[Voiceover]: Welcome to the checkout. We catch up with previous add to cart guests and ask them five quick questions to get to know them better and leave you with a little extra inspiration to get you through your Friday.
[Voiceover]: Today's checkout features Adam Lindsay, the co founder of direct to consumer cleaning product company koh that's K o h. Confused by dozens of chemical cleaners, not to mention all the hardware that goes with them, Adam was determined to simplify domestic cleaning and create a simple, safe and effective alternative. Almost five years later, CO is now used in 10% of Aussie households and the company is on Track to hit $50 million in revenue this financial year.
Nathan Bush: Adam, welcome to the checkout. We have heard all about yourself and co and your journey so far. We've got five quick questions to learn a little bit more about you.
Adam Lindsay: Sure.
Nathan Bush: Number one, what's the weirdest thing that you've ever bought online?
Adam Lindsay: I'd say the most, the most exotic is a, is a. Is a bass guitar so which I bought from Japan so navigated through language barriers and God knows what. But yeah, Fender 62 jazz bass. My beloved bass guitar. Probably not maybe necessarily strange but it was kind of about 15 years ago so it was strange ordering it online back then back in those days.
[Voiceover]: Are you still in a band?
Adam Lindsay: I'm not, no, no, no. I sort of more on the sort of like a burnt out 90s DJ really. So I was in Abandoned when I was a kid so it was kind of like one of those nostalgia midlife crisis, premature midlife crisis I would add. But no sort of bit more lean to the DJ thing which I sort of still entertain myself with as well. Dropping some beats.
Nathan Bush: Nice one. I'm just imagining you with your cleaning products and your beats hand in hand.
Adam Lindsay: Hello.
Nathan Bush: Look at that skill level. All right, number two, who is your favorite retailer?
Adam Lindsay: You know I was having a good thought, think about this. And this may not be the coolest response but I really admire Apple for how they manage themselves. A is perhaps the biggest company on the planet but you know, they are just, you go to their website, their e commerce experience is super cutting edge, I find. I think their service is exceptional. I'm a big fan of the product so that helps as well. But I just think, you know, often for a business as large as that to still be at the forefront, you know, around the whole E commerce and, and manage their retail, you know, side of things and to still be nailing that, I think it's pretty amazing really because you know, sure they've got lots of Resources, but you still got to execute and deliver it. And I think they do. Every time I go on there, kind of, you know, the new products, I think the new watch came out and like, it was kind of 3D and I was, God, what have they done this time? It's pretty, pretty amazing.
Nathan Bush: Tell me you didn't buy their $25 cleaning cloth.
Adam Lindsay: No, I didn't. No, I'm okay with that. Yeah, they do have a habit of some strange things. What was the one that they came up with? The thousand dollar screen holder or something, which didn't go down well, I think a little while back. We have their moments.
Nathan Bush: But they know there's money out there, don't they?
Adam Lindsay: They do, they do.
Nathan Bush: All right, number three, which E commerce practice do you wish was history?
Adam Lindsay: Think what I'd like to see the end of. And we're all participating in a way, and I'm not sure how we can all get out of it, but just the relentless discounting. And I know that's kind of not exclusively a, you know, an E commerce thing, but I think, you know, that's ultimately something that I'd like our brand to focus on, is to have, you know, that discipline to just be, you know, that's the price and that's what it is. And we're not discounting. And you know, again, I kind of say Apple are kind of pretty good at just. That's the price.
Nathan Bush: Yeah.
Adam Lindsay: You know, so I think that it's, it's a, it's a, it's an easy habit to fall into. It does work on, on many levels. So it's really hard not to do it and. Yeah, but I think ultimately if, you know, if we could all have a discounting amnesty one day with all of our customers, just say, you know, that's. It's just going to be here and, you know, I can.
Nathan Bush: Jerry Harvey will lead the charge on that one. Don't worry. Oh, goodness. Might need to edit that video. All right, number four, can you. Can you recommend a book or a podcast that our listeners should immediately get into?
Adam Lindsay: Yes, I can. It's been our bible, if you like, for the business ever since we started. I read it. It's a book by a chap called Ryan Holliday. You may be familiar with him.
