Meet Marcus Hill, Founder of Bower Collective

Bower Collective are a subscription service housing the best in earth-friendly products. Locally sourced and produced in the UK, they supply natural products that work. We spoke to co-founder Marcus Hill about the inspiration behind the non-toxic, low-carbon and zero-waste brand spearheading the refill revolution.

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What is the Bower collective mission statement?

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Our purpose is to create a more sustainable world, and to help customers create more sustainable homes. Our vision statement is for a world without plastic, where everyone enjoys a more sustainable life. And our mission is to build the world’s leading digital sustainable goods company for consumers. Bower does this by delivering earth’s best household products in re-usable packaging. This combines ranges from our own brand, with curated third parties.

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Can you tell us a little more about your role within BC?

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Alongside Nick, I am one of the co-founders and my background is in sustainability and business. I initially studied these subjects at university and then founded a compostable bioplastic packaging business for the food industry, which I sold a few years ago. Nick has a background in Tech consultancy, and we found common ground in being passionate about this cause.

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The thing we honed in on is that globally, only 9% of plastic is recycled. The other 91% ends up in the natural environment or is incinerated. People are beginning to realise that this isn’t working, the metrics around recycling are all about collection rather than actual recycling and the majority ends up being burned or shipped to Asia.

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The modern throwaway culture is a stark contrast to the days of the past where the milkman would deliver glass milk bottles that you would leave outside to be refilled for next time. This circular economy is what we’re trying to get back, by delivering reusable pouches that you send back in pre-paid envelopes.

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What makes Bower Collective different?

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The key thing is delivering sustainable products in a closed-loop packaging system which eliminated plastic waste so we can ensure it’s either recycled or reused. Other things include ensuring that all products are made with sustainable, natural plant-based ingredients, and are predominantly manufactured in the UK, lowering our carbon footprint. It’s a multi-category offering and you can sign up for regular deliveries– from cleaning and bathroom supplies to personal care and women’s wellness. All in one place.

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The subscription model means that we house everything ourselves and run a fulfilment operation via a monthly delivery service. We are able to suggest different products and subscription services for each product – for example a deodorant every 3 months but cleaning fluid monthly. However only one tidy package needs to be delivered every month.  

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Why did you decide to become B Corp registered and how has this impacted your journey?

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There are a few things about the B Corp movement that Nick and I have been passionate about. We are keen on working in the purpose-driven space and using business as a force for good. This was in our DNA from day 1, so it made sense that we pursued this avenue officially. It’s a badge of recognition for our efforts, a signpost that you’re doing the right thing, validation and certification all in one.

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As a start-up it’s been useful as a framework through which to look at sustainability. We want to do the right thing so these are the things we need to think about. Our supplier on-boarding questionnaire uses B Corp frameworks and questions, and we’re excited to be part of a community and business doing things differently. The big problems need to be a movement not one company, and we hope to be a leading company in this category.

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How did Bower Collective fundraise and how has the platform been impacted by COVID?

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We’re a VC-backed business so we have raised external investment from the outset. We have several VCs, as well as some angel investors. COVID has not impacted us negatively, it’s driven us forward due to the move to online retail and more time at home, as well as greater focus on sustainability. The pandemic has given people a reflective opportunity which has accelerated the desire to change how they consume. We’ve grown around 34% on average, month on month, since we launched in January 2020.

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Where do your customers find you?

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We have a number of different channels, but we focus our attention on growth of the online community. We didn’t want to be overly reliant on paying for customer acquisition costs, and now we have a community of over 60,000 people engaged across social channels, emails and groups and we are constantly trying to engage them in creative ways – interviewing experts, free yoga classes, we are opening up in-person meet-ups soon, and we have a product development community that tests all our products and gives feedback.

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This played an integral part in some of our recent developments, and at the same time it builds a passionate community of brand advocates that we aren’t paying to speak to. We also have carefully selected partnerships with brands such as Seedlip, Tony’s Chocolony, and others interested in sustainability from a different angle or product sector.

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How do you adhere to the Triple Bottom Line in your practices?

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We have a sustainability strategy – we have just produced our first impact report which measures against that strategy and is about tackling waste first and foremost. We also make sure we deliver products with natural ingredients that aren’t harmful to the environment or people, and has a low carbon footprint. Our products have to meet the Bower standard – manufactured in the UK, plastic-free, re-usable, and none of the nasty ingredients common to other household goods.

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Also through our one for one scheme, every Bower order protects a meter squared of seagrass, which promotes marine biodiversity and absorbs more carbon than rainforest.

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When it comes to business, it’s common for people to feel the need to decide between higher education and learning on the job, what has been the value of each?

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Personally, I think learning on the job is incredibly important, I didn’t know anything about running a business when I started my first one, and learned everything as I went along. I think that’s the way to learn – just to get out there and do it.

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What motivates you?

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My motivations are to have a business that is having a positive impact and encouraging other people and businesses to do the same.  

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What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned?

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In-between selling my last business and founding this new company, I tried to setup a software business with an impact element to it – providing sustainability data to small businesses. However, it failed pretty rapidly and the big lesson there was to basically understand more about the customers first and foremost. It was a classic error of having a good idea and building the product before taking it to market, so if you can build a minimum viable product or concept to test things out and get people to pay for it, that’s key to getting live insights and feedback. Don’t spend lots of time and money on something that no one wants.

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How do you balance your life while remaining disciplined, what percentage of your time do you keep unscheduled?

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I am disciplined about the hours that I work, I don’t work beyond a certain time in the evening and try to keep that protected for family. We also have no zoom Fridays within the company, and try to limit scheduled meetings at the end of the week.

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Do you think that entrepreneurial attributes are personality traits, or skills that can be developed?

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It’s a bit of both – there are different types of entrepreneurs, but there are certainly people for whom it does not suit. It takes a certain amount of innate common or commercial sense, but then on top of that there are so many skills to be learned and experience is very important. A lot of character development takes place in the process, and ultimately, running a business is about people and learning how to relate to them. It’s still a journey that I’m on.

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Are there any books or blogs on your reading list?

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I’m reading What You Do Is Who You Are by Ben Horowitz – it’s about business culture and how it’s created. It’s mainly to do with the behaviour of founders. You can set out a value and mission statement, but ultimately people will mimic your attitudes and behaviour, so you must align with what’s written on paper.

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What do you love most about x+why?

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I love the purpose-focus, it’s an exciting arena that will ultimately impact the world for the better. It’s uniquely influential and inherently sustainable, aligning start-ups in a way that leverages them as a powerful mechanism for change.

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