I’ve mentioned before, that over lockdown in 2020 I launched my own small business, Mission Better. I had recently been made redundant as the result of the pandemic, and I really wanted to put my extra time to good use. Inspired by the small changes we can make every day to cut down on single use plastic, I wanted to create a space online where people could browse, discover, and buy easy, actually usable, swaps, and help them to launch their own mission to be more sustainable.
Since becoming interested in small eco changes while at university, I felt I had curated my own perfect little collection of reusable items that I would bring with me wherever I went. It wasn’t often that I would leave the house without my reusable water bottle, coffee cup, straws, and bamboo cutlery, for example, and I was so passionate to share just how easy it was to make those kinds of small swaps day to day.
As a girl in her early 20’s, I felt only too aware of how important aesthetic was to a lot of people, and I knew that oftentimes people (sometimes myself included) would be more encouraged to buy or use a product if it looked nice. That’s the reality of it, and the power of good marketing too – just look at how popular Stanley Cups and Owala bottles are! I wanted my website to be full of the eco products that 1 – I actually used, and 2 – looked great! I wanted Mission Better to make people want to actually take that first step towards reducing plastic, and take away the assumption that eco products have to be boring or ‘dusty’.
I started out by reaching out to some of my favourite planet friendly brands, and small businesses. I wanted to make sure, and this is still true today, that I was stocking as many of the small, independent, and UK based businesses as possible, as well as the big guys that people were already familiar with. Luckily there’s a wealth of beautiful eco brands, and it was so fun to pick a core range of products to launch with.
The business model of Mission Better changed quite quickly before launch, as I had originally planned to solely sell a range of ‘letterbox’ style sustainability starter kits. While this is something that we still offer, I quickly realised that for a lot of people the freedom to pick one or two items to their liking was a lot more appealing, and a lot less intimidating, than paying for a whole box of items without being sure if they’ll personally use them. I therefore adjusted the website to become more of an online shop ready for launch day, with all the swaps easily organised into categories or areas of the home. This original starter kit concept was partially where the idea for the name came from. I had originally wanted to call it the ‘better box’ highlighting that these kits would help you make better decisions for the planet, but this name was already taken. I had got really into learning about space travel over lockdown, so I was keen on using ‘mission’ in the name, as I liked the idea of using it as an alternative to talking about someones ‘eco journey’. Thus ‘Mission Better’ was decided on, with the ‘Mission Better Box‘ as our core starter kit, containing everything I had found I used every day to help reduce single use plastic.
One of the most exciting parts for me in these pre-launch days was when stock and packaging began to arrive, particularly those with my brand name or logo on. It made it feel so much more real, and I couldn’t believe how much I loved it all. Some of those early products were our branded Neon Cactus glass coffee cups, branded bamboo straws from Jungle Culture, and our tote bags. I was also absolutely thrilled to find brands like Moon Bottles, and Moonie who already shared our space/ sustainability branding combo!
While it may sound a bit obvious, launching and running a business by myself really made me realise how capable I was. It wasn’t easy, but doing it on my own meant I really did have my finger in all of the pies. I created a website, ran social media, took product photos, budgeted, ordered stock, ran customer service, marketed – and some of these things really were a ‘learn as you go’ kind of experience.
Doing it by myself wasn’t easy, and Mission Better has definitely changed and grown from where it started, but I’m so proud of what I have been able to achieve. Since launching we’ve expanded our product range massively to allow for even more choice when choosing your planet friendly swaps! We have also done a range of online and in-person markets, did weekly pop-ups for nearly two years in a shop in my local high street, we now plant trees with Ecologi, and we were even nominated in the 2023 Muddy Stiletto Awards in the ‘Best Sustainable Lifestyle’ category!
As ever, if you’d like to check out Mission Better for yourself, have a browse at what we have to offer, and perhaps even start your own eco-journey, visit us at www.missionbetter.com.
You can also follow Mission Better on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.
Emma 🌙
