“Where I come from, we say: if you don’t work, you don’t eat”

What does it really take to build a sustainable startup from scratch? For today’s issue, I have spoken with the wonderful Natalia Monnard, a power woman from Mexico living in Switzerland who did a pivot in her career stepping out of banking. Natalia is the CEO and Co-Founder of SQIN ?, a natural skincare company that is built on deep values, immeasurable passion and a dedication to deliver high quality natural products.

“Working in the bank was very good for me, but I was never passionate about the financial world. My values were not fully aligned. I always felt that it somehow was not enough. Then I saw an opportunity, and here I am”.?

How it all started - by accident and with an aligned purpose

Natalia was having dinner with a former UBS colleague and, after a while, began speaking about skincare products. Natalia, an avid user of natural skincare for over a decade, mentioned that she had issues finding a high-quality, natural and stainless deodorant…

“Hmm, I do my own natural deodorant.”

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“You do what?”

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“Yeah, I do my own.”

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“Can I try it? Because if I like it, I will buy it from you.”

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“Yeah, sure.”

…

“And it was amazing, amazing. The best natural deodorant I’ve ever, ever, used.” ?

It’s entrancing to think about what kind of life-changing impact simple conversations can have. This innocent exchange started what has now become SQIN ?. After this conversation towards the end of 2020, Natalia realised that this fantastic product combined with her drive and business knowledge could be the magic recipe to get started. They registered the company in December 2020 and launched their first product in May 2021. But it wasn’t as straightforward as it may seem.

Natalia and I previously worked together at UBS, which is where we first met. Although Natalia enjoyed several benefits of working in the financial sector, she never really felt at home and was in the search for something that felt more meaningful to her. So she decided to pursue an executive MBA as a sort of “security blanket”. Not only did she want to be exposed to other like-minded people and ideas, she wanted to experience new things and change the way she was thinking.?

With the MBA behind her, and a renewed energy to engage in a life-changing step, Natalia was ready for an entrepreneurial journey. Once she heard about the exciting product her friend created, she was immediately hooked.

“It was a product I would actually buy and use myself. And that was the trigger for me? - I would never build a business just for the sake of it. With this, there was no “but” for me”.

Founding a company isn’t an easy task - 9 out of 10 startups fail

Starting a business is a daunting task that can have both incredibly great consequences or lead to a lot of frustration. Looking at the statistics, about 90% of startups fail . While only about 10% of startups fail within the first year , this number rises to 50% within five years and reaches 70% at ten years after the foundation . If that wasn’t enough, 30% of all startups are unprofitable, another 30% break and fail and only 40% of startups actually turn a profit .?

The list of why startups fail is long.

If you look at the gender proportions when founding a business, you can see that there is still a great disparity between male, female and diverse founders. While the numbers of female-led or female-involved startups are constantly increasing, the share of startups that have at least one female founder is at only 20% globally .

“I learned long ago that when I am underestimated, I am better positioned to leverage success. Additionally, I leverage my strengths as a woman. I hear and understand what my customers want because I have a high level of empathy, and I am comfortable connecting with them emotionally.”

Jasmine Jones, Founder and CEO of Cherry Blossom Intimates

Natalia admitted having to face negative stereotypes at times, but also receives a lot of support. She disclosed that even now as a co-founder of her successful company, she is facing commentary like “when are you going to get a real job?”. But at the same time, support is coming from unexpected places: “I was very impressed by the amount of people that want to help you succeed. This is new for me. I worked in banking for ten years (laughs). There, that does not always happen”. Natalia loves her new role as the CEO of SQIN ? and she has big plans for this year, launching three new products this coming spring.?

SQIN ? is flourishing and not only financially stable, but comes with a very positive outlook. After starting her company, Natalia was also joined by Sarah, who now acts as Chief Marketing Officer and co-founder. Her main focus in addition to the typical marketing responsibilities is, believe it or not, education. In the sector of natural cosmetics, misinformation and lack of knowledge about ingredients and products is one of the main barriers new, sustainable and natural brands are facing.?

“A lot of what we still have to do is education. People think they understand natural cosmetics, but there are a lot of hidden facts that need to come to the surface.”

