My biggest mistake: Mike Smith, founder of Zero Co

Mike Smith launched Zero Co to solve the world’s single-use plastic pollution problem, and Aussie households leapt at the opportunity to support the brand.

Zero Co’s 2019 Kickstarter campaign raised around $740,000 — making it the highest-funded Kickstarter of the year. Then, Zero Co broke the 2021 equity crowdfunding record by raising $5 million in six hours when they invited customers to become shareholders.

But among all that success, Smith realised his greatest opportunity was now his biggest problem: how do you solve one of the biggest environmental problems on earth?

The mistake

Providing a consumable, affordable solution to the problem of single-use plastic isn’t an easy task. Serious considerations must be made to ensure the fix doesn’t become part of the problem. So Smith designed Zero Co on a circular model to use existing plastics, recycle them, and ensure an end-of-life solution to post-consumer waste.

To launch Zero Co using this model, Smith quickly realised he needed to innovate solutions that currently didn’t exist. Smith had to create supply chains, get manufacturers on board with his vision, convince engineers to design world-first solutions and communicate the whole concept to his customers.

“When most people start a business, they want to make a new product or create a new service,” explained Smith.

“But we decided to try and solve the global plastic problem and create a perfect zero-waste business from day one. These high standards have made our business really complicated, and the solutions we’ve found are more expensive.”

And then, while Zero Co prepared to launch in 2020, the pandemic hit, costing Smith time and money, and delaying the brand launch.

The context

Smith came up with the concept for Zero Co in 2018 after spending 18-months abroad with his now-wife exploring some of the most remote locations on Earth. Yet no matter how far off the tourist track Smith travelled, plastic pollution was everywhere.

“When I came back to Australia, I decided to start a company that’s sole reason for existing was to solve this problem,” said Smith.

“I knew we had to do two things to achieve this goal. Stop making more single-use plastic and clear up the plastic pollution in the ocean and environment. So that’s basically what Zero Co does.”

Specialising in refillable cleaning and personal care products, Zero Co provides its customers with a recycled “Forever Bottle” for each product. The refills are sold in a reusable pouch made from recycled plastic that customers return to Zero Co for cleaning and reuse.

To begin, Smith needed to convince bottle manufacturers to create the Forever Bottle using plastic hand-plucked from Australian beaches, and he needed an engineering firm to design the world’s first pouch cleaner. And he needed to do it all during a global pandemic.

The impact

Designing supply chains from scratch takes time, energy and money. And, when you’re innovating world-first solutions, convincing manufacturers to accept the project is a hurdle in itself.

“When we decided to make our Forever Bottles from ocean waste, right here in Australia, we spoke to probably 20 bottle manufacturing businesses. Every one of them said no — it can’t be done, we’re not interested,” Smith said.

Eventually, he convinced a manufacturer in Melbourne to create the bottles, but for a significant price.

“Our Forever Bottles cost about 300% more than a single-use plastic made from brand new plastic.”

Smith encountered similar problems when he needed someone to design and build a pouch cleaning machine.

“We started building a machine in China just before COVID-19 happened, but once the pandemic hit, they couldn’t complete the task,” Smith said.

Zero Co was then forced to walk away from the venture, sacrificing $30,000 in initial payments. The team then had to source an Australian manufacturer willing to take on the task.

After many rejections and jaw-dropping multi-million-dollar quotes, Smith eventually convinced two engineers in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales to make the world’s first-ever pouch cleaning machine.

“The period spent troubleshooting the pouch cleaning machine was probably the most stressful and challenging six months of my professional career,” Smith said. “Trying to work out how to overcome that gigantic hurdle was all-consuming. But, we made it through.”

And only with a five-month delay to the launch date.

The fix

Smith says finding solutions for such an enormous problem begins with an unyielding belief in the mission.

“I’ve literally said to every supply chain partner we’ve met with: ‘if we figured out how to put a man on the moon 70 years ago, we can work out how to solve this plastic problem.’ It’s not a ginormous engineering feat; it just requires some perseverance and ingenuity. That energy helped us deal with the hundreds of no’s we got along the way.”

Smith also contributes the Zero Co success to having the right team.

“You need people around who are better than you at their specific area of expertise. We have poached lots of seniors from other businesses to be able to scale this business.”

The lesson

Inventing solutions in real-time has been a great challenge, but also a great opportunity to learn. The key to “fuddling our way through this” is regular and honest communication.

“Radical transparency is one of our company’s brand values,” Smith said.

“I think most companies try to main a public persona of perfection and say nothing ever goes wrong. For Zero Co, we’ve just been totally vulnerable. We wear our heart on our sleeves and communicate loud and clear to customers about all the challenges we face.”

And in the end, it was all worth it.

“I wake up every morning and know I am spending the finite amount of time I have on this planet doing something genuinely good. I’m trying to solve a big fundamental problem and help the environment — this fills me with energy and resilience, even on the shady days.”