Improvement: A core value of Draquis
Draquis is a small start-up run only by me; someone who doesn’t have much experience in this business. When you’re a small company it is difficult to get everything done or made exactly the way you want due to limited resources in for instance funding or network. But also some things are really hard (impossible) to find or just haven’t been made yet!
Being realistic
When I started I had this idea for the perfect product, but I soon realized that maybe I would have to compromise on certain areas (for a perfectionist like me, that is not an easy thing to do). I had to realise that starting out perfect is not realistic and I had to drop some of the ideas that I had. Well, not really drop them… let’s say: set aside. Because that was the only way I could move foreward with my idea; if there was a possibility of making it perfect in the future. That’s how my core value improvement was born.
There is a lot to consider when starting a company like this. There is the part of the shorts like the fabrics and trims: where and how they are made, the actual manufacturing part: where and how this is done and then there are the other things like transportation, packaging and shipping. I am eco-conscious, which means whatever I do I will have the environment in mind and try to make the best decisions as possible. But in some cases I will have to compromise because what I want is not yet achievable.
Breaking it down with an example!
For me, having to compromise also means that I will always look for ways to improve the parts I had to compromise on, so that I can make it more eco-friendly in the future. I will give you an example to better understand what I am trying to say: for my shorts I have to get labels made. There will be a small size label, a washing/care label and a label with my logo. The size label and the care label will both be made from recycled polyester.
But then the logo label… The label maker that will make my care labels can make logo labels, just not woven and with recycled polyester (woven is a type of way to make the logo). So I decided to look elsewhere. I had found some places but those were way too expensive. Another place I found makes these labels in their own factory in Asia, but I am trying to keep all of the production in Europe. What to do?
Always looking forward
In the end I had 2 choices. Either get the recycled polyester and have the production outside of Europe, which will result into extra emissions from tranportation and it is more difficult to check if the work environment is good. Or choose production in Portugal, but not get the recycled label as I wanted. I am currently not able to research in depth which of these options would really cause the least harm to the environment, I’d need to get a third party to do research on this, which is just not attainable at this moment. (That’s another future goal right there!)
So this is just one of those things that I still want to improve in the future, because I am not completely satisfied with the option that I chose (I chose production in Portugal over recycled yarn by the way). I know I will be able to find a better option, I just have to keep looking! Giving you this example is just to show you how I will incorporate this core value in the company. I will always want to be more sustainable and eco-friendly so I will continue to look for new and better ways to improve my product and my company!
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to reach out through the contact form or just via e-mail!