News | A Catch-Up with Grand Ideas Award Winners Ethicalcommunity.com

Monday 27th June 2011

Shell LiveWIRE caught up with Jason Dainter of Ethicalcommunity.com to see how business had progressed for them and their memories of being involved in the Shell LiveWIRE Grand Ideas Award process since their win back in 2009.

Tell us a little about your business and what it does?

Ethicalcommunity.com enables sellers of ethical and eco products to easily create an shop to sell their products in our online marketplace. Since the site launched in October 2010 it has attracted more than 400 shops across the world selling over 7,000 unique products from across the world ranging from Fairtrade coffee, to handmade natural soap, to up-cycled tshirts.

The website also simplifies the often complicated  process of shopping ethically by explaining what each products ethical credentials and certificates mean. Shoppers can also learn more about each seller by interact with sellers reading interviews and interacting with them via the sites own social network, where they can learn more about the story and people behind the products they buy.

Our goal as a company is not only to give (often small one-man-band) sellers a platform to sell products but also to give consumers all the tools and information they need to demystify ethical shopping, and to create open debates about key issues that will help shape our planet.

Had you always wanted to run your own business?

I have always been entrepreneurial and had the long term dream of running a company but up until University I hadn’t ever considered starting a company so early on. I took my course at University (Computing and Management) with the intention of getting a job afterwards, but after launching our first start-up during my studies and getting my hands dirty with running a real business it dawned on me that the employment path wasn’t for me.

Liam Patterson and Jason Dainter, founders of Ethicalcommunity.com

How did you find out about the Shell LiveWIRE programme?

We were looking for competitions and grants that would give us a direct cash injection that we could use to directly help the business. Shell LiveWIRE was a perfect choice for this reason.

What do you think of the service that Shell LiveWIRE offers young entrepreneurs?

Fantastic (and we’re not just saying that!). We have been fortunate enough to have been in the late stages and winning a few start up competitions but to date Shell LiveWIRE has provided the best level of service out of all of them. The cash reward is clearly a huge benefit to many start-ups (where lack of capital/cash flow cash is normally the number one concern) but more importantly after we won a Grand Ideas award the help and support kept coming. We have been engaging with Shell LiveWIRE as 'Alumni' where we have gained useful funding contacts and a fantastic network that has added real benefit to the business.

Did you enjoy the process of being asked to film your elevator pitch?

Yes it was great fun! We were still in the very early bootstrapped stages of the company then, so putting our entrepreneurial hats on we decided the best way to get our message across would be using a quirky animation. We took a trip to a local “pound shop” in Leeds, bought a big pad, a few pens and props (coming to a grand total of a fiver) and filmed the whole thing in the middle of the night on a camera we borrowed from a friend. In the morning (deadline day!) we dubbed the audio on afterwards using a skype headset! The video had a nice raw and down to earth feel about it as a result and we still feature this on our site in the about us section. The bootstrapped days of business are without a doubt the most fun which is probably why so many entrepreneurs return back to a start up after they have grown or sold their company.

You can watch the elevator pitch video in the top right hand corner of your screen.

Can you tell us what winning a Grand Idea Award has meant for you and the business?

The funds we received for winning the competition went directly into finalising our site designs. A lot of the work we paid for with the money still shows in our designs to date and has been invaluable as we get a huge amount of positive feedback on the clean “look and feel “ of our site. In terms of publicity the award has also been very beneficial and we have used the fact that we have won a Shell LiveWIRE Grand Ideas award to gain us press online and offline. On top of all that, we have gained valuable investment contacts through the friendly Shell LiveWIRE team.

What advice would you give to people starting a business for the first time?

Do something you love and are passionate about. You will be tested to the maximum starting up a business and will surely have highs but also many lows. Its these low points where you need a huge amount of determination, creativity, drive and enthusiasm about what you do to keep pushing you through. Loving the work you are in, the business you have created, and the nature of the work you do helps keep that passion alive and of course your motivation up. Surround yourself with like-minded people who share this enthusiasm early on and you won’t go far wrong!

What was the biggest mistake you made with your business and what did you learn from it?

I don’t really consider anything we have done as a mistake as such, but more as valuable “feedback”. We have made hundreds of mistakes and continue to do so on a daily basis but this is a healthy sign that we are a growing start-up pushing boundaries and taking on new challenges. Probably the biggest piece of feedback we have had to date was simply not getting the proof of concept site live fast enough and probably being over-optimistic about how much functionality we needed in the early stages.

Perhaps this applies particularly to web based businesses/concepts but I would strongly advise any tech start-up to be extremely agile and put a focus on getting your product or beta prototype out there rather than doing too much background study. This is a far more valuable exercise and by getting real customers using your business you will get much more realistic feedback on the direction your business should take.

What does the future hold in store for you, where do you see yourself in 5 years time?

We are currently going through an exciting round of funding into the company which means in the coming years we will be increasing our web development team and resources. This is a very exciting time for us as with over 7000 products on the site and now being open to international sellers we are finding the site is growing at a fast pace. In 5 years time we would like to have a strong presence globally helping ethical sellers from all corners of the planet sell their products to more conscious consumers.

You can follow Ethical Community on Twitter @ethicommunity

For details on how you can apply to be a Shell LiveWIRE Grand Ideas Award winner like Ethicalcommunity.com visit the Awards page.