Introducing sūnya 🕳 — The Non-toxic, Plastic Free, Leak Proof Bottle
I’ve always been paranoid about plastics and toxics.
I’m going to convince you that you should be too.
In my head products with plastic are made by people like this:
Then used by families like these:
Which degrades their quality of health to this:
It turns the environment from this:
To this.
Although this can be seen in many parts of the world, I’m not going to bring up details on how destructive plastic is to our environment.
No, I’m not going to bring up how it kills life on earth. Whether life in the sea, life in the air or life above and underground.
I’m not going to bring up how it desecrates the environment in all it’s ugly forms, whether plastic bags or toys, sitting around on a tree or in a landfill.
I’m going to appeal to our strongest reasoning. That selfish, self-preserving piece of our self.
You deserve better than plastic.
You deserve better than a bottle that slowly leeches chemicals into your bloodstream.
You deserve better than a bottle that leaves your warm drinks cold and your iced drinks warm.
You deserve better than a bottle that leaks your beverage unto your favourite possessions.
You deserve better than plastic.
How It All Started
16th July 2020
Which got me thinking:
That’s when the wheels started turning.
4 months later, I started the take the idea seriously with the encouragement of my business partner.
sūnya is born.
Solving A Problem
The best businesses are when you see a problem to be solved.
While my main business is solving problems for others, this time, I’m solving my own problem.
I can’t find a single website that says “We made this bottle to be completely toxic free, spill proof and keeps your beverage warm. This means no plastics or toxic coatings. Enjoy your beverage with a peace of mind”
— Me four months ago
Even in the worse case scenario that the business does not succeed, I still end up solving my problem, which is a win for me.
Building this brand is also my commitment to Teaching Myself How To Run A Conglomerate which I have also wrote about.
Now let’s look at the pathway to launch and success.
First We Start With Values
Patagonia as a brand and company is a huge inspiration for me.
I would characterize the founder and the company as simply being focused on doing good.
Doing good for the customers.
Doing good for the environment.
Doing good for yourself.
When you do good for your customers, you create high quality products that are designed to last a lifetime.
When you do good for the environment, you help slow down impending disaster and you stay true to your values.
When you do good for yourself you don’t work yourself to exhaustion but you focus on doing quality work when you work.
We can see the relationship between the three components as such:
When you create high quality products, you reduce waste, which in turn is good for the environment and good for your conscience.
When you stay true to your values and take care of the environment, your customers will appreciate you taking a stand and it’s good for your conscience.
When you do good for yourself, you bring better work to your customers by not overworking yourself, which gives you more time to care for the environment and to live your values!
Thus every pillar of patagonia (customer, environment, yourself) affects the rest positively.
Creating a flywheel affect as detailed by Jim Collins.
Sorry Yvon Chouinard (Founder of patagonia), but I’m stealing your model.
Doing good is the best foundation for a business.
Having a clean conscience helps you work better.
Going To Market
Next I listed down the requirements for what I was looking for in a bottle.
Bottle Requirements
* Easy to clean
* Simple design
* Leak proof
* Food grade stainless steel
* No Plastic
* Insulated
After contacting suppliers we can compare them:
Bottle Metrics
* Keep warm and cold time?
* Type of paint? (doesn’t chip easily)
* Able to have customized sample?
* Leak proof?
* 304 stainless steel? (food grade)
What does sūnya mean?
Sūnya means ‘empty’ in sanskrit.
Why empty? It’s such a negative word.
I choose the name sūnya after being inspired by the philosophy of sūnyata or emptiness.
We call our brand sūnya because we want to communicate that it is
empty of all bad things so it can be full of all good things.
Our lives can be so full of negativity and complication.
The world around us too can be full of destruction and hate.
sūnya reminds us that there is a place for emptiness.
Empty of bad, so that we can appreciate the good.
Not just in our lives but in this world.
Summary
Building a business is 30% planning and 70% execution.
So far I have developed the seed of a business.
Not it’s time to spread those seeds, through marketing and conversations with our potential customers.
I’m excited and grateful to be able to launch this soon.
Stay tuned for Part 2.
