The survival guide to the Circular economy - For (future) entrepreneurs and corporations (Part Two)

Tadaaa. Part Two finally ready to help you bend that linear economy into a beautiful circular one!

This time we will discuss the consultancy business in the fashion industry (y'all heard about the huge fashion footprint, did you? Nowww, you have!), a sharing economy company and healthy friendly and earthly friendly cooperative.

Let's bend!

Circular Fashion Change Agency

"People recognize that things has to change.

Therefore mentalities about the way to do certain things must change to be able to apply new alternatives." - A.B.S.

Alice Beyer Schuch, Founder of Cirkla Modo.

Decide.

Like Tony Robbins once stated: "It's in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped".

From this declaration and commitment on, you are halfway to your goals (already!).

So if a simple declaration can make you win a half-marathon what is left to become the champion?

Well, save money (if your goal is to start your own thing), study your topic really deeply (you gotta master it!) and share that knowledge as mean to make things change.

If on your change-journey you happened to lack some focus (wandering thoughts here, a cute guy there, the sun shining for your attention; even less than that sometimes to lead us astray, anyway!), Mrs. Schuch has what you need:

• Make lists! (And now you're thinking: 'Already knew this trick, it's not working, bye.') Wait, wait, wait. You use lists, not magic lists. Magic lists are working because they are reviewed, made visual (e.g. visual cards) (where the magic happens) and this for every task you need to accomplish. Still not convinced? Try the baby-steps approach; instead of having as task tomorrow morning (tomorrow is always the holy rebirth, got it, but this time it'll be different!), break it up:

• Task: 'Starting a million dollar company', why not figuring out how to make your first 10 dollars?

• Start from there on and you'll get further even faster.

• VISUALIZATION! This too... is M-A-G-I-C-A-L! Visualize clearly what your short term AND long term goals are AND review them in your mind several times a day. Even more make a vision board and put it where you are working most of your time (Don't forget to work very hard though). Take for illustration the boxing legend Muhammad Ali who was always stressing the importance of seeing himself victorious long before the actual fight. Or the struggling actor, Jim Carrey, who used to picture himself being a great actor. Trust me on this, it's working! Or at least trust Muhammad Ali and Jim Carrey.

• Have a mentor. It's exciting to create something alone, but to avoid making some mistakes and getting good advice, a good mentor could lead you the way through your entrepreneurial journey. (Searching for one? The circular economy club in London will be pleased to receive you.)

Further as Circular Fashion Change agent you'll stumble across some ethical issues with customers sometimes (shit happens), like hitting your head against one of the well-known Greenwashing sins.

Let's suppose that your client wants to advertise a piece of clothe you made in a circular way, as a whole circular collection, even if you know it was only one piece of clothe and not the whole collection...

How do you get along with these kind of issues?

• You don't want to tell them they are false advertisers, because you suspect it will hurt their feelings. You're so polite! So you invite them to rectify the perceived mistake appropriately by putting everything into perspective and engaging together in finding a solution for that lil miscommunication. AND you SUPPORT them! Paradoxical, you get a point. But in change management nothing is achieved by punishing and every little step towards positive change has to be celebrated.

Change agents ain't freaks pinpointing everything you do wrong or seeking for a culture shock to destabilize you (busting these myths). They ain't. If you landed on this page in first instance and search for a change agent (biggies I see you), you already made the (un)conscious decision towards change. Jeeej!

Besides being a helping hand in the changing process of companies, they also offer educational methods to support the circularity in fashion. In Spain they launched the Economía Circular y Nuevos Negocios de Moda - platform as mean to help connect the Circular Economy and New Fashion Businesses, check-it-out.

Networking.

We cannot stress the importance of this one enough. Use every tool you have.

Physical tools: go to fairs, events, talk with people, pitch your ideas (even if they think you are crazy), and leave your mark, one day somehow they'll remember you and will want to connect with you.

Digital tools: LinkedIn is one of those tools every professional use these days, take the opportunity. Build your own blog (shout out to this one, graçias!), feed them with your ideas, publish them on LinkedIn too & the more you share it, the better they can get to know you.

Networking equals communicating. Therefore you have to know who you are talking with and which language they do understand. So you can hablar in their language and pass the message more clearly.

In Brazil, for example, speaking about circular economy resonates with machines working on a particular way (say what?), clearly they don't understand. So make the loop simple to understand and don't forget to talk in terms of Dinheiros.

Beyond planning for success, don't forget to plan the falls along the way.

Progress + getting smashed up is the real secret to success. When it hurts don't be afraid to ask for help. Don't be afraid to iterate and reiterate your way to your goals, it's the only way to progress.

