Starting and growing a business can be challenging, and building a sustainable clothing brand can be unique in its own way. Adila Cokar, founder of The Good Tee, joins Anthony Okolie to talk about why she started her business, the brand’s focus on sustainability and transparency, and how she uses her TD business credit card to ease the stress of managing business and personal finances.
To learn more about The Good Tee, visit: www.thegoodtee.com.
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* [INTRO AUDIO]
* Starting and growing a business can be both rewarding and challenging. That's something business owner Adila Cokar can attest to. She has spent the last several years building clothing brand The Good Tee, and it has been quite the journey.
* A key tenet of the business is responsible manufacturing. Adila has even written a book on the subject called Source My Garment-- The Insider's Guide to Responsible Offshore Manufacturing. Adila Cokar, founder of The Good Tee, joins me now to talk about what it's like to run her business, and the lessons she's learned along the way. Adila, thank you very much for joining us.
* Thanks for having me here today.
* Talk to us about how and why you started The Good Tee.
* So, my experiences go back about 18 years working in the payroll industry. I've been running Source My Garment Consulting for the past 10 years, helping other brands and companies with end-to-end, responsible garment manufacturing.
* Through my overseas travels, as well as writing the book Source My Garment, I actually came to learn that almost 300,000 farmers have died since 2006. And in India alone, cotton is a commodity just like coffee, but a lot of-- most people are unaware of the ongoing issues surrounding cotton.
* Cotton farmers live in poverty and they lack the education to run a farm, which is essentially a business. And they're going into debt, and for this reason, I really felt that I needed to create a brand that had a fully transparent supply chain, and that gives back. And as well as it also advocates for the makers, because clothing is made by people, not machines.
* And I'm really excited to say that a few years ago, I launched The Good Tee, which has a fully transparent supply chain, and we're fair trade cotton certified. And we manufacture premium, sustainable fashion basics for adults and kids. We sell direct to consumer as well as wholesale, and more recently, we have been selling to the promotional industry. And I'm really proud to say that 3% of our product costs go back to the farmers through Fair Trade Canada.
* What's it like running a clothing business with sustainability and ethical manufacturing in mind? Because I know it can be rewarding, but I'm sure there's some challenges as well.
* Yes, absolutely. So running a sustainable business, you not only have to think about profiting and growing the company. You also need to think about your social and environmental impact. I'm really proud to say that The Good Tee is a Certified B Corporation, and there's only 6,000 currently in the world, and a little over 2,000 in North America.
* B Corporations are companies that adhere to the highest standards of sustainable and ethical practices, as well as public transparency, and we're also legally accountable to that as well. And I'm really proud to say that The Good Tee, unlike most fashion brands, it has a fully transparent supply chain. So we openly share where our product is made and who is making our products, from the farmer, to the dyer, to where the production facility is, and even our logistics.
* And talk about some of the challenges that you face, as well.
* Absolutely. So, with a sustainable business, inclusive pricing is definitely a challenge. So even as a small business working offshore, generally, we're working on minimum-order quantity. So we're not getting, one, the volume discounts, but we also need to create a premium product so that it lasts longer and is diverted from landfills.
* So there's higher costs with regards to sustainability, as well as we do need to pay fair wages as well. And I guess the challenge with having a smaller company is we have a limited marketing budget. So it becomes challenging to really explain to customers where their money is going.
* As a business owner, how do you navigate between your business and personal finances? Because it's a lot of responsibility, and I'm sure you have costs that you have to manage.
* Absolutely. So it's really important, when you have a business, to separate your business transactions from your personal expenses, because if you start mixing things, you'll never know the true health of your business. And it makes it impossible to work on your cash flow and do projections, as well as running reports becomes a nightmare if you're mixing transactions. And it makes it really difficult to apply for loans and grants.
* Credit cards are important for business owners like yourself. How do you use your credit cards?
* I have a TD Aeroplan Business Visa card, and it's been really helpful for my business. And I put all of my transactions-- as many as I can-- onto my Visa, so everything from my supplies, FedEx, any payments that I need to make to vendors, I put it onto my Visa so that I can quickly rack up points. And that has helped me so much.
* More recently, I actually had to fly to India last minute, so it was kind of tough to get a flight. So I ended up using my points, and I flew to India and I was able to meet new vendors, as well as meet with my current suppliers as well. So that was super helpful.
* And finally, what lessons have you learned as a small business owner? Because I'm sure that you've experienced a lot of ups and downs throughout your business career so far.
* Yeah, definitely. So I think just as a small business owner, we're busy doing so many different things that it's really hard to create a set routine for yourself, but I've really found that at the end of the month, to always make a routine of looking at your cash flow, understanding where your money went and where is it going, as well as to do projections and set some goals for yourself.
