How I started the enterprise One Life

4 Years ago, I joined an Entrepreneurial Club at my school, where I learned how to create and manage my own business.

At first, I struggled with coming up with a business idea as you first need to ask yourself where there is a gap in the market and what you believe the community would want or benefit from.

This was when environmentalism was one of my peak interests so that was one of the factors that made me decide to sell eco-friendly products. But before that decision was made, I had to, as a future entrepreneur, conduct a Product testing survey to ask the community if they would buy the products that I was going to offer.

The feedback that came back was very positive and with that One Life was created.

The name One Life stands not only for the fact that we only have one planet and therefore we need to look after it as best we can but One Life also stands for:

ORGANIC NATURAL, ECO, = ONE

LOVING, INSPIRING, FRIENDLY & ENVIRONMENTAL = LIFE

The idea of selling Bamboo Cutlery sets came during COVID-19 when restaurants were giving out single-use plastic cutlery with takeout and at restaurants to avoid the spread of germs. I was horrified at the amount of plastic waste that was generated and decided to bring my cutlery whenever I ate out. I decided that I should provide reusable cutlery to other people so they then could do the same to reduce the amount of waste being produced. To carry the cutlery in, I also sewed little bags with different patterns. I also included bamboo chopsticks, a bamboo straw and a straw cleaner in the Cutlery sets. The cutlery sets are called the Unforkgeteable Cutlery Sets, hence the play-on word.

To combat the single-use plastic that is used to wrap fresh items like cling film and tinfoil, I did some research and came across wax wraps. These wax wraps are made from cut-up material coated in melted wax which when dried can be used to cover items and keep them fresh or cover containers. These wax wraps can either be made with beeswax or soywax.

I made some wax wraps myself and see if I could also sell them. I made 3 different sizes, 1 small for wrapping small fresh fruit, 1 medium size for wrapping sandwiches and containers and 1 large size for wrapping up loaves of bread and any larger containers or bowls. I was amazed at how easy it was to make these wraps and selling them was also a great success as these wraps could be used multiple times and if the wax wore off you could just melt some more wax onto the material.

To keep One Life going, in my free time, I sold my products whenever I could. At school fairs, community markets, seasonal markets, friends and others.

I also started an Instagram account for One Life to educate others on environmental topics as that is part of One Life's core ideas.

I learnt a lot of things from running One Life as, you can witness, experience and learn first-hand how to run a business, what work it entails, and how much time and effort you need to invest. I also learned essential skills, such as calculating budgets, marketing, pricing, sourcing, managing stock, communication and customer service skills.

Running my business also improved many qualities, such as time management and problem-solving, I made many mistakes, which I feel I have learned from and have helped me improve my business.

This learning experience wasn't a typical classroom setting yet navigating through starting a business was an experience I learned a lot from that I may not have obtained in a classroom.

I have been running One Life ever since, selling at various markets and educating students as well as others on my journey and passion for making a difference through my enterprise.