EXECUTION AND SCALEUP
Please check this files for better look:
- Landing Page: R3- Execute & Scale up
- Pitch deck: GC Pitch Round 3 Execution & Scale up
- Video interview: Interview stakeholder video
Social Mantras
“By creating sustainable bags, Greencat aims to restore cotton plants for economic independent towards minorities”
FROM OUR STAKEHOLDERS
| Green Cat needs an effective brand communication strategy to
amplified your mission close to end users |
Murmur Working Cafe was established in 2022 as a coffee house suitable for people working and meeting. Murmur strategy to become your local favorite working cafe while being a fully independent and women-owned
Mur Mur got to know Greencat through a workshop organized by WECV and got intrigued by the passion of the ladies behind the business, which is to bring a unique combination with cultural products to the public. As we learn further, their product is not only unique but also sustainable as they use traditional fabric using natural dye and made by our minorities of the Northern region. As a start up, they would love to support other startups; hence, Murmur chose Greencat as a partner.
As a direct contact person between Green Cat and end users, Mur Mur suggests educating the customers more about the material they are using as in reality have a brand sign display on the shelf as well and flyers to educate about the brand and materials.
Interview records: Could you give us some suggestions for improving our products
Partners surveys: Partner survey
Evidence photo from other stakeholder representative:
PEOPLE SHARE ABOUT US
| “Products are beautiful, meaningful and have high social impact” |
Source surveys: Customer survey
Evidence from surveys: 34/53 answers
A2. BUSINESS MODEL OVERVIEW
| OUR PURPOSE
Green Cat’s priority goal is to preserve minority textiles that have less negative impact on the environment and to restore cotton plants that catalyze transformative change within their communities in 2030” |
BUSINESS HIGHLIGHT
| PEOPLE
Gender equity |
487 Minorities members in Hoa Binh
30 Minorities artisans in Ha Giang
04 Women in workplace
|
100% women
in vulnerable group (minority, single mom, middle aged) |
| PLANET
Life on land Climate Action |
100% Textiles from natural, biodegradable
10% Recycle resources
Organic cotton fibers
|
Sustainable
Product Handwoven process Natural dyeing Less harmful to planet Animal friendly |
| CLIENTS
Partnership for goals Responsible Consumption and Production |
22 Retails stores
07 Online marketplace
|
12 store in HCM
05 store in Danang 05 store in other cities |
| COMMUNITIES
Partnerships for the goals |
Top 30 regional
in SBC global competition – round 2 |
06 groups
|
Evidence:
Contract & Email with clients – Communities
Source References:
| We take action to achieve and expand product market fit |
We released our very first design in the France Exhibition coordinated with our partner, which is also France’s local brand and did some customer insight feedback. Green Cat returned to Vietnam and began releasing our first bag collection.
Since 2019 to present, Green Cat have been welcomed at 20 Gift Shop stores in the major cities such as Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Noi and tourism cities as Da Nang, Hoi An, Nha Trang, Can Tho.
- From the first concept: (Create sustainable bag prototype)
2. Go to market:(2019 – Present)
THE MAKE – OR- BREAK
- Sustainable fashion bag:
We received positive feedback from customers and had steady revenue growth for years. However, we realize that since the upheaval of the Covid epidemic and the economic downturn in the market, consumption behavior has changed and the market has also transformed rapidly and we realize it is necessary to have a wise change in the strategy for adaptation towards a market’s needs.
Reference: Consumer trend 2023 – 2024
When considering changes for development, we listen carefully to all feedback from our stakeholders and realize that we should focus on a wise strategy to have strong development and be able to replicate the ability to have a beneficial impact on the related parties and community.
Evidence: Surveys from Partners; Customer surveys
NEW AISLE FOR SUSTAINABLE BAG PRODUCTS
Meanwhile, there is also good news received from the Muong women that the cotton growing area has stabilized after the first years (2008) of planting accompanied the Muong women until now (2023). The planting area from 1000m2 has expanded to 5000m2.
Cotton was once considered a “poverty alleviation” crop in ethnic minority areas, because the soil and weather here are very suitable, allowing this crop to thrive and yield high yields. During its “golden age” in the years 2000 – 2005, Konchoro had a cotton growing area of nearly 3,000 hectares and then gradually decreased to less than 200 hectares. The reason for the decrease in cotton acreage is that the income of this crop in recent years has been insignificant, people have proactively destroyed cotton gardens and switched to growing other economic crops such as cassava and sugarcane. and beans of all kinds. According to online news Dangcongsan.vn, 23/7/2014.
Source Reference: information about cotton fact; Process to get USDA cert; Máy tách hạt cotton con lăn dùng trong phòng lab Testex TB510C (imall.vn)
For more information about cotton:
- Cotton plant failed – VN sub
- Government approved the program to develop Vietnam’s cotton crop until 2015, with an orientation to 2020
When Green Cat came to meet the Muong women listened to their expectation of restoring cotton. We understand and sympathize with their enthusiasm because we are also on the journey to find and to promote traditional fabric in Vietnam. Green Cat also expressed our desire for long-term cooperation. We set our short term goal to consume their hand-woven cotton fabric to the urban market. In the near future, we would work with them to find a plan to restore the cultivation of cotton.
The journey to restore the first cotton field
| 2008 | 2009 | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 – 2024 |
| A few household still keep retain cotton fibers to weave a sample of cotton fabrics and sell to Green Cat | Mrs. Bin (Muong woman) had to collect from each household because they still kept the yarn and cotton making tools to weave fabric to provide Green Cat during our first trial tests. | The crop season was damaged and Muong women lost all their seeds and completely stopped growing cotton. | Green Cat found and bought cotton seeds and in 2023 Muong women planted their first crop. | Cotton planted over 1,000 square meters and harvested 70-80 kg of cotton, woven with traditional wooden frames to produce 800 meters of 36cm fabric.
