Entrepreneur Interview: Kyle Morrow, ThirstTees

Business Name:
ThirstTees

Website URL:
www.thirsttees.com

Social Media Links:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/wearwater
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ThirstTees

Year Founded:
2011

Business Partners:
Thirst Relief International (http://thirstrelief.org)

Number of Employees:
1 (various contractors)

ThirstTees is a charitable clothing line that raises money to build wells and water purifiers throughout Africa and South America.  Every tee purchased provides one person with 25 years of clean water.

Was there a specific turning point when you realized your business was moving to the next level?

After graduating from college I went backpacking around New Zealand for 8 months.  During this time, I wrote the business plan between cleaning toilets and making beds in the various hostels that I worked at.  This experience taught me how to enjoy a lifestyle focused on living simply.  Therefore, when I came home and was ready to start ThirstTees, I was not driven by money.  I was ready to work on something for the passion.  The freedom in this mentality allowed me to take the concept to the next level.

Creating a blog has been critical in growing the business.  There needs to be a place for people to regularly connect with the brand.

Social media has been a great way to contact future customers.  I want to build a community of people that are passionate about helping others.  Most people have no idea how big of an issue the water crisis is.  Every 19 seconds a child dies from a water related illness.  I am able to provide people with information that they can easily share with their friends in order to create awareness.  Through that awareness, people are looking for a way to help.  ThirstTees is a simple way to make a direct impact.

I have found that being as genuine as possible has been the most important aspect of growing the business.  People are curious about how much money is being donated and how much is going toward operation costs.  I don’t blame them at all.  These are the same questions that I would have. I try to be completely open about how the business is running.

The most rewarding aspect of ThirstTees is seeing the pictures and videos of people smiling with joy from the new well or water purifier in their village.  Clean water changes every area of a persons life.  It is an amazing feeling to help others.

A close second would have to be seeing people get excited about helping others.  Some people are very passionate about the cause and tell as many people as they can.  It is incredible to see compassion flow out of a person.

I would have created more ways for people to spread our message when they initially heard it.  People can be very excited about what you are doing, but if you don’t provide them with an easy way to tell others, it rarely spreads.  It is very important to make it as easy as possible for people to talk about you.

Do what you are afraid of.  Your business will never be successful if you always try to play it safe and stay in your comfort zone.

If you have an idea that you are passionate about, then share it with others and see what they have to say.  People are willing to give you feedback if you ask them.  You cannot be afraid of a negative response.  Negative responses allow you to adjust and save a lot of time and money.

Books:
22 Immutable Laws of Marketing – basic principals that apply to any business
Word of Mouth Marketing – how to make it easy for your customers to talk about you
Paradox of Choice – understand how people make decisions

Tools:
Evernote.com – organize all of the information for your business
Inkscape.com – open source design program
HootSuite.com – manage all of your social media in one place

I started this business using student loan money because I felt that I could earn a better return through investments than what I would be charged in interest.

Gratitude is the key to a happy life and successful business.  Be grateful for where you are at and excited for where you are heading.