As Natalia told me, SQIN ? is based on three pillars, that also demonstrate the state of the industry:

1. Their products are 100% natural: and they really mean 100%. Cosmetic regulations say that if your product is 95% natural, you can categorise it as 100% natural, but what is in the other 5%? If the product is made out of 75% organic ingredients, it can be declared as organic.?
2. SQIN ? guarantees 100% transparency: there are no asterisks or small print for any of the ingredients they use. A company can hide over 200 ingredients behind an asterisk, like for example fragrance*, and still be fully compliant and without having to disclose anything more to customers.??
3. Customer experience and sustainability across the full value chain: they want their clients to feel excited about using a natural skincare product. Coming from a financial background, Natalia knows about the importance of customer experience, product experience and support. “The manufacturing, packaging and shipping are all sustainable and traceable. The box is 100% recyclable, the paper is recycled and printed with soy-ink, the jars are made out of recyclable aluminium and recycled bamboo and our re-use program ensures we make our customers part of the effort to live a more sustainable life-style.”?

Sustainable startups are on the rise

Just like Natalia’s company, more and more startups are focusing their efforts on sustainability. As we all know about the extraordinary importance of sustainable business practices in the light of climate change, it should be an imminent duty of companies to increase their efforts to curb the effects of anthropogenic climate change. Examining the impact of the economy on climate change, it becomes apparent that primarily traditional and established companies are responsible for a majority of the global emissions.?

In a survey across a range of startups,

• 89% of all startups indicated at least medium to high internal drivers?
• 53% of the startups acknowledged that there are strong external incentives for acting sustainably
• As many 83% of all startups questioned see a tangible positive impact resulting from their sustainable measures.?

This highlights not only the strong desire of newly founded companies to act and pursue business more sustainably, but also promising economic consequences of doing so.?

While this is a very promising outlook, one fact stands out that is very important to note. It actually seems that venture capital (VC) backing is not always helpful in implementing sustainability measures. Three quarters of startups that did not receive any VC funding yet have implemented sustainability measures, whereas a lower number (60%) that are VC backed have done so. It is unclear why this might be the case, maybe more research needs to be done here.

VC funding is just one way to go - there are several ways to fund a startup?

Natalia and SQIN ? have chosen to use crowdfunding as their way to fund new and upcoming products, an increasingly popular method . Not only can the crowdfunding be used to fund your startup or launch new products, but crowdfunding can also be a way of market research (to determine if and what kind of market is there for a product or service) and can be used to back up your company if you ever think about pitching to investors in the future as proof of concept.?

Another financial aspect to consider is not only the funding of a new company but also making sure that all of the (co-)founders have the financial means, stability and security to pursue their dream to start their own business.?

Natalia has secured her finances by building a stable platform on multiple pillars. Her career in banking secured a good income which she smartly saved and invested. She is also very grateful to have a supportive partner, family and friends who are “there to catch her if she falls”. However, refusing to rely on this, she is able to additionally fund her new career path through supplementary consulting work and is appreciative to live in Switzerland, a country with a social security system that ensures that no one needs to be afraid of failure.?

“I was able to put some money on the side. To be smart about my finances, to make some investments. […] I gave myself two years, for this to be more or less sustainable and if that is not the case then I need to rethink it.”

Natalia, on how she’s been able to start her own business

Two essential tips if you are thinking about developing your own business

I’m very excited to see where Natalia’s journey is heading to. She’s a wonderful example of entrepreneurial spirit, great leadership and care for others and the planet. Startups like hers are one of the leading forces that are driving sustainability and that are representing an enormous chance to tackle several challenges we’re facing in the light of climate change. If you are thinking about developing your own business, here are two essential tips Natallia shared with me:?

1. Don’t be scared by the scale of your vision and the project: “Will I be able to do this?” Natalia looked at it this way: Dissect the vision and the project in things that you can actually get done and work on it step by step. What is my execution plan - what do I want to accomplish this month?? Otherwise it might feel too big, and so might the potential to fail.??
2. Don’t be afraid of being judged - talk about your idea: ultimately you are building your dream. Talking about it will provide you with feedback, support and it will push you and convince you that you can do it.

“If this project was to go south, I would not have wasted my time. I have learned so much about a new industry, I can add to my CV that I have built a company from scratch, with my own resources. Today I look behind at what I have accomplished and I am like holy moly, I already built all this - and that feels good. Failure is a fear that I don’t have at all. For now, I believe in it: learning, succeeding and taking it from there.”

I hope you enjoyed this issue of Money’s Impact as much as I did and I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.?

Excited to see you for the next issue of Money’s Impact in two weeks.?

Do you think startups can have a positive impact on the environment and change the economy to be more sustainable?