Could the government make Wilder decisions?
The topic moves to how the government could support startups, particularly during an energy crisis that is leaving thousands of small businesses struggling to keep the wolf from the door.
Bowes-Lyon believes the onus is on businesses to face these challenges themselves, as many did during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Good businesses have always been able to cope with harder times. There’s never been a 20 year period where there hasn’t been some kind of economic downturn.”
The Wild co-founder argues that free-flowing VC money has propped up startups for the last ten years, and now things are getting tough, some may struggle to survive.
“People need to create profitable businesses that make money. And if they’re not geared up to do that, then ultimately they will fail at some point anyway.”
He does, however, believe the government should be doing more to encourage the development of sustainable, ethical startups.
“The government should introduce sustainability grants to help businesses with ethics at their core. In our [Wild’s] situation, we actually came dangerously close in our first year before we released the product of running out of money, and ending things.”
From Wild’s experience, it takes a long time to become established as a sustainable startup. This may deter entrepreneurs with ethical or eco-friendly business ideas from ever taking it any further.
For Bowes-Lyon, “it would be great if there was more incentive for people to go out there and think up clever ideas, that may actually have a really big impact on the future.”
The future is Wild
As for the future of Wild, Bowes-Lyon has high hopes of expansion.
In his ideal five year plan, “you would walk into a bathroom and everywhere you go, someone would have Wild products and none of those products, nothing would ever go in the bin.”
The sustainable startup is also in the final stages of B Corp certification, which it expects to announce in the coming months.
And with a new product launch potentially on its way, the future is bursting with opportunity for Wild.
Could your business be the next Wild? Apply now to the Startups 100 Index 2023.
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