Small Business

Profit with Purpose · Koskela

We’re excited to launch our new take on Small Business today – an informative new column authored by the truly BRILLIANT Fiona Killackey!

Fiona is a business coach and marketing consultant working with creative small businesses through her consultancy My Daily Business Coach. She is a thoughtful, yet strategic business guru who has worked in senior marketing roles at Amazon in London, Open University, Audible, and Country Road Group.

Each month, Fiona will bring us a new case study, showing us the strategies employed by some of Australia’s leading small businesses. Today, she chats with Sasha Titchkosky of Koskela, to discuss how money and meaning can co-exist.

Written
by
Fiona Killackey

Sydney-based furniture and homewares brand, Koskela, partners with artisans in Elcho Island in the Northern Territory. Photo – courtesy of Koskela.

Why does your business exist? It’s a question we often forget to ask, instead focusing on what we all do, rather than why we do it.

Cushions from the Yuta Badayala collaboration. Photo – courtesy of Koskela.

Koskela undertook three years of research before launching its collaboration with Elcho Island Arts. Photo – courtesy of Koskela.

‘At its core, Koskela has a belief that there is more to business than just making money,’ says co-founder Sasha Titchkosky. Photo – courtesy of Koskela.

You don’t have to go all-out when looking to give back.

Since launching 17 years ago, Koskela’s motto has simple: ‘Follow your heart, trust your judgment, do it with joy’. Photo – courtesy of Koskela.

Staying true to your values and purpose means living it in every part of the business

‘The Yuta Badayala project is dhapirrk [fantastic] djama [work]. We do special djama with Koskela. They have new ideas and share them with us, and we share our ideas and culture with them,’ tells Judy Manany from Yuta Badayala. Pictured here, Sasha works on designs together with a Yuta Badayala artisan. Photo – courtesy of Koskela.

Writer
Fiona Killackey
26th of May 2017

Why does your business exist? It’s a question we often forget to ask, so concerned with what we all do, rather than why we do it. Yet, having a purpose is essential when starting or growing a small business. In Australia —where 97% of all businesses are classified as ‘small’ — a staggering 60% of businesses will fail within the first three years. Having a reason for operating, that goes beyond fame or fortune enables you to keep going when cash flow and customers appear low.

‘At its core, Koskela has a belief that there is more to business than just making money,’ starts Sasha Titchkosky, co-founder, alongside Russel Koskela, of the renowned Rosebery-based furniture and homewares brand. ‘This has driven everything we do, from deciding where we manufacture, what we design, what goes into our products and also how we can use our design skills to effect social change.’

Since launching 17 years ago, Koskela has been at the forefront of Australian home design and artistic collaboration, all while doing what they could to give back. ‘We started off with a company motto, which we still use today to govern the core of the business: Follow your heart, trust your judgment, do it with joy’. This concept led the company to support environmental causes like Rainforest Rescue as well as work with Indigenous artist communities to collaborate on products that raise awareness of artists, while also providing employment opportunities. Earlier this year Koskela announced that they would commit 1% of its revenue (approx. 10% of its profits) into further developing projects with Indigenous communities.

‘I had always wanted to do something to address the disadvantage faced by Australian Indigenous communities,’ says Sasha, ‘This was sparked when I was a young girl and won a school prize, a book of Australian Indigenous stories. The older I got the more I wanted to do something but it took time before I could work out how in my life this would eventuate.’

A few years after launching Koskela, Sasha decided the time was right to build upon this desire. ‘I felt we needed to be reasonably financially stable before approaching any of the communities we work with…to make sure we could sustain a long-term commitment to the artists.’

‘I didn’t want to be another one in the long line of white people to go into a community full of the right motivations, but unable to sustain an idea.’

The result is consistent and successful product collaboration between Koskela and Indigenous artists that includes lighting, woven structures/meeting pods, cushions, scarves, fabrics, gift-wrapping paper and Christmas decorations. While successful, such collaborations were years in the making.

‘It took us three years of research before we could launch Yuta Badayala, our collaboration with Elcho Island Arts. We had to really understand how the women worked and, therefore, what type of product we could create,’ says Sasha. Travelling into remote communities, Sasha and her family met with artists and art managers who taught them about their craft, culture and community. In return Koskela provided employment opportunities, payment in excess of what they would usually receive and a chance to showcase artwork to a wider audience. Judy Manany from Yuta Badayala says, ‘The Yuta Badayala project is dhapirrk [fantastic] djama [work]. We do special djama with Koskela. They have new ideas and share them with us and we share our ideas and culture with them… It also helps us earn extra rupiah [money] to raise up our kids. I feel like I will work with them until I die. My family and their family working together.’

Being transparent about making money from these products is something Sasha says has helped them avoid any backlash from consumers or media.

‘We need to make a profit (although it’s a lower margin than our usual business) in order to make these products self-sustaining. Our model is always to work with Art Centres to ensure there is someone looking out for the artist’s best interests. We also use Arts Law contracts…and we are members of the Indigenous Art Code which ensures we act ethically in our dealings with artists.’

Nine years after launching their first collaboration with Indigenous artists, Koskela is continuing to break the mold in Australian homeware design. ‘We’d really like to develop more of these initiatives and dream of being able to take them overseas’. After recently working with Pinterest (US), Sky London and BHP Singapore, Sasha says, ‘there’s a big wide world out there just waiting to see what Australia can offer, particularly in the area of uniquely Australian products.’ Creating products that are ethically made and give back to the community is essential for future success.

‘Consumers are expecting this of businesses… I think there will come a time when it won’t be acceptable to operate in any other way’ – Sasha Titchkosky.

Writer
Fiona Killackey
26th of May 2017

STEPS TO CREATE A PURPOSE-DRIVEN BUSINESS

1. Understand Your Why

Simon Sinek wasn’t the first, but is perhaps the most famous, for suggesting people don’t buy what you do, but rather they buy why you do it. Your why is the reason — apart from financial gain — that you run your business. Take the time to uncover your own whys then create a way of reminding yourself and your staff of these daily, whether that’s a post-it on your computer, wall art or even getting them embossed on your business cards or wallet.

2. Start Small

You don’t have to go all-out when looking to give back. It may be a small percentage of your profit or even a set number of hours per month that you provide services free of charge. If you work in the service industry it may be providing your skills to a charity or not-for-profit or if you run a product-based business looking at collaborations that grant exposure to others while creating enough income to be sustainable.

3. Stay Consistent

Staying true to your values and purpose means living it in every part of the business. If you collaborate with a women’s charity yet don’t have adequate policies in place for your own female employees (such as flexible working conditions for parents, domestic abuse leave or solid policies around maternity leave) you risk your integrity and brand reputation. Review every part of your business and ask yourself, ‘Does it align with our purpose?’

Fiona Killackey is a business consultant and the founder of My Daily Business Coach, providing information and education for starting and growing a creative small business.

Koskela co-founders Sasha Titchkosky and Russel Koskela with members of their biological and bigger Koskela family. ‘Photo – courtesy of Koskela.

Recent Small Business