* You'll really feel more confident about your business and where it's going. And more importantly, I really believe that your health is your wealth, and if you really want to grow the company, it's really important to always put yourself first and take care of yourself.
* Adila, thank you very much for joining us.
* Thank you so much for having me here today.
* [MUSIC PLAYING]
* Starting and growing a business can be both rewarding and challenging. That's something business owner Adila Cokar can attest to. She has spent the last several years building clothing brand The Good Tee, and it has been quite the journey.
* A key tenet of the business is responsible manufacturing. Adila has even written a book on the subject called Source My Garment-- The Insider's Guide to Responsible Offshore Manufacturing. Adila Cokar, founder of The Good Tee, joins me now to talk about what it's like to run her business, and the lessons she's learned along the way. Adila, thank you very much for joining us.
* Thanks for having me here today.
* Talk to us about how and why you started The Good Tee.
* So, my experiences go back about 18 years working in the payroll industry. I've been running Source My Garment Consulting for the past 10 years, helping other brands and companies with end-to-end, responsible garment manufacturing.
* Through my overseas travels, as well as writing the book Source My Garment, I actually came to learn that almost 300,000 farmers have died since 2006. And in India alone, cotton is a commodity just like coffee, but a lot of-- most people are unaware of the ongoing issues surrounding cotton.
* Cotton farmers live in poverty and they lack the education to run a farm, which is essentially a business. And they're going into debt, and for this reason, I really felt that I needed to create a brand that had a fully transparent supply chain, and that gives back. And as well as it also advocates for the makers, because clothing is made by people, not machines.
* And I'm really excited to say that a few years ago, I launched The Good Tee, which has a fully transparent supply chain, and we're fair trade cotton certified. And we manufacture premium, sustainable fashion basics for adults and kids. We sell direct to consumer as well as wholesale, and more recently, we have been selling to the promotional industry. And I'm really proud to say that 3% of our product costs go back to the farmers through Fair Trade Canada.
* What's it like running a clothing business with sustainability and ethical manufacturing in mind? Because I know it can be rewarding, but I'm sure there's some challenges as well.
* Yes, absolutely. So running a sustainable business, you not only have to think about profiting and growing the company. You also need to think about your social and environmental impact. I'm really proud to say that The Good Tee is a Certified B Corporation, and there's only 6,000 currently in the world, and a little over 2,000 in North America.
* B Corporations are companies that adhere to the highest standards of sustainable and ethical practices, as well as public transparency, and we're also legally accountable to that as well. And I'm really proud to say that The Good Tee, unlike most fashion brands, it has a fully transparent supply chain. So we openly share where our product is made and who is making our products, from the farmer, to the dyer, to where the production facility is, and even our logistics.
* And talk about some of the challenges that you face, as well.
* Absolutely. So, with a sustainable business, inclusive pricing is definitely a challenge. So even as a small business working offshore, generally, we're working on minimum-order quantity. So we're not getting, one, the volume discounts, but we also need to create a premium product so that it lasts longer and is diverted from landfills.
* So there's higher costs with regards to sustainability, as well as we do need to pay fair wages as well. And I guess the challenge with having a smaller company is we have a limited marketing budget. So it becomes challenging to really explain to customers where their money is going.
* As a business owner, how do you navigate between your business and personal finances? Because it's a lot of responsibility, and I'm sure you have costs that you have to manage.
* Absolutely. So it's really important, when you have a business, to separate your business transactions from your personal expenses, because if you start mixing things, you'll never know the true health of your business. And it makes it impossible to work on your cash flow and do projections, as well as running reports becomes a nightmare if you're mixing transactions. And it makes it really difficult to apply for loans and grants.
* Credit cards are important for business owners like yourself. How do you use your credit cards?
* I have a TD Aeroplan Business Visa card, and it's been really helpful for my business. And I put all of my transactions-- as many as I can-- onto my Visa, so everything from my supplies, FedEx, any payments that I need to make to vendors, I put it onto my Visa so that I can quickly rack up points. And that has helped me so much.
* More recently, I actually had to fly to India last minute, so it was kind of tough to get a flight. So I ended up using my points, and I flew to India and I was able to meet new vendors, as well as meet with my current suppliers as well. So that was super helpful.
* And finally, what lessons have you learned as a small business owner? Because I'm sure that you've experienced a lot of ups and downs throughout your business career so far.
* Yeah, definitely. So I think just as a small business owner, we're busy doing so many different things that it's really hard to create a set routine for yourself, but I've really found that at the end of the month, to always make a routine of looking at your cash flow, understanding where your money went and where is it going, as well as to do projections and set some goals for yourself.
* You'll really feel more confident about your business and where it's going. And more importantly, I really believe that your health is your wealth, and if you really want to grow the company, it's really important to always put yourself first and take care of yourself.
* Adila, thank you very much for joining us.
* Thank you so much for having me here today.
* [MUSIC PLAYING]
