Bamboo Revolution
When it comes to fashion, sustainability and social responsibility Bamboo Revolution have got the formula right. Bamboo revolution brought out a range of original bamboo timepieces. The unique bamboo watch face is not only stylish but also durable. The watches can be suited to your personal style with a selection of different color straps that come as a wrap around or conventional strap. Take a look at some of their products.
Bamboo revolution is the brainchild of 6 students from the University of Cape Town. These students of the time were Amy De Castro, Chukweumeka Ogbonna, Paula Nagy, Matthew Rosenfeldt, Nicolette Tomazos and Laura Braun. They were all part of the 2012 postgraduate entrepreneurship program at UCT. The entrepreneurship program only accepts 60 students from over 400 who apply, so they had their work cut out for them before the year had even begun. During the course of the year the students are required to create and market a new product. Their product would become what Bamboo Revolution is today.
Members of the Bamboo Revolution team
So how did they make it happen?
First challenge was to form a group within their class, which is not always an easy task. This was a quick learning curve as they were forced to network with people they wouldn’t normally. This can also determine your success as a group because you want a diverse pool of skills to draw from, not only marketers or accountants. So once they had formed their team, they were given 3 months to come up with a completely unique idea to South Africa. In addition to this they had to raise cash to fund their project. Not an easy feat, considering the university gave them only R50 to start their own business. It’s hard to buy a Steers meal with fifty rand these days, let alone start a business.
So in order to turn fifty rand into a business they needed to get a good sponsor on board. They wanted to avoid the usual selling of Boerie rolls on Jammie, so they approached Vida e Caffe, connoisseurs of great coffee. (Check out my previous post about the guys who started Vida e Caffe here). Working with a well-known brand like Vida meant that they were able to raise R20 000 in just two days by selling Vida coffee at a reduced price. It wasn’t easy though, they had to become Baristas overnight and be prepared to serve elongated lines of coffee crazed UCT students. Ten percent of the money they raised with Vida e Caffe went into a fund that will be used to pay the course fees for a future young entrepreneur from an underprivileged background.
The Bamboo Revolution team selling Vida coffee at UCT
So now they had the funds and so began the grueling process of conceptualizing, developing, manufacturing and marketing a new and sustainable product in South Africa. The only constraints they were given was that the product had to be student orientated, new to the South African market and something that could be stored. Given the need to develop the product in South Africa they found too many dependencies in the production line. They decided to import the watch faces from China and ensure that all manufacturing and assembling of the straps was kept local. Outsourcing to Asia is a daunting task but the Bamboo Revolution team found a reliable supplier who they have been happy to keep on board. There are also plans to make the transition to locally sourced bamboo, which would make it a Proudly South African product.
Timepiece imported from China
Bamboo Revolution saw the need to go green. Sustainability is of great importance in today’s world and Bamboo Revolution has been able to come up with something that is not only environmentally friendly, but also very fashionable. From the Bamboo, a grass that grows rapidly in nature, to their packaging that is 100% recyclable, the product is certainly eco-friendly. It doesn’t stop there; the Bamboo Revolution team decided that for every watch sold, they would donate R10 to Project Rhino KZN. Along with Project Rhino KZN, they hope to raise awareness as to the plight of the Rhino in Africa today. They believe that every business has a corporate and social responsibility, something that bigger companies tend to forget.
The production team assembling the Bamboo watches
Project Rhino KZN
Here is Amy De Castro and Matthew Rosenfeldt talking on behalf of Bamboo Revolution.
The team of 6 who all came from various undergraduate backgrounds now had a product that they were ready to launch under the name Bamboo Revolution. They had perfected their product and it was showcased at the Vodacom young entrepreneurs event on the 8th August 2012. The team was nervous as there were 7 other products being launched by their classmates and theirs was about quadruple the price of the others. They managed to sell 100 units in just over four hours and ended up breaking the record of the most sales on launch day. It turns out that people are willing to pay more for a quality product.
The Bamboo Revolution stall at the product launch.
Here is a video including some of the other concepts that students came up with
All good things do come to an end however and by the end of 2012 the group were set to graduate. This meant making a decision on continuing the brand or leaving it as ‘just a varsity project’. First there were six, then four and now one. Amy De Castro saw too much opportunity and decided to give up her gap-year travel plans to pursue Bamboo Revolution full-time. After the year ended she decided it was necessary to buy out her partners who were no longer actively involved in the business. A process that Amy describes as ‘extremely stressful’ and one that she wonders was even worth the fight. As is business though and soon Amy was the proud owner of Bamboo Revolution (PTY) Ltd. Amy now has her own team and is happy growing the business herself.
Amy believes there is still a lot of opportunity for Bamboo Revolution. The brand is still growing and she has had interest from international buyers with watches now being sold in the USA. She has even had to turn away certain retailers knowing that having to work with them really means having to work for them. Amy says, “That’s not what I want, I am an entrepreneur”. Amy says she has learnt never to underestimate an idea and plans to continue innovating and growing the Bamboo Revolution. Not too bad for a group of students who started out with only R50 each.
Check out Bamboo Revolution here: http://www.bamboorevolutionsa.com
Or follow them on twitter for rad updates @BambooRevSA
Sources:
http://zovuyomputa.blogspot.com
http://www.outblush.com/women/fashion/accessories/bamboo-revolution-watches/