What do you do?

We offer products in three categories: 1) Gifts/home goods 2) Furniture and 3) Custom Interior Features (e.g. wall panels, countertops, etc.).  Our products are carbon negative given the locally recycled material as well as local manufacturing.  Local manufacturing not only reduces the distance a product needs to travel to get to the end user, but it also means lower lead times and reduced dependence on the global supply chain.

We source our material from the Greater Boston area, partnering with 100 restaurants to upcycle their used chopsticks and prevent them from going to landfills.  On average, we collect 800 pounds of material each week.

What inspired you to start your business?

Like many people who have young children, I want our Earth to be as wonderful and beautiful for them as it was in my own childhood.  I wanted to go beyond efforts to live sustainably at home and dedicate my working life to it as well.

I spent the last 20 years in nonprofit management in operations and HR, focused on workforce development and youth development.  During the pandemic, I felt the need to achieve impact in a new way with a particular interest in sustainability and our local community.  I came across ChopValue, which turned out to be the perfect fit.  

I bought the franchise late in 2021, began collecting chopsticks in spring 2023, and went into production in fall 2023.  We currently have three full-time and two part-time employees, and regularly rotating college-level interns.  Our microfactory diverted more than 5 million chopsticks (about 18 tons) in the first year of operation, and we are proud to serve clients such as JP Morgan Chase, Bevi, Takeda, and more.

What's special about your business?

We are one of Boston's only fully circular businesses, and we hope to inspire others around what's possible - that together, we can redefine the term waste to resource and offer more truly sustainable, carbon-negative products to the market.

What influenced you to seek help from SCORE?

I am a first-time business owner.  While I have an MBA (from a very long time ago!) and have been in executive management, I realized I was walking into a completely new environment - franchising, manufacturing, small business ownership - and I wanted to seek out as much help and advice as I possibly could.  I was thrilled to learn about SCORE and the free support that they offer, and my mentor has been an invaluable resource to me during the tough startup period.

How SCORE helped.

My first interaction with SCORE was attending a workshop about franchising.  Prior to that, I knew next to nothing about it, but as a result of that workshop, I had a general sense of it, as well as the names of two books to read (which I did) and a new idea for a funding strategy as well.

With SCORE's help, I completed my due diligence, started a business, and secured 15% of my necessary startup capital.  I also established operational infrastructure that is utilized regularly and critical to our financial reporting.

What's great about my mentor?

Ramesh is very hands-on.  While all our calls are, of course, via Zoom, there was one project that I needed a "deep dive" on, and that was my inventory valuation strategy.  In order to achieve this, Ramesh came to the microfactory several times over the course of a few months and sat side by side with me in multi-hour sessions to devise the strategy and put it into practice.  Thanks to Ramesh, I have comprehensible financial statements and was able to file my first annual taxes very smoothly!

What advice would you give to someone thinking of starting a small business?

Surround yourself with people who are strong in areas where you are weak and don't be afraid to ask for a lot of feedback and advice along the way!

What would you tell a fellow business owner about SCORE?

There is zero reason not to try it out.  It's a free, high-quality resource that will help you as a business owner as well as your business.