Helping Businesses Grow, Sustainably

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in business development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Zitin Munshi, Founder of Next Mile Co., located in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Next Mile Co. is a sustainability consulting firm that empowers entrepreneurs to think, act and advocate for building a sustainable business. Simply put, our purpose is to help businesses grow, sustainably. At Next Mile Co., we are in the business of making sustainable business commonplace. The basic question we help businesses address is: what is the optimal way for your enterprise to support people, the planet, and [the company’s] performance – the three fundamental pillars of sustainability?

Launched in August 2020, the company offers a bouquet of consultancy services. These range from knowledge building and assessment to sustainability reporting across the sustainability integration cycle. Clients so far have included a natural honey brand, a corporate gifting company interested in pivoting to sustainable gifting, an Ahmedabad-based firm that works with solid waste management and green cover management, and the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT).

At Next Mile Co., we make the business case for sustainability. It may be more expensive in the short run but more cost-effective in the long term. It can be an important differentiator from your competitors and earns you the trust of investors and stakeholders. More importantly, globally, 60 percent of consumers believe that sustainability is an important criterion when making purchases, and younger people actively want to work with responsible companies. Based on Global Sustainability Study, 2021 by Simon-Kucher & Partners.

Tell us about yourself

I'm a Sustainability specialist with 9+ years of global experience in driving organizations and governments to be sustainability-conscious. I have worked earlier with Unilever, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the State Government of Nagaland in India, and TechnoServe in Botswana in the field of ESG/Sustainability. I'm the Chief Editor and Podcaster at the ‘Sustainability, Simplified!’ podcast, where I get into conversation with sustainable business leaders so they may share their learnings. I hold a Master’s degree in Development Economics from SOAS, University of London.

One of my mentors once told me, “Every enterprise usually starts with an observation.” And I was no different. In 2010, while still pursuing my undergraduate studies in Economics, I did a field visit to Mumbai city’s largest landfill as part of a project. There, I saw young children from low-income communities playing in huge heaps of garbage, oddly smiling. I thought to myself, “Why are these children smiling? Are they really happy? Could they not be studying and making a brighter future for themselves someday? Did they even know they could?”

In the year 2011, I was filling out my admission forms to pursue my Master's degree in ‘Development Economics’ in London. I knew I wanted to make a difference and thought maybe a little more study might help. After completing my degree, I engaged in assignments where I learned about how mid-large-sized private enterprises could support communities through their sustainability initiatives.

But the turning point came when, in 2018, I got the opportunity to work closely with youth in Botswana (Africa) to help them start their own ventures. This is where I realised that the concept of sustainability must start as the foundation, right at the beginning of the entrepreneurial journey. In the wilderness of African lands, I began thinking about how empowering small businesses, at first, to embed sustainability is crucial, and something needs to be done about it back home in India too.

Then, I started working towards how sustainability for businesses can be simplified so that they may adopt it more easily and find value in the same. And it was in August 2020 that Next Mile Co. was born. Essentially, the big question that we are working towards is, ‘What is the best and most optimal way in which an enterprise can support people, planet, and performance?’

I think what keeps me going is the happy faces of entrepreneurs who we empower through the journey of Next Mile Co. Additionally, satisfaction hits different when we are able to bust myths in the minds of entrepreneurs about running sustainable businesses through our work, myths like – Sustainability in business is expensive, difficult to practice, or just a marketing gimmick.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

I believe just the fact that I broke myths in my own head about my ability to run an enterprise seems like a huge accomplishment by itself! Along the way in my almost decade-long journey as a sustainability professional, many of my colleagues and friends would often ask me – “You are so passionate about sustainability, have you ever considered starting on your own?” My answer would always be, “No way, I don’t think I am cut for this!”

I am glad Next Mile Co. gave me a chance to test the entrepreneur in me back in 2020. It still blows my mind to think that we have reached a stage where in two years, we have impacted 4400+ lives and directly reached out to 335 entrepreneurs. I am positive we will work towards reaching our target of impacting 10,000 entrepreneurs by 2030.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Often, doing things you don’t necessarily enjoy can become one of the hardest things that entrepreneurship brings with it, at least in the initial phase. Oftentimes, people paint a rosy picture of running an enterprise. It comes with its pros and cons, just like everything in life. However, as an entrepreneur, one needs to embrace everything that comes with it, even things you may not be interested in. For someone that may be doing administrative/finance-related tasks such as filing tax returns or carrying out the financial management backend for someone else, it could be about talent management and so on.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

Embrace failure: It can be your best teacher if you let it.
Focus on the 3Ps: Here, I am talking about not only ‘People, Planet, and Performance,’ which are the three essential pillars to run a sustainable business, but also ‘Patience, Perseverance, and Purpose’ – in both cases, all aspects being equally important.
Your network is your net worth: Build meaningful connections that drive shared value, as partnerships are the ways forward.

I believe the biggest power of building one’s own enterprise is the ability to be in the driver’s seat. This essentially means two key things: first, there is a high level of responsibility, particularly about making decisions that empower others to also spark a purposeful entrepreneurial spirit among them. Second, it also means that the foundational values of your enterprise should be rock-solid, both in thought and action. If you are planning your sustainable business journey to be impactful, definitely keep these two things in mind.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://nextmileco.com/

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/zitin.munshi.7/
https://www.facebook.com/nextmileco

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/zitinmunshi/
https://www.instagram.com/nextmileco/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/zitinmunshi
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zitinmunshi/

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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