{"id":39932,"date":"2023-10-20T15:05:18","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:05:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/things-may-be-slow-in-the-early-days-of-launching-a-startup-but-socielle-founder-rechelle-coombes-is-not-giving-up-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:05:18","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:05:18","slug":"things-may-be-slow-in-the-early-days-of-launching-a-startup-but-socielle-founder-rechelle-coombes-is-not-giving-up-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/things-may-be-slow-in-the-early-days-of-launching-a-startup-but-socielle-founder-rechelle-coombes-is-not-giving-up-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Things may be slow in the early days of launching a startup but Socielle founder Rechelle Coombes is not giving up – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Socielle<\/div>\n

\u201cWhen shit hits the fan and things are going tough don\u2019t give up, that\u2019s the difference between successful founders and founders whose [ideas] die,\u201d says Socielle founder Rechelle Coombes.<\/p>\n

Little over six months ago, the Melbourne founder launched\u00a0impact-driven e-commerce platform Socielle to\u00a0share her love of ethical and sustainable fashion, beauty and accessories with the world.<\/p>\n

And while also managing a full-time job, Coombes has recently launched a beta version of her second startup, Promoterly.<\/p>\n

Coombes, an active member of Melbourne’s startup community, has built both platforms herself using more than a decade’s worth of experience in digital marketing, website development, and coding, and by teaching herself new skills in tech development.<\/p>\n

She believes there is a huge need to make sustainable fashion and beauty products attractive to mainstream consumers and she\u2019s using technology to fill this gap.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a typical shopping site,\u201d Coombes tells StartupSmart <\/em>when describing\u00a0Socielle.<\/p>\n

But every product on the site, which hit the market in August 2016, has a social or environmental impact and the loyalty program benefits non-profit causes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAround 60% of the items are made by women from developing communities,\u201d Coombes says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of the transaction, when [shoppers] get to the checkout, they simply select the cause they align with most.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coombes calls this \u201cshopfunding\u201d and wants it to be a new way for non-profit groups and charity organisations to raise awareness and donations.<\/p>\n

Coombes, who attended the School for Social Entrepreneurs in Melbourne, says the idea was sparked by her exposure to social impact startups and projects during the course.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was meeting all these people and ethical and sustainable businesses and I thought how can I apply these principles in my everyday life and in my purchases,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Applying her \u201cminimalist\u201d personal lifestyle to her venture, Coombes says she opts for recycled paper and stock options and ethical dyes when printing materials, limits the use of packaging, and only works with socially conscious businesses like carbon neutral delivery platform Sendle<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are definitely in no place where brands and products are perfect throughout every part of the value chain, but we\u2019re getting closer,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

While Socielle slowly grows\u2014its monthly visits average around 1000 to 3000\u2014Coombes is also managing the release of Promoterly\u2019s beta version.<\/p>\n

With this second platform, Coombes’s goal is to help startups and small businesses \u201cget exposed\u201d through innovative ways in marketing and promotion.<\/p>\n

The idea for this venture came out of the challenge she\u2019s had in driving brand awareness in cost-effective ways for Socielle.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not SEO or Facebook advertising anymore,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cReally where I was getting traction was through media articles, interviews, podcast interviews \u2026 and general collaborations with other businesses.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes a lot of time to find those opportunities especially when you\u2019re building a side hustle.\u201d<\/p>\n

While traction in the early days can take time to pick up, Coombes remains patient. She believes her passion for technology and problem solving will be the key to her future success.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m the master of Google research\u2014there\u2019s almost always an answer,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on<\/em>\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,<\/em>\u00a0Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>\u00a0and iTunes<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhen shit hits the fan and things are going tough don\u2019t give up, that\u2019s the difference between successful founders and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61247,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39932"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}