That being said, in this transaction era to the CE, change agents are a must for corporations to help them master change and become even more agile in this fast changing world. Grab their hands and put faith and leadership in realizing the change as main building block for developing trust between you two. Henceforth, bossladies (again) are unfortunately not always treated the same (they do not bite, in case that's what you fear), take the following on: DO NOT PAY ATTENTION TO THESE DIFFERENCES (for both of you: the bossladies AND the biggies). Choose to live by Mrs. Schuch wise philosophy: "The soul has no gender.", it's the brain inside that's important. You want to make papers or fret about your hidden insecurities? (Woops).

Sharing economy company

"Kodak-syndrome. Boe!"

Alex Gaschard, CEO and Founder of CarAmigo

¡Hola, what is CarAmigo first of all?

Uberish for sure, but the difference lies in the fact that instead of having a driver driving you from spot A to B, you can ride it yourself, by choosing which car, from which private person and for which price on their website. This idea emerged from the Sharing economy concept, where economic and social activities interact by online transactions. Making money while you are suppose on holidays and your car is gently waiting for your comeback, brilliant isn't it?

Now, what makes an entrepreneurial idea great?

• The Market Fit. It has to be appealing to a bunch of people. You can have a great idea but if there are no buyers, the end is near. (For more information about the Market Fit don't hesitate to consult the 'Lean Startup' book of Eric Ries. )

• The Time-to-market. Or you had a great idea at the wrong time. Do you remember the Newton of Apple? Me neither, it was a flop not because the idea was bad, but because they were way ahead of the technology. Hey head up, the launch of the iPhone in 2007 was a massive comeback, nothing is impossible with a little more patience.

• The Sacrifices. Be ready to make some sacrifices, dare living cheap for a while, having no salary paid off, and when you finally make some money, thinking of reinvesting it completely in the company will be a reality for a period of time.

• The Networking. Coming up again and again. The sooner you are connected with the right people, physically and digitally, the better.

LinkedIn (LI) is definitely your best friend and greatest asset by now. Nonetheless before letting LI invite automatically in your place, make the invitation more personal. Keep also in mind: 'Why do I want to get in touch with this person?' And finally the more contacts you've in common with a certain person you try to reach, the more likely they will enter in contact with you. (For more on networking, catch up from the previously reported experiences, you're welcome).

• Diversity. New research finds that companies in the top quartile for gender or racial and ethnic diversity are more likely to have financial returns above their national industry medians (McKinsey, 2015), that's why, amongst other, you should embrace diversity in your team.

What's so interesting about CarAmigo is their business model. Since a sharing car company cannot be operational without an insurance and breakdown assistance (Touring) company having their back, their partnership with these companies form the backbone of their existence.

Intriguing isn't it?

Why would an insurance company fully insure cars for a few days?

Eureka!

Ever heard about the Kodak-syndrome?

The idea behind the term comes from Kodak inventing (or re-inventing) the digital camera in 1975, but decided not to continue with the technology for fear of jeopardising its main business model of camera films and film cameras. So Kodak eventually got eclipsed in market share and penetration in the digital world. In other words bye, bye if your company cannot understand prevailing trends and/or needs because of fear of change.

Summing it up, insurance companies and banks will have to break their conservative walls more and more. As reason that in the short term, the technology threat may come from a growing band of start ups that will nibble away at specific parts of the industry. From peer-to-peer insurers to robo-advisers and telematics specialists, the start-ups are making their presence felt (Financial Times, 2017).

So, if a partnership doesn't work with one of them, maybe their bad? And trying again is the message!

Cooperative

"Just be you. Don't try to convince them of your beliefs."

Gregory Dahan, CEO and Founder of Vidya Ayurveda

Vidya Ayurveda or "clarifying life-knowledge" in Sanskrit, is a social organization generating awareness on environmental consumerism.

Environmental what?

A little vidya is needed here, following the Cambridge dictionary this latter would mean: "the situation in which consumers want to buy things that have been produced in a way that protects the natural environment" Makes sense, since consumers are becoming more aware of environmental changes and the adverse effects of consumer behavior onto it. Which generation are we going to blame? None.

The past is gone and cannot be changed ever, anyway. So change yourself, to change the world. Mahatma Gandhi, of course. Completed by Mr. Dahan: without trying to convince others of what you believe in.

That's why Vidya Ayurdeva also has a blog to inform people searching for more clarification about their consumption. The purpose of this movement and revolution is to let people be able to form their own opinions, make them think and challenge the 'knowledge' put into our heads as given.

Furthermore, by being a cooperative the business has very different KPI's than traditional profit-seeking businesses. Their KPI's are build upon well-being, health, organic goods and permaculture, amongst others.

This means that they do not try to persuade traditional shareholders to invest in their company with the promise of higher paybacks. Instead the ROE will be human, environmental, trustworthy and fair based. Uhu, these kind of shareholders exist too!

To get businesses on board, go into physical shops, sell them your products on spot and for most just be you.

Check their website out, if you scrolled it over: https://vidya-ayurveda.org.

For now, that's it for part two!

Get excited.

Shit is about to change.

To loving and living your most badass life,

xo,

Rizlène

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