and individual one-on-one mentoring sessions.
West says just three weeks after launching, the programme’s first marketing course intake is full and the platform has already attracted interest from social enterprise founders in the USA, UK and Australia, as well as New Zealand.
“The level of demand has caught us by surprise; however we believe it is a reflection of the unmet need for greater support for social startups both locally and abroad.
“We know that social enterprises are much more likely to be led by women than traditional startups, and they are often headed by young entrepreneurs.
“While more mature businesses can readily apply for R&D funding to explore new markets, there is little in the way of customised support for mission-led startups – and it is a significant contributor to their high failure rate,” she says.
West says one of her early mistakes as a female entrepreneur included a self-taught foray into the registration of their global trademarks.
“The first time I registered a trademark I could not afford an IP lawyer and so I applied under an international trademark protocol known as the Madrid System to register the brand across multiple off-shore markets.
“This immediately triggered the arrival of a series of letters each demanding a payment of 2,000 Euros to various ‘IP officers’ around the world.
“They looked extremely legitimate, and I panicked thinking they were real and it was only by sheer luck I found out it was a well-known scam.
“I also didn’t bother to register a trademark in Australia – and later had to change the original business name.
“Learning from these experiences and many others, I wanted to create a resource and sounding board for other entrepreneurs to learn from the misadventures I experienced during the startup phase.
West says the platform was developed following the realisation that she could help significantly more entrepreneurs through the creation of a video library resource, which can be used in conjunction with customised mentoring sessions.
“Trial and error is a great way to learn in some respects, but it can incur more cost and stress than a startup entrepreneur can manage.
“The objective of the programme is to remove some of the common pitfalls associated with launching a business and help these fledging ventures make it to maturity,” she says.
West says she can be scathing of some of the traditional business advice that is commonly disseminated, which is not well aligned with the social enterprise model.
“What we know is that business models have changed significantly in recent years.
“The old-school concept of staying on-shore until you are profitable or the prerequisite of having a 50-page business plan is no longer relevant – as international markets have become much more accessible, even to early-stage SMEs,” she says
West says the programme is designed to integrate with a multi-million-dollar fund and incubation initiative, Nous Labs.
West says more information about how entrepreneurs can access support through Business, but Better is available here.
[1] Statistics NZ data.
[2] Global State of Social Enterprises.
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