Almost there

Busy, busy time right now.  Also extremely exciting.  We are planning to launch So Just Shop on Friday – coinciding with submissions to The Next Women start up competition and Virgin’s Pitch to Rich.  Just awaiting those damned Ts and Cs from my lawyers.  However, the pause in events (whilst waiting for the afore mentioned Ts and Cs) has given me a valuable opportunity to get feedback on my site pre-launch and tweak accordingly.  Happily the feedback was both positive and constructive!

So this is your sneak peak…

The logo I am extremely happy with – it ties in well with our ‘own brand’ logo for Just Clothing Company, I like the ‘stamp’ feel to it:

Our new logo

And here comes the home page – we’ve got a slide show going on here – I love the positivity of the sellers depicted and the two product images before and after also imply the quality and variety of stock we have:

Slide 1 – Home Page

Slide 2 – Home Page

Slide 3 – Home Page

And this is my favourite section – our sellers page where you can learn about the ladies who make the product.  The great feedback I’ve had here is that people would like to know, not only who made their products but, how they were made.  So this is my next task.

Our Sellers’ Stories

So countdown has begun – Friday will be the day – wish me luck!

What’s age got to do with it?

In a world where I am constantly fighting against gender difference, vehemently arguing much of what is perceived as differences is very much a nurture issue – I shall now proceed to write a blog on gender differences in start ups – although, as ever, nothing is black and white.

In the US and Europe, male-owned start ups are generalised as young pups, straight out of college with relatively few connections and money to investment in the business.  Female owners tend to be significantly older (40-60) and have their own capital to invest.  Immediately, this puts us on a different footing.  According to a study from two MBA researchers from Carnegie Mellon, who issued a report, titled High Performance Entrepreneurs: Women in High-Tech, “women-led high-tech start-ups generate higher revenues per dollar of invested capital and have lower failure rates than those led by men.” Heavy self-investment, both financial and personal, seems to be a key driver of how successful a business can be, with a lack of personal investment perceived to be a factor in start-up failure.

So maybe this is less about gender differences per se and more about the age you are when you first start.  However, clearly gender plays an impact in this decision – why do women start-up later?  Is it because there are less opportunities and options for financing available to us so we have to be in a position to self invest initially?  Is it because we have less confidence than our male counterparts in our 20s- this coming to us later in life?  Is it because, as a gender, we are more risk averse?  But then is that is the case, why are more women than ever entering the start up fray.

From a personal point of view it was about confidence and the idea.  The idea came before the confidence – I knew I wanted to support economic empowerment of women, I knew it needed to be scalable and not geographically limited but I didn’t yet know what and how.  It took me many years of working both in the not for profit and for profit world to distill this down and as a final step – before standing on my own – I spent 2 years working as an Operations Director of a start up to give me the final bit of confidence to go it alone.

For me, age and experience brought me the confidence to do this and the fact I had invested myself made me feel more honest in approaching my investors.  It enabled me to show them the first stages of what we are to become, it was a concrete, workable idea and I don’t know if this is something I could have had the confidence to sell if it was just a concept.  So am I female? Yes; have I just turned 40? Yes.  So if those are both true, let’s hope the MBA researchers prediction plays out for high revenues and success rate!

Where have all the girls gone?

Almost five years ago to the day I received the both happy and terrifying news that I was pregnant.  I was living in Delhi at the time and received extremely high-quality care and support through my private health care.  At the second scan appointment, I had to sign a very detailed form stating that it was illegal for me to ask the Obstetrician the sex of the baby.  If I were to do so then they could refuse to treat me and that were the Obstetrician to accede to my request they would be sacked.  Coming from the UK this may seem quite shocking, however, living in a country were up to 12-million unborn girls have been aborted in the past 3 decades this is a more than appropriate response.

And yet, as I was speaking to some of my friends about the form I was startled to hear their response “well, if you want to know there is a private practice you can attend where the Obstetrician won’t tell you the gender but… they will tell you what colour you should paint the bedroom”.  Rather than these educated women, both ex-pat and from India, agreeing with the principle, enshrined in law, that it is illegal to request the sex of a foetus, they had merely paid their way around this.  And this small microcosm plays out across India, with wealthier, better-educated couples being the worst offenders, putting paid to hopes that socio-economic progress would lead to a change in attitude. Although all strata of Indian society share a preference for sons, better-off families have access to and can afford the ultrasound tests to reveal the sex of a foetus.

