A quick summary of who I am and what I do. Hi everyone, I am Rajakumari Raveendran and I am building a business that tackles the issue of plastic waste, called Kabloomz. Our mission is to reduce plastic waste starting with the recent problem…. polypropylene face masks. Our solution: seed infused 100% biodegradable face masks.
This month has been vital in me understanding the power of patience. I realised idea implementation requires persistence and constantly iterating.
Like any journey, I was very excited about how far I had come with the research and implementation of the seed infused mask idea. I felt an avalanche of emotions when I created my first prototype. The mask was trialled and tested with various materials, some quirky ones being Banaba fibre, pineapple fibre, and nettle.
Creating my product
I then started sewing the mask to ensure its toughness, then realised it would be increasing the unit cost per mask. I wanted to make it price competitive so I decided to adopt a much quicker strategy using vegan glue. As I had decided to hand-make these masks (whilst also finding suppliers who will agree to manufacture them for me), I had realised using glue instead had made the making of a single mask quicker (by 3 minutes) than when I sewed it.
Testing the mask’s effectiveness
I had to then ensure the mask’s effectiveness; what is the use of a mask if it’s not effective, right?
When picking the material, the research came in handy as I had already chosen materials with properties that would prevent the particle movement to be high. Therefore, I decided to test it out using a certified method.
- One is blowing out the candle with the mask,
- the other is pouring water and wait to see whether the water is fileting out or being held in the mask.
I was happy to have seen the mask that I had made had passed both the tests, but the only problem was that it soaked up water instead. This was a crucial part of the development of this idea, as now I could figure out how I should market this product and whom it would be helpful too.
Marketing my product
My social media presence is going to be important in this journey. Thus I realised this month I had to pay particular attention to how I communicated the mission statement to my target audience (which I am still experimenting with and trying to find out).
I decided that my original company name: raiseurvibrations wasn’t memorable enough, and realising the power of words, I realised I wanted something just as quirky as the mask. Therefore, I decided to choose the name Kabloomz, inspired by a sudden thought about the mask’s functionality.
Choosing a colour for my brand
Now, after selecting a more upbeat and approachable name, I decided to finalise the staple colour. Now, what I mean by that is Coca-Cola has its staple colour red and Starbucks (green/white) and Amazon orange (arguable). I decided to take up green to embody natures vast colour.
These small, seemingly insignificant decisions I took simplified my work and allowed me to become focused minded in creating my Instagram posts. Still in the process of identifying the vibe I am going for, but creating a framework before the artwork has definitely helped me get my creative juices flowing and become more centred (rather than taking hours) with the creation of each post. Warning…. not trying to force you, but if you want to see the journey I am describing above, do always try and give my page a follow @kabloomz_ 😉 Thanks!
Reflecting on the month’s work
As I stated initially, this month has been a trialling month where I realised my strengths and weaknesses and how to work around them. I understand that the journey will never be straight pathed, but I know it will be filled with a series of unfortunate events alongside rewarding moments that would make it all worth pursuing again. Moving forward, I wish to list my products on as many platforms as possible, including Etsy, Facebook, Depop, vinted and several more. The reason is so I can continue making alterations to improve this product and make it the best it can be.
