This weeks bonus episode features an inspiring chat with Cemal Ezel, founder of Change Please. When Cemal realised that he didn’t want to be sitting in his rocking chair at 90 years old realising he could have done so much more for the world – that is when he delved into the world of social business that he now believes is going to dominate the future.
00:00:00 Marks introduction
00:02:15 Meeting Cemal, introducing Change Please and what’s it about
- 00:02:51 “…Changing what products we sell them, you sell them as entrepreneurs – if they could change those products through those supply chains, and it makes a difference in society – that is what I believe will represent the future of business in the next five years.”
- 00:3:22 “What we’re doing is empowering people to come out of homelessness through a job first model, and not through a housing first model.”
- 00:04:10 Social business as the future
- 00:05:10 “The most important part of what we offer is therapy support. You can give a job and a house which you might think is enough, but actually therapy and mental health support are probably the key areas of what we support our staff with.”
- 00:06:59 “Not all products are equal”
00:07:30 The challenges and benefits around social business
- 00:10:20 “This isn’t just about doing good and doing a nice thing and having a pat on the back – this is directly increasing revenue for our direct clients.”
00:18:54 How did Change Please begin?
- 00:19:24 “I had a bit of a mid, or a third, life crisis and started to realise a lot of people were winning and a lot of people were losing along that journey.”
- 00:20:34 “I don’t wanna look back when I’m 90 and think about all the things I potentially could have done or achieved, and now it’s too late.”
00:21:39 Starting with a roastery and moving on to using vans
00:22:31 Sourcing and Cemal’s opinion on fair trade coffee
- 00:23:07 “We pay 5 to 6 times what fair trade pays directly to farmers and it incentivises farmers to farm based on the quality of their product…”
00:23:42 How Change Please started getting people off the streets
- 00:24:52 “But what we learnt was we really over delivered on the social impact right at the beginning. At one point we had four or five people working on one site when we only needed two… Then we realised for this to be successful, it has to be built on really strong commercial foundations.”
00:25:37 The 46 locations – where do they exist?
00:27:03 Is Cemal looking to work alongside other independents, rather than just taking over the coffee world?
- 00:27:55 “My dream is that we go out of business. Because we want to have an impact on homelessness, and the way we can do that is by convincing other business to almost replicate what we’re doing.”
00:28:54 The issue of more demand than Change Please can deal with – and how the future looks for them
00:30:08 A cart on echo island?
00:30:34 Marks final thoughts and sign off
If you’d like to learn more about Change Please, Cemal’s journey and how they are changing the world for the better… Check out their website and social channels below… Or, listen to the full episode here.
Website: https://www.changeplease.org/
Twitter: @ChangePlease
Instagram: @ChangePlease
Facebook: @ChangePlease15