Nurturing ethical businesses - and people
When Wellington surfboard manufacturer Organic Dynamic needed nurturing, MOTIF provided advice, encouragement, and even the odd produce box or two.
Jack in his store in Lyall Bay
Most businesses must raise capital at some point, especially in the early stages. Back in 2017, Jack Candlish from Organic Dynamic planned to launch a roadshow around New Zealand to take his ethical surfboards directly to New Zealand’s surfers.
Jack joined the Zero Carbon Challenge, a six-week crowdfunding programme in Wellington. There, he met his funding target – and he met James Bushell, whose company MOTIF has become an important support for Jack and his business.
At the time he was experiencing a few challenges and facing some hurdles he didn’t know how to address. Jack says James helped him rationalise his way through the issues and gave him some options, leaving him feeling “inspired” and back on the right track.
“James and I have some great conversations. There are very few people who don’t surf that I can sit down with and have a valuable conversation about the surfing industry. James knows so much about business – both big and small – that he can apply his knowledge to any type. He gets your business, and he gets it fast.”
MOTIF helped Jack sort his financial documentation, including putting together an investment memorandum to source more funds. It was so good, MOTIF actually invested in Organic Dynamic – something it often does with the ethical businesses it advises and nurtures.
That nurturing has gone well beyond financial advice. Jack chuckles when he remembers how James sent over produce boxes. “I think he thought I wasn’t eating properly!” And he probably wasn’t, as Jack was definitely at the “eating beans on toast” stage of running a new business.
Jack says guidance from MOTIF helped him understand the stepping-stones to take to steer his business to where he wanted it to be, and where it could show a return. Jack says having an outside expert help him see the full picture was incredibly helpful.
“James understands the finances and he gets the intangible parts of running an ethical business - its story, the passion and the challenges. He can look at an issue from different perspectives, and understand all the consequences. because he wears so many different hats.”
“For someone like me who wears only one hat - the desire to make ethical surfboards - having access to the knowledge under all of James’ hats has been an enormous help in building a business that’s both ethically, environmentally and financially sustainable.”
About MOTIF
We believe in creating a more ethical and sustainable world. The most effective way we can achieve this, is by creating more ethical business models.
We work alongside businesses that want to grow and increase profitability whilst improving people’s lives and the environment. We can achieve this by integrating ethics and sustainability to help businesses achieve transformative change.
Article links
Learn more about Organic Dynamic here and check out the videos below!