Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in food and beverage but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Sandra Harris, founder, and CEO of ECOlunchbox, located in Lafayette, CA, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
My passion for a plastic-free living started with my kids. I was worried their long-term health would be jeopardized by constant exposure to plastic food containers and a myriad of other products used in our daily lives. I also love to sail, kayak, hike, and explore our natural world. I was alarmed to see the plastic building up on our beaches and blowing through our forests. I was unexpectedly spurred into action in 2009 to do something to help alleviate this growing problem. So, I launched ECOlunchbox to make available a 100% plastic-free food container line. My customers are people who care about their own health as well as the health of the planet. Oftentimes, parents buy our products for the whole family to use.
We are a mission-based company helping families to reduce their dependence on plastic for health and environmental reasons. Even I was surprised by my decision to undertake this consumer product approach to positively address the growing dependence on plastics. My background previously had been journalizing and humanitarian aid work, so I had no experience that would have prepared me for starting a company.
Tell us about yourself
Whether you're climbing Mount Everest or tackling the seemingly insurmountable global challenge of plastic pollution, all journeys start with one step. I think the most powerful way for individuals to join the plastic-free movement is to find something they are truly passionate about as it relates to single-use plastic usage and leverage that passion into action. It's our mission at ECOlunchbox to help people say goodbye to plastic for health and environmental reasons that keep me going tirelessly year after year. Our company is about far more than just selling plastic-free products that are responsibly made.
Currently, plastic is accumulating in our environment at an alarming rate. Almost 8 million metric tons of plastic end up in the world's oceans annually, according to the latest study available from the University of California Santa Barbara. More than 1,200 species are threatened by plastic pollution, and 1 million sea creatures are harmed and killed every year, according to plastics researchers. Indisputably, all animals, including humans, rely heavily on the health of our oceans and will sicken and die if our big blue continues to be choked with plastic.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
We are a small family owned business based in California, and I'm super proud of the positive planet impact we're making by putting to market plastic-free food containers and to-go solutions. I started the business 13 years ago, and it has been a thrilling adventure in change-making! We have sold more than 900,000 ECOlunchboxes so far, and our user community is averting the use and disposal of 10s of millions of pieces of trash annually, our planet impact study shows. I really want to continue to grow the company's distribution and product line so we can serve even more people all around the world. My dream is to find a mission-aligned partner who could help us scale and get our products into the hands of students, NGO communities, and others globally who want to join the plastic-free living movement. I would love to educate and inspire people everywhere to join us in saving our planet from this tidal wave of plastic pollution we are facing.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
Financing! We'd like to expand our advertising and reach, but as a family-owned business, we have to carefully weigh the dollars and sense (yes, cents, too!) of these kinds of marketing results that drive unpredictable ROI. The cost of customer acquisition has increased so much that without financial backing, these kinds of efforts are not sustainable. The Internet is very noisy, and as a small business, it's hard to get the SEO and attention to open the funnel and drive sales. The mass marketplace, like Amazon, also contributes to hard-to-meet consumer expectations when it comes to super fast and free shipping. Most consumers don't realize that shipping and fulfillment fees are very high, and it's not sustainable to match the offers of the big portals.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
Joining forces with like-minded entrepreneurs who are seeking to generate a positive impact through their enterprise is a great way to enhance your efforts. Plus, partnering with other enterprises with similar social and environmental goals is a way to build community, share ideas and create a ripple effect. Reach out to corporations that share your values and seek impact partnerships. Your new corporate friends can introduce their community to your enterprise and vice versa as part of a fundraising drive, volunteering effort, carbon emissions accounting, offsetting project, or something else aligned with your goals. These activities have the potential to expand your marketing reach. But be careful with your messaging and firm in your position that the betterment steps you're taking are aligned with being an excellent corporate citizen - not a publicity stunt.
It's natural to want the quick satisfaction of quick results. It's easy to get discouraged if you do not see results. The key to staying motivated is quantitatively measuring all the metrics you're tracking and, every year, keeping a record of the improvements your enterprise is making in terms of its social and environmental goals. By doing so, entrepreneurs will see that their GPS is working and, bit by bit, their company is becoming a "better" business.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://ecolunchboxes.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ecolunchbox/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ecolunchbox/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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