In the summer of 2007, Susie fairy was found in the middle of the hot flashes. She was using a fairly uncomfortable to try to cool and, like other products that she had tried, was not working. Frustrated, said aloud to herself, "How it is possible that I am the only woman in the world who wants to be personally fresh?" That, my friends, is the beginning of a business. In 2009, fairy quit her day job and he had personally built fresh.
I met a fairy in the 2012 Summit Astia CEO. Personally he is a client of Astia; I am on the Board of Trustees of Astia. Fairies, his co-founder Hugh Brownstone and I shared a car to the airport after the Summit. During that car ride, fairy spoke enthusiastically of how philanthropy could be part of your company as a benefit. He took up with fairy to find out how she is carrying your business to make a difference, while still hitting its growth targets. Here are their tips:
Be consistent with your brand
"Do it well" is the core of personally fresh. Fairy believes that a start-up should create an identity and prove it constantly. "People feel good" are as fairy describes the business is in. "your company is not just a product. It is not just a business. For a customer, your company is a complete experience, "says fairy. If your goal for your business is to make a positive impact, every part of your business must deliver that promise in every way. It is ideal to donate to charities. But if your sucks service customer or provider relations not at par, your brand is suffering. Do good with the world.
Act slowly and elegant
Cool, personally donates its reusable long-lasting cooling packs to charitable organizations around the world that help people with conditions that result in intolerance to heat. Fairy and his team also had the opportunity to give your product to an audience that does not have a clear need for it. He decided to participate because it meant potentially strong coverage to a broader public. For a company that boasts "do good" at its core, donating a lot of products to an audience that probably would not appreciate the expected benefit it was not a good option. Fairy easily admits that she and her team said yes to that opportunity when he should have said no. Take your time and consider promises only those philanthropic opportunities that align with the good of your brand.
Rethink your investment dollars
"Not short giving the baseline more than another line item," says fairy. Many companies spend considerable advertising dollars with no real insight into his return. Fairy sees the donation of their products as a guaranteed return. "You could spend $30,000 in a full page in a monthly magazine advertisement and has no idea if someone flip by it or read it."And if you read it, would be to act accordingly?"question.
However, the right charitable donation, will always deliver a return. With each donation, fairy Gets the market research that extends the reach of your brand, build influential relationships and Yes, makes a difference. Challenge yourself to invest part of their budget to make a difference in your target market in new and different ways.
Find sponsors who share your passion
Investors who have personally supported fresh up to know exactly what the company represents and how their money will be spent. Fairy thought long and lying about how a company can operationalize a philanthropic arm making money. Fairy pitch and your business plan leave no doubt that personally cool can make a difference, while turning a profit. Make sure that your company shows an alignment between its corporate brand, the company's philanthropic efforts and that will change.
Many founders hope to make charitable contributions until they reach certain financial milestones. Personally Cool shows that you don't have to wait. Being built in a culture of doing business while doing good right from the beginning?.