Grow A Small Business Podcast In Australia, 30 million plastic toothbrushes go to landfill every year. With a mission to remove plastic waste from Australian bathrooms- Started Tinkle, a sustainable bamboo toothbrush and dental floss business (Ben Cashman)
In this Grow A Small Business Podcast episode, Troy interviews Troy Trewin interviews Ben Cashman, the owner of Tinkle, a bamboo toothbrush and dental floss subscription business based in Hobart, Australia.
Ben also talks about his background and the journey that led him to start Tinkle. He also discusses the business model, which focuses on reducing plastic waste in Australian bathrooms. He also mentions his other ventures, including The Project Lab, a management consulting business, and Electric Highway Tasmania, a for-profit business that installs electric vehicle charging stations.
The conversation concludes with Ben discussing the habit of not getting comfortable and complacent in business and the importance of consistent business development. Finally, he shares his hiring advice, emphasizing the importance of hiring slowly and firing fast while focusing on cultural fit and core competencies.
This Cast Covers:
- How they've known each other
- Where the idea of a sustainable toothbrush came up
- Overview of Tinkle's business model and its mission to remove plastic waste from Australian bathrooms
- Troy Trewin sharing his experience as a Tinkle subscriber and the enjoyment he and his daughter have with the bamboo toothbrushes
- The challenges they had
- The most stressful point of the small business growth journey
- How he handled balance
- Why Consistency is key in a business
- The moment he felt like he had succeeded
- How The Project Lab and Electric Highway Tasmania was started and funded
Links:
Additional Resources:
- Tinkle
- The Project Lab
- Electric Highway Tasmania
- The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz
- Culture is Everything by Tristan White
Quotes:
"The whole mission of Tinkle is to remove plastic waste from Australian bathrooms."—Ben Cashman
"My biggest lesson is to hire slowly and fire fast and in a nice way politely." —Ben Cashman
"It's going to get hard before it gets easy. So stick with it." —Ben Cashman
"Tinkle was started with the sole purpose of working out whether we can do it, like can we actually create a passive income business?" —Ben Cashman
"Some things you'd think you'd never make a mistake on, can get you." —Ben Cashman