The term for this is genericide and it is worse than any genocide seen before and yet barely discussed.  The reasons behind this are many and complex and far better people than I have written extensively on this subject.  The reality of this being unchecked for decades (particularly in India and China) means there is a paucity of women of marriageable age – indications are that an increase in sex trafficking and child brides in India may be a response to this.

What can be done? “Women’s empowerment is critical in promoting change in the attitudes, behaviour and expectation in the patriarchal Indian society. The increasing involvement of women in the decision making process both financial as well as household influences her reproductive choices and desires. If the women are empowered then she can take decisions with respect to her own health, her family size and contraceptive use and articulate her views and desires. An empowered woman is more likely to take decisions of her family and health and is less likely to exercise son preference”.  We just need to get on and make this happen now.

Economic empowerment is key to this and this is what Just Clothing is aiming to do – one step at a time.

Time to step up

So I’ve been full time on Just Clothing Company for 5 months now and we’ve made huge steps:

• Selling on notonthehighstreet;
• Selling on Etsy;
• First women’s group up and running and first product produced;
  

  Winter Silk Scarf and Block Print by Just Clothing Company

• Established a board of advisors;

I also got my first bout of Dengue, but not sure this is an achievement.  I’ve connected with some wonderful people who have been so supportive in my work and am slowly starting to get a grip of social media.  This, perhaps, has been one of the most challenging aspects, mainly because my inherent Britishness doesn’t want to boast or sell – well, if I want to do this well I’m going to have to do both!

So what is next?  Just Clothing Company was only ever the first stage – a way to test and learn about the market, marketplace, products and women’s groups.  The next phase is building a marketplace.  The big picture is to ‘create an online clothing and accessories marketplace where women-led businesses from some of the poorest communities in the world can sell their ethically made products to the international market’.  And I mean it to be big, global and highly successful.  I want this to be a place that challenges and changes the perception of ethical and sustainable.  Think John Lewis of the online world.

Most people shop at John Lewis because it sells good quality products – the fact that it is a cooperative, owned by all its staff, is incidental to purchasing decisions. Can we do the same? JUST Marketplace will source and sell some amazing, unique clothes and accessories that will not be found anywhere else and that’s why people shop there.  The fact that all the products are ethically made, from women’s-led initiatives and that artisan groups will directly sell (therefore receive all their profits) will be important to some but will not be a driver for the majority and if we want to be a global success we need to recognise this within our customers.

So the next step?  Investment!  We need to build our own marketplace, we need to get sellers onboard and selling their products and we need to market this.  As much as we have already achieved, we are asking a lot for people to invest in us right now.  Start ups have a huge failure rate and the complexities of factoring in future raises means we have to put a small, nominal value on the company – so, high risk investment for very little shares anyone?!  Luckily, this can be somewhat ameliorated by an amazing UK government scheme (called SEIS), basically they will offset 75% of your investment against tax breaks.  But what I am basically asking people to do is invest in me.  Trust that I will work my little socks off to get this business off the ground and make it a success.  And I can promise everyone of those investors that that is exactly what I intend to do.

It’s complicated.

I was recently taken on a tour of an arts project in the largest of Mumbai’s slums.  The focus of this amazing work is engaging the community in a conversation about violence against women and sexual health.  The Dharavi Biennale is the brainchild of SNEHA, a wonderful organisation I have had the privilege of working in partnership with for a number of years.  Alongside their life changing work in maternal and newborn health and brilliant prevention of early childhood nutrition projects they also have one of the world’s largest prevention of violence again women and children initiatives, headed up by the amazing Dr Nayreen Daruwalla.

 

Nayreen and David Osrin (a Wellcome Professor who has been collaborating on some groundbreaking research projects with SNEHA for many years) recently published their research on classifying women’s death from burns in India.  This is a horrific issue, on more than one level, that particularly affects the poorest communities in India; most of these deaths occur by accident in women in loose fitting saris and shalwars, often made from cheap-flammable fabrics, cooking on floor-standing hobs with open flames.  However, a small but significant number occur are due to homicide and suicide strongly linked to spousal/family abuse and a phenomenon known as ‘Dowry Death’.

Whilst Nayreen and David were showing me round the Dharavi Biennale, a journalist arrived to discuss their recently published research.  There was a clear agenda attached to the interview.  The journalist wanted a headline-grabbing statistic on the number of women victims of ‘Dowry Death’ and the general inadequate response by the police.  Firstly, this was not the aim of the research, it was a case study, not looking at large numbers but rather concentrating on detailed interviews from a small number of participants.  Secondly, it was not assessing the effectiveness of the police response but rather assessing how burns victims’ deaths were classified (e.g. as accidental death, homicide or suicide).  To try and draw out population level statistics from this: “XX% of women admitted to hospital with burns are a case of Dowry Death” is both inaccurate and irresponsible.

