Andrea Madonald, founder of ideaXme Ltd. interviews John Houseal, co-founder of GIVN. He’d like us all to realize that we can help those in need by “simply moving a little to the left, or a little to the right.” Give in everything you do!
His Message:
Use the POWER in your pocket to help others.
Background:
John Houseal is Co-Founder of GIVN and Director of Jabian Consultancy.
He is a social entrepreneur and strategic business adviser with over 15 years experience in a wide range of industries. His specialities include “figuring it out and getting it done.” What makes him special, is a completely unique way of looking at challenges and opportunities to identify a path to success.
Jabian Consulting is a Management and IT consultancy that applies senior level consulting specialists to client’s top priority projects. Jabian, are untangling some of the most complex problems that businesses face. Jabian focuses on creating and implementing strategies, enhancing business processes, developing human capital, and better aligning technology to help their clients drive business value by increasing revenue and decreasing operational costs. Jabian is headquartered in Atlanta, with offices in Dallas and Charlotte.
GIVN is a social enterprise “infused with good karma” and focused on developing high-quality consumer products that enable conscious consumers to give in everything they do. At GIVN, they believe that giving should be easy and the impact of your choice to give should be clear and meaningful. Their flagship product, GIVN Water, lets you enjoy premium North American spring water and give one day of clean water to a person in need. Their mantra is “give in everything you do!”
Covered in the ideaXme interview:
The Big Idea:
“Everyone aspires to a higher purpose. In every day purchases we get to connect with that energy. That in a nutshell is the big idea!” – John Houseal
GIVN Water Mission – “We call it water infused with good Karma.” – John Houseal
The partners:
The water: “All of our sources are small family owned businesses. It tastes amazingly crisp and refreshing.” – John Houseal
The competitive advantage: “Our price is never more than and is often less than the premium brands.” – John Houseal
Global plans: “We want to extend into Canada and then our impact from Africa in to Asia and South America.” – John Houseal
Countering the negative impact of one for one: “We are very deliberate in trying to offset any negative impacts of a one to one business model.” – John Houseal
How GIVN addresses the criticism of the one for one business model:
“In South Sudan we are employing a local workforce to build wells. We are not displacing local business to work there.” – John Houseal
Long term plans: “We don’t want to just help the community survive, we want to help them thrive.” – John Houseal
Journey to achieving corporation B status: “Not just responsible to share holders but to the community and the environment. A rigorous process in which they assess whether we fit. In 2016, we scored 2% which meant we were at the top best for the world nominee.” – John Houseal
Also covered in the interview:
Product extensions of GIVN water and new GIVN products to launch.
Obstacles to doing better?
Why John would like to chat with actor and entrepreneur Matt Damon.
The biggest challenge to growth is the distribution footprint which is tightly managed by the big cola companies.
The Human Story:
How a university professor helped him to learn, “in a very unkind and pressing way” what he wanted to do.
“The blessing of working with the CDC and WHO. Working with people in need. I learnt that all people aspire to a higher purpose and that large scale charities can sometimes be inefficient.”
Politics
The person John would like to meet
The question he would like to ask that person
Follow GIVN: @givnwater
Credits: Andrea Macdonald interview video, text, and audio
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