Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Cullen Schwarz, founder of DoneGood, located in Denver, CO, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Forbes called DoneGood "The Amazon for social good." DoneGood is an online marketplace where every purchase you make helps make the world better. On DoneGood.com, people can find anything from clothing to coffee to home furnishings to shampoo and more. We screen every company that sells products on DoneGood to ensure that they're paying living wages, producing in safe conditions free of child and trafficked labor, and using highly eco-friendly materials and production practices. And we just think the products from our partner brands are cooler and higher quality than the typical stuff. Items handmade by someone paid well are naturally better quality than stuff mass-produced by a mega-corporation in a giant factory. Higher-quality items last longer, which means less repeat consumption and saving money over the long run. We also work with our partner brands to offer exclusive discounts. So you can get better products, save some money, and make a positive impact at the same time.
We really love our partner brands. They're making things like jewelry that help women escape sex trafficking, sunglasses made by pulling plastic out of the ocean, women's clothing made in a completely zero-waste facility. They all have such cool stories. There are also filters people can use to find products based on the issues that matter the most to them on the site. So you can find ethically and sustainably produced products and then filter to find items that are also vegan, Made in the USA, non-toxic, cruelty-free, produced by women-owned or person of color-owned companies, and more.
Tell us about yourself
I started my career in politics. I was a communications director for a couple of U.S. Senators and worked in the Obama Administration. I got into that line of work because I wanted to make a difference on issues like economic equality and climate change. But I found the pace of change in D.C. to be kind of slow.
I looked around and said: What do I really think could make a major impact? What is really the world's most powerful force for change? I think the world's most powerful force for change is the dollars we all spend. Americans gave $450 billion to charity last year. But we spent over 300 times more than that buying stuff. If even a fraction of that spending can reduce poverty, fight climate change, and make the world better--the impact is HUGE.
In a supply and demand economy, consumers have all the power--whatever we demand, the market supplies. More and more people are starting to demand that the products they buy are made with good wages and eco-friendly practices, and that's starting to make even big businesses want to improve the impact they have on the world.
I really think the most important ideological shift of our time will be moving away from the old Milton Friedman philosophy that says businesses should extract profit at all costs and instead to a paradigm that says we expect businesses to do good for the world. That change is already occurring. Consumer demand is the force that's powering that change.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Ha, I don't know, staying alive for six years? I think that's the biggest accomplishment, haha. And we're growing each year. Of course, we'd like to grow faster, not just for our business success, but because that means more people are making even more of a positive impact. The thing that makes me feel the best is when we get notes from DoneGood users or our partner brands letting us know they really believe in what we're doing. Those notes keep me going every day. I guess maybe more typical answers might be: We've raised over $2 million over the last few years. I suppose I'm proud of that and grateful that investors have been inspired to join the cause.
We've been covered in a lot of media outlets like the Washington Post, New York Times, Vice, Buzzfeed, Huffington Post, Wired, Mashable, Fast Company, Forbes. We've been awarded as a B Corp "Best for the World" company. We started at the Harvard Innovation Lab and were recently selected as a "10 for 10" venture, 10 of the best startups to come out of Harvard's program over its first ten years in existence.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
For me, one of the toughest things is deciding what cool new things we ought to take on. On the one hand, you always want to try new things and don't want to miss cool new opportunities. On the other hand, especially as a startup, you don't want to spread yourself too thin.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Start your business as a social enterprise. Consumer demand for sustainable goods is exploding. Last year the market for sustainable goods in the U.S. alone was $115 billion. In recent years half of all growth in the consumer packaged goods space was driven by growth in sustainably-made products. Nielsen and other mainstream organizations are saying there is a fundamental shift toward sustainable purchasing occurring among consumers, especially among millennials and Gen Z, and companies that fail to recognize this will be left behind. People are also making a company's social mission a prime factor in their decision on where they want to work. Impact investing is exploding and going mainstream (1 in 4 dollars on Wall Street is now invested with a social impact lens of some kind). So, starting a company that does good for people and the planet will help you get customers, attract top talent, and secure investment. It's the wave of the future. And you get to feel like you're doing something truly meaningful every day. The business-as-a-force-for-good movement will be the most impactful movement of our time. Be a part of it!
- Follow Conscious Capitalism principles. This can be done with any kind of business. Adhering to the tenants of Conscious Capitalism means focusing on creating true value for all stakeholders, from customers to partners to investors and others, rather than focusing on extracting maximum short-term profit. This ultimately makes a greater profit in the long run. So instead of thinking, "How do I get more people to buy more of my product," you think, "How do I truly make my product a 'gift to the world'? How do I best love my customers and truly make their lives better?" Or for us at DoneGood, instead of saying, "How do we get more partner brands on our site?" we think, "How do we best help our partner brands be more successful?" which will lead to more partner brands wanting to be on our site anyway. Studies have shown that companies that adhere to the principles of Conscious Capitalism have had 14 times greater investment performance than the S&P 500 average in recent years.
- Have fun with your team and foster a culture of true caring and love among everyone who works there. Have real work/life balance and care about each other's physical and mental health. If your business requires you to work 100 hours per week and never see your family and underpay and kill yourself, you don't have a good business, and you won't be as creative and productive. And I'm a reformed workaholic saying this. We currently have the best, most cohesive, most fun team that DoneGood has ever had right now with the best work/life balance. And our sales have never been higher. So fight that urge that says that if you all have too good a time and feel too good about your work and rest too much, then you won't get as much done. The opposite is true. It really is.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
Well, I can share a discount code for $20 off for your readers! Go to DoneGood.co and use this code at checkout: SUBKIT20
That'll get $20 off a purchase over $100. It'll be good through March 31.
Thanks, it was great to talk to you!
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://donegood.co/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/donegoodteam
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/donegoodteam/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/donegoodteam
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/donegood/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
Feel inspired to start, run or grow your own subscription business? Check out subkit.com and learn how you can turn "one day" into day one.