And most important of all, Nayreen’s prevention of violence against women and children initiative relies on working closely with the police for to safeguard the lives of many vulnerable women and children.  By associating the work they do with allegations of policy inadequacies, such potential assertions made by a journalist could have a very real and dangerous impact on her work.

Scientific research rarely supports a simple yes/no hypothesis.  Trying to over-simplify and use headline-grabbing tactics to present this work only deepens the distrust between the scientific and the wider community and at times this can have life-threatening implications.  As with everything in life it is multifaceted, however this doesn’t mean it is too complex to understand, just complicated…

How do you afford to keep your daughter safe?

In some communities young girls are vulnerable every time they leave the house.  The older they get the more at risk they are. As parents, more than anything you want your children to be safe – often in these communities children are withdrawn from school at 16 – the risk of them walking their each day is too much (or perceived to be).  However, not allowing these girls to leave the house puts the parents under economic stress.  In traditional patriarchal societies the solution has always been to marry them off.  A married woman is (perceived) to be less vulnerable and it is one less mouth to feed.

Leaving education early and marrying young is not ideal – with less economic opportunities preventing her from accessing health care and birth control, and lower status increasing her risk of living within an abusive relationship. Children born to young mothers are at higher risk to malnutrition and morbidity.  None of these scenarios work out well.

Economic empowerment really is the key.  I heard an amazing story yesterday.  Sushma left school at 15, her parents were ready to marry her off as soon as they could, but she found out about an embroidery class and her parents agreed she could attend.  She works for a garment manufacture making boutique hand-stitched goods.  She can do this safely from her home and is now the highest breadwinner in the house.  Her parents have agreed to delay any marriage and her new economic power means she now is involved in any marriage negotiation.  The work Just Clothing Company does will support beautiful, unique handcrafted products but also revolutionise the lives of those engaged in their production.

Why Women?

Here’s three facts for you:

• WOMEN PERFORM 66% OF THE WORLD’S WORKING HOURS;
• WOMEN EARN ONLY 10% OF THE WORLD’S INCOME;
• WOMEN OWN ONLY 1% OF THE WORLD’S PROPERTY.

“Strong growth can not be sustained without gender equality and the empowerment of one half of the world’s population. Gender equality is smart economics and a key driver of global development”

Dr Jim Yong Kim, President, World Bank Group

 

“By investing, by allowing [women] to create businesses that create profits you are creating a self sustaining loop. It goes way beyond philanthropy because it yields profits”

Lloyd C. Blankfein, Chairman and CEO, Goldman Sachs

 

And here’s the real incentive:

ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN TRANSLATES INTO GREATER INVESTMENT IN CHILDREN’S EDUCATION, HEALTH AND NUTRITION, WHICH LEADS TO ECONOMIC GROWTH IN THE LONG TERM.

 

The barriers for women-led artisan businesses to reach the global market are many and varied, including lack of finance to purchase quality materials, lack of knowledge of international consumers taste and trends, technological and financial barriers to establishing an online shop and lack of access to international payment facilities. By providing a marketplace to showcase their products and process online payments, whilst providing design and technological support, Just Clothing Company can enable these communities to increase their revenues and grow their businesses.

 

The First…Board Meeting

Last night, in the glorious surroundings of the Grosvenor Lounge was the first time we all sat down together.

I felt relief that I am no longer on my own, gratitude that such talented and busy people will willingly give up their time for this and proud that I had managed to achieve taking the next important step into making Just Clothing Company into a successful and sustainable business.

About two months in to running Just Clothing Company full time I found myself overwhelmed and finding it very hard to prioritise what I needed to do to take the business forward.  I needed a board of advisors.

I had a very clear idea of the skills that were needed.  Given I am a start up running on a lean budget which is reliant consumers, I know that driving awareness and sales are a priority – but in the most cost effective way possible, with a key part of consumer engagement being the stories behind the products.  Social media and PR skills along with SEO,PPC online and offline marketing will be a core constituent of making the business a success.  But that, in itself is not enough – I needed support from successful entrepreneurs, people who have established their own business and supported others in making their businesses a success.

So back to the board: MEERKATWorks, an wonderful media buying company, Jeannie Shapiro with her amazing business skills and social media guru status, Rebecca Mayo, one of the leading lights in PR and Judith Blair with her incomparable experience in both technology and establishing successful start ups.  I am honoured that, despite how busy they all are, they all agreed and Just Clothing Company will benefit immensely from their involvement.

