It is not your average start-up, but it has found a way comes up a way of making money from the rubbish that litters our land.
In a quiet corner of Dorset, on the south coast, Coffeenotes makes stationery out of recycled coffee cups and repurposed waste. Around 500 billion coffee cups end up on rubbish tips every year.
A carbon-neutral family business
It is a family business run by Mark and Sarah Downey that makes
plastic-free notebooks, sketchbooks, planners, and pads from this waste. Nothing goes to the landfill and the company’s carbon neutral credentials are underwritten by charity support for the World Land Trust.
How do they tackle the often difficult job of being an entrepreneur?
Five top tips to make it as an entrepreneur
- Make sustainability at the heart of everything you do. Climate change is the new normal. Ask yourself can this be done more sustainably.
- Do the research and keep open-minded as to better processes you can use to keep improving operationally, sustainably, and in new product development.
- The small things make a difference. Whether that is how you treat customers or the extra mile we go in creating the very best product.
- Tell your brand story succinctly so customers can understand it. It’s tempting to tell the whole story, but customers haven’t got time. A few words, and short punchy messaging, is what we aim for.
- Be true to the brand. Keep a sense of the brand in your decision-making and don’t deviate from it.
