In this current age of globalisation, one would undeniably encounter a material widely used in almost every industry – plastic. Plastic is cheap and durable, and one will not question its usefulness. However, the production of plastic in recent decades have soared, causing landfills sites to be clogged, threatening marine lives and accelerating the impending climate change. Realising this, Ms Kelly Tan, has pioneered her own company to purse her passion of ethical business. Starting out just two years ago in 2021, Kelly founded iGreen Go in order to get consumers to shy away from using food packaging made of plastic and styrofoam. She also aims to eradicate the use of plastic bag in our daily lives, reversing the effects of plastic pollution. This young company has a strong goal in mind, to become the face of sustainable products and services not only within Singapore, but globally as well. It is envisioned to be a fast growing company that will achieve great heights within a decade.
Being no stranger to the packaging industry, Kelly was in the manufacturing sector for a substantial amount of time prior to her entrepreneurship journey. She amassed a great deal of experience over the years while working in the industry before founding iGreen Go, all to transform the packaging industry into a business which benefits all stakeholders positively.
Starting off as a one person team, Kelly has developed her company with a growing team within a year. The young company has also successfully provided an alternative to single use plastic and styrofoam for food packaging, and partnered with an entire hawker centre to implement the new sustainable packaging. Additionally, she donates packaging that are not popular amongst customers to charity organizations quarterly. It is difficult to in replacing plastics completely, one can only admit that it remarkable feat by iGreen Go.
” Business is a never ending game of mission-impossibles. “
Despite the success Kelly has achieved thus far, it definitely wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows when she first started. Given the nature of the company, replacing the use of plastic is no simple feat as the use of plastic has been ingrained as part and parcel of our daily lives. Starting out, she fully funded the company all by herself and did not accept any external financial capital or resources. For the first 6 months of operation, there were no customers and she did not receive a single cent of revenue. Naysayers then tried to dissuade her from continuing, and told her that “Women should not run businesses, it is too tough and risky, and you will fail after the first year”. Enduring all the hardships and discouragements, Kelly continued to be fearless in her endeavor, pursing her passion. She continued to pump capital into her company and worked extra hard, making full use of her acquired skills while working in the manufacturing industry. Eventually, along with the good advices of a successful businessman, Kelly was able to overcome the obstacles which contributes greatly to iGreen Go’s current successes.
When inquired on the secrets to success, Kelly has a few to share. One must possess great leadership to create a strong team of highly motivated individuals that work towards a common vision of the company. Having laid down a sturdy foundation for the company, one must then proceed to establish a healthy company culture in order to retain the experienced employees.
To ensure that iGreen Go remains competitive within the industry, the company sets themselves apart from competitors with their advantage of in-depth experience and expertise as a manufacturer in Singapore. They are very passionate and driven about their sustainable causes, giving themselves an edge when being compared in the market. Moreoever, the company is highly innovative and operates on a completely different way compared to traditional distributors and manufacturers. Cost of productions are kept to a minimum, ensuring the price competitiveness in the market. The quality of product that is produced are of highest standards, and the company is able to retain clients through exceeding every expectation of customers in the aspect of delivery time and customer service.
As it stands, there will be many unforeseen difficulties that Kelly and iGreen Go continue to encounter. Thankfully, she has an excellent business strategy set in place to combat these challenges. Regarding the company’s costings, she takes into account costs, customer’s expectations, as well as market prices to set the price of her products. To ensure maximum operational efficiency, the company utilises all the latest technologies to achieve high levels of automation in warehouses, logistics and administrations. Manual labor is minimised and constant upgrading of technologies is the key to better efficiency. Incentives are awarded to staffs who performed outstandingly, and consistently high-performing individuals can expect promotions.
This culture of teamwork, employee welfare, integrity and ethics accompanied by the excellent strategies will definitely do the company well in the long run.
FUTURE OF PACKAGING
As a highly ambitious business woman, Kelly constantly strives for improvement and the success of her company. Having experienced many setbacks and overcame them, she has gone past the stage of vulnerability and is looking to expand her business in the future. She has plans to expand iGreen Go into factory manufacturing operations in Singapore and also spearhead a new tech industry with relevance to packaging. More importantly, she strives to grow her manpower in order to support the ever increasing customer acquisition. There are also plans to expand the business overseas in the medium term by franchising the proven business model and forming international partnerships with relevant companies and authorities. With Kelly’s unyielding spirit and passion for ethical business, she poses as an inspiration to many. Undoubtedly, only further success awaits her and iGreen Go.
