I know many have been waiting for this over a year and I know the patience and pressure many have put us into hoping to see it materialize. It did and today it is out. I am happy for the team that they are still able to go forward and believe in each other strengths even after we were rejected by 7 fundings. No one gave us a chance to pitch. We were simply too young to be trusted and they thought we did this like a pet project for college but in the end, we continue without them. Life would have been much easier if there is funding but at the end having no funding thought us 3 things as below.
1) You have to find ways to generate sustainable income
Most start-up who started with funding tends to spend so much that they forget to look at their cash flow. Yes, we can spend but how much are we getting in from our customers? If we spend too much than we received, your biz will not last and that is what happed to WeWork, Theranos, and Honest Bee etc. However, for us, we had to think of many ways for us to generate more stream of income instead of just relying on the buy and sell platform. We further extend our revenue stream to conduct events and catering for breakfast from food surplus are some of the ways, Green Hero generates more cash flow.
2) Delay Payment for merchants
We got our merchants to understand the social cause we do. Some gave us for free and most gave us at their cost price. To those who gave us their cost price, we negotiated a deal with them that the payment will be banked in at the end of the month or every 2 weeks. This is up to them and also it depends on their convenience. By doing so, having the extra cash we have from the sales, allows us to put this investment into other fields to generate more income to sustain the business.
3) Daily marketing and referral
This is a powerful tool that enables us to have daily sales and also daily cash flow. Why? This is because with marketing and also to craft a special combo everyday for people to mix and match is what makes us exciting for more people to save the food from wastage. The money that we got by delaying the merchants' payment has allowed us to do promo at certain items from time to time so that people know what we have for that particular day and order with delivery to their house.
Moreover, the referral method works as well as word of mouth is a trustable source of marketing to many and investing in this is never wrong. It is such a great move in the long run.
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As you can see, no funding does not mean the end for you not to start or to continue the business. It means you have to think smarter and do better for your business as a whole. Every entrepreneur has their own challenges and if you can overcome them, you will become an inspiration to someone else who faces the same situation as you. Nothing is permanent in this world, so as the problem. We just have to become better and keep going.
Never stop because you have been rejected. You only stop when you can no longer breathe.
Last, I just have to say that our app is here. There are more challenges for us ahead. It is to get merchants and hotels to look into this platform as something they can deal with on their food surplus that leads to wastage such as those in buffet lines. They can utilize this Green technology to their own advantage and for their own means for people to know the good deeds, they are doing.
This can also be used to reach out to more people especially those who are green-minded. In the end, to create a bigger green change, it is up to the management of each business to make great green decisions that can contribute to a cleaner greener sustainable Malaysia. The decision for that future lies in your leader's hands. Please do convince them to look at food surplus seriously to see a lesser food waste going to the landfill on a daily basis. Can you do that? I believe all of us can because good food are meant to be eaten, not throw away. If we can channel it to animal shelter and NGOs, then why not do it?
Thank you Green Heroes for believing in us since 2017..
Link for merchants to download the app first :
Hurry and upload your menu so that consumers can see it too :D