There’s a long way to go but all the easier by having company for the journey.

From Concept to Reality

Anyone who’s anyone in the world of start ups will tell you that you need to be flexible enough to adapt and change.  That the original concept will very rarely reflect the final business model.  This, in itself, is a challenge because egos have a habit of overriding good advice.  My salient advice would be to hold true to your key aim, everything else can move and shift but what matters is achieving this key objective:

“Economic empowerment of women from some of the poorest communities in the world using a sustainable and scalable business model”

So I’ve started with Just Clothing Company, tentative steps to testing the market and using the profits to get some women’s-led artisan businesses off the ground, but this model is hard to scale.

Where I want to take it is much, much bigger so the concept must evolve.  I want this to be the ‘Amazon Marketplace for artisans from all over the world’.  A one-stop-shop for consumers wanting high-quality, unique clothing and accessories that reflect their values and ethics.

So the business model changes but the core concept remains true.  Here’s to a long and prosperous future of staying true to your values and keeping egos in check!

Our first blog

Just Clothing Company was officially launched in late April with our first collection appearing here: http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/justclothingcompany/.  It has been a long journey to get to this stage and now an even longer journey starts to make it a success.

The driving force of Just Clothing is that oh so English sounding phrase of ‘Fair Play’.  Born in the UK, I have had every opportunity afforded to me, free health care, free (or heavily subsidised) education, freedom of expression and belief and economic empowerment.  Of course, it is not a perfect system and we as a nation are still struggling with equalities for all, but what if I had been born into a society without this?  There is a strong chance that I or my siblings would have died before the age of 5, that my mother could have died in childbirth; that I would have had no access to education, living the life of a subsistence farmer with little or no rights; married at 15, first child nine months later; no access to family planning leading me to have child after child with little means to feed, cloth, educate them or provide adequate care for them when they were sick.  A mere roll of the dice, luck of the draw has landed me here, sitting in the sunshine in my back garden in Brixton drinking coffee and typing these words.

So how can I, in a very small way, do my bit to redress this imbalance?  Is there one factor that we can hope to impact that can influence all the other inadequacies?  Could this be economic empowerment?

My charity http://womentowomen.org.uk/ has been working for many years with a wonderful organisation in Mumbai, SNEHA http://www.snehamumbai.org/.  In an area where around 50% of under 2-year olds suffered from malnutrition, we worked with mothers on nutrition education projects, including cooking classes and health awareness campaigns.  Malnutrition in children has long-term impacts on not just their health and wellbeing, but society as a whole.  If a child has suffered from untreated chronic malnutrition this impacts on their growth, health and educational abilities; effectively preventing them and therefore greater society, from ever achieving their potential.

SNEHA: Inspirational group working to improve the lives of those living in poverty

Throughout this education programme, we consistently measured greater awareness amongst the mothers of risk factors for malnutrition and yet we were not seeing a reduction in malnutrition rates in their children.  Why not?  Because the mothers were often not at home for 12-15 hours a day. Much of their income derived from insecure, sometimes illegal work and with no affordable childcare available to them, they would often leave their young baby or toddler at home with the next oldest child (often no more than 4 years old) and without the ability to cook, these children often ate biscuits until their mother came home to cook for them. And so http://www.snehamumbai.org/ started a creche for those most vulnerable, with both an educational and feeding programme. It is a wonderful success and is now being expanded with support from The Wellcome Trust (http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/) and Dr David Osrin http://www.ucl.ac.uk/slms/people/show.php?UPI=DOSRI65 and his colleagues from the Institute of Child Health.

If these women in Mumbai had better paid, flexible and more secure work then the risk of their children suffering from malnutrition would be far less.  The children would be healthier, better fed, better access to health care with the ability to reach their academic potential.  This brings me neatly on to Just Clothing Company.   Currently, Just Clothing is selling a selection of own brand products through marketplaces including http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/justclothingcompany/, http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/justclothingcompnay and https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/JustClothingCompany?ref=shop_sugg.  All profits from Just Clothing will be used as incubator funding for women’s enterprises, providing them with materials, technological support and supply chain management.  We are working with http://www.snehamumbai.org/ to set up our first women’s group in the slums of Mumbai.  Just Clothing will then sell any products produced on their behalf.

Baby Blanket: One of our best selling items

Our longer term goal is to set up our own marketplace where women’s groups from around the world can sell their products to an international audience.  There are many technological and logistical issues involved in this which can wait for another blog!

My first blog is now complete (phew!), I hope you found it interesting and am always interested in feedback or ideas.

Jen (Founder of Just Clothing Company)