James founded Ethical Bedding from a genuine passion to create a brand with purpose, while setting a path for other businesses to follow.
Eureka Moment:
After years of working in FinTech, I realised my work no longer filled me with joy, and began impacting my health. I wanted to do something that would have a positive impact on the world, and saw that building a B2C brand would enable me to spread kindness through my business. I've always loved nature, and the protection of the planet is always front of mind with every business decision I make, so when I discovered the incredible properties of eucalyptus, I knew this was a fabric of the future. I set about scoping products suited to using this as a base textile, and this was how Ethical Bedding came about. Giving back is a pillar of how I conduct myself personally and professionally, and my company is an extension of that.
Finance:
Bootstrap, bootstrap, bootstrap! This has been my motto all the way through proof of concept and into post-revenue. We are currently in the middle of our first crowdfunding campaign, which is incredibly exciting as it will allow us to get to the next stage as a brand, and raise equity finance through people who are genuinely interested in our journey as a company.
Regrets:
For me, regrets are just the lessons you don't learn from - if you can take something away from it, then I consider it a blessing in the long run.
What would you have changed?
Many things that I would like to have changed are things that are out of our control, and all are retrospective. The key to success is to keep moving forward along the right path, and continue to learn from the lessons and challenges along the way.
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