Nathan Bush: Yep.
Adam Lindsay: He's written many. He's. He's a pretty big sort of advocate of stoicism, which is a kind of a. Like, I wouldn't say I'm a great student of it, but I do have a lot of interest in It, I think there's a lot of, A lot of elements of stoicism which, you know, can help founders and everybody really. I mean, you don't need to be a founder or a startup person, but it's, it's just a great life guide. And I think his one particular book, the Obstacle is the Way, gave me goosebumps again.
Nathan Bush: I've never had this effect on anyone. I'm glad I could.
Adam Lindsay: Yeah. How do you do it to me, Nathan? But the Obstacle Is the Way, really, you know, in particular, as a, you know, a founder, when you're doing startup and, you know, e commerce, there are always, always going to be things coming out of left field that you didn't see. Obstacles, challenges. And I think when after reading that book, I really helped us as sort of, you know, kind of founders to really see that this is always going to happen. It's going to happen in life, shit's going to happen. You know, life is going to throw shit at you that you weren't expecting, that you could easily be, oh, it's not fair, and why does it always happen to me? But when you actually see those moments as a learning opportunity and what can you learn about this and how are you going to navigate through this and make it the best, you know, just learn from it. It just has a profound effect on how you handle adversity and challenges. And I just really strongly recommend.
Nathan Bush: It's one of those books to have on the bookcase to give you the kick up the ass when you kind of get mopey.
Adam Lindsay: Right, Totally. And I think, you know, just that sort of, just the approach of really, you know, taking responsibility and ownership of the thing, you know, so maybe a member of staff didn't work out, you're going to blame them. Well, who hired them? You know,
Nathan Bush: Right.
Adam Lindsay: So, you know, there's all that around it and I think it's just really, really, really useful. So, yeah, stoicism and that book, the Obstacle is the way. My two. Two picks. You didn't say I could have two picks, but I'm going to have two picks. There you go.
Nathan Bush: Philosophy and look beautiful. I love it. Thank you. Great, great recommendations. And last one I've got for you. Finish this sentence. The future of retail is.
Adam Lindsay: Future of retail is the customer. And I think by that I mean that brands who can really make their decisions based on what is best for the customer are going to be the success. And whenever we've on occasion veered away from making a decision that's not got the customer up front and center. It's always come back and bitten us on the ass and when we've made the decisions and the steps is is this best for the for our customers it's always, you know, there's success that follows. I would say that that's not too well said. It's true.
Nathan Bush: I love it. And if you are interested in the ways that Adam is staying connected to the customers from the startup at the markets all the way through to staying engaged on the Facebook groups, head back to the main episode where we go into a bit of detail on that. Adam, thanks for joining us on the checkout.
Adam Lindsay: Thank you so much Nathan. Appreciate it.
[Voiceover]: It's been good fun to hear more from Adam. Jump back into episode 140 where Adam shares his priorities when it came to developing an Eco certified product. He also shares the stories of why setting up every weekend at the markets for six months was time well spent and how he managed to get a doctor of ionic chemistry to help him for free. Must have been one hell of a sales pitch. Thanks for listening and until next time, keep adding to cart. It's finally happening. Registrations for E Suite's E Commerce Accelerator program are now open. If you're looking to get into e commerce upskill in e commerce or just want a refresher, we've got you covered. I've taken the lessons from my e commerce career and the insights from from all the e commerce leaders I've been lucky enough to speak with here and distilled it into 10 weeks of e Commerce learning. We cover the foundations of e commerce including strategy, marketing, technology, finance, analytics and supply chain. You'll even leave with an official Shopify certification. Every week I will host a two hour live lesson which will be supported by templates, case studies and resources to accelerate your e commerce commerce career. And because you guys lend me your ears, I'll lend you a discount code. Use the code add to cart or one word to get $200 off your sign up. That's add to cart as the discount code, so don't wait. Class commences on the 14th of March and registration is now open. Head over to learn.esweettalent.com that's learn.esweettalent dot com to secure your place today. See you in there.