In 2024, the seeds are expanding to other cooperatives in the Muong and Thai communities in Tan Lap, Mai Chau and Thanh Hoa with a total cotton growing area of about 5,000 square meters. |
VALUE SOLUTIONS AND DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES
We shared the story of the Muong people’s desire to restore cotton to the community in the garment manufacturing industry and received positive feedback along with promising prospects for purchasing cotton fibers from representative of Alvin & Ashley Enterprise Limited – Avin & Ashley HK website
According to Decision No.29/QD-TTG of the Prime Minister: Approving the Program to develop Vietnam’s cotton crop by 2015, with a vision to 2020. It shows that the state is interested in restoring cotton in 2010, due to the huge domestic and export demand to consume fiber. However, the purchasing price at that time was not attractive enough and the guiding policy had many shortcomings, so it did not attract a large number of farmers to participate in this project.
Cotton fiber is the main raw material to create cotton fabric – the most used fabric in the world today. This is also where raw materials play an important role in the industrial chain supporting the textile industry.
Although according to statistics from 2008 – 2023, Vietnam is still a country with fiber and yarn export potential, always ranked in the top 10 in the world. However, Vietnam still depends on importing cotton fiber from China and India. The price of cotton imported into Vietnam in May 2021 was at 1,919 USD/ton, an increase of 101 USD/ton compared to April 2021 and an increase of 323 USD/ton compared to May 2020, an increase of 5.56% compared to April 2021. April 2021 and increased by 20.23% compared to the same period in May 2020. Credit: VITIC
With the great demand for using cotton fiber sources and with the advantage of growing areas with suitable natural conditions for growing cotton in Hoa Binh, we believe that Green Cat can coordinate with the Muong people to create a Cotton Farm modeling. The biggest goal is to supply domestically to reduce dependence on external imports. From there, we create a stable economy for the more people in Hoa Binh who join us in this scheme.
Why Hoa Binh Province
According to the representative of Luc Nghiep Thanh Cooperative, Hoa Binh, according to so and so, the minority community groups are cultivating cotton in a natural way on lands with enough moisture for the plants and little irrigation, and the experimental growing area has increased. And according to the document source agroforestry system in Hoa Binh, the potential for agricultural development in Hoa Binh province is still large.
Source reference: agroforestry system in hoa binh; Decision Planning for Hoa Binh province for the period 2021 – 2030, vision to 2050
According to Decision No 1648/QD- TTg dated 20/12/2023 from the Prime Ministry approved for zoning Hoa Binh from 2021 – 2023, division to 2025. In the highlight note, important issues to invest in include Green Agriculture, Ecotourism, Electricity industry…
COMMUNICATE IS KING
To be able to implement the cotton restoration project, we need more resources from various fields. so we proactively sought help from experts and advisors to accompany us. By sharing about our journey and our ambition, Green Cat has inspired the inspiration and empathy of new members who agree to participate in the project.
- Human Capital:
We come from various fields and have sharing the same belief towards sustainable development value for our community
- Social Capital:
We participate in many events organized by reputable organizations to learn and receive further advice for better development strategy.
Reference:
- UEF: The MKT plan of team 1 ; The MKT plan of Team 2
- WECV: WECV workshop
- Circo: Circo Leaflet
- AWE: AWE Bootcamp
- SBC: SIG Scores; BMI Scores;
| Green Cat proactively approached and successfully engaged 2 mentors agreed to help our cotton project
For good VN: Email mentoring & support Greencat Project
IBS: Email Trainer Pham Van Cuong – Best B
|
| Equity Capital | Working Capital | Investment Capital |
|---|---|---|
Evidence: company registration in confidential folder |
|
Evidence: in confidential folder |
According to an online survey and interview from our partners and customers
- Most of the answers come from our partners when choosing to cooperate with Green Cat because of the brand story, beautiful design and natural materials.
- Most of the answers came from customers participating in the survey, mostly between the ages of 35 – 45 with a high average income. They learned about Green Cat from their gifts. And they all agreed to continue
- supporting Green Cat because through us we will contribute to supporting the development of ethnic minority women and supporting the sustainable development of the cotton plant to make good benefits for minorities and their next generations.
- However, our products are mainly suitable for the tastes of foreign customers and not suitable for the tastes of domestic customers, and the communication of the brand story has not been promoted well to reach the majority of the number of consumers who are adopting the habit of online shopping.
Evidence: customer survey 52 answers; partners surveys 7 answers
Video interview Mur Mur owner – one of Green Cat partners:As for the above advantages and disadvantages, could you give GreenCat any suggestions to improve?
- By continuing towards sustainable development that is beneficial to the community, the environment and Green Cat’s business model. Our goals “To be a changemaker business that creates sustainable positive change for minority communities and the environment” in 2025 are as follows:
Sustainable Fashion Bags Cotton Fibers Branding Strategy & Products development Investment & Market Engagement 
- B3. Risk management
- The analysis is based on valid data from statistics, interviews, observations,etc.
- Proof of benchmarking on the industry’s practice
Statistic Source: VCOSA July,2021 Source: Vietnam Economic news May 24 Interview - Place: link interview urban engineer
- People: link interview agriculture engineer
- Product & Price: link interview Ms. Duong & surveys result from 52 answer
- Government: link interview Ms. Vinh
- Business: link interview Ms. Giang Bitis
Ref: Articles about Bitis & Ms. Giang
- Social: link interview Nexus
Observation Between the development potential of cotton fiber and the connection between the bag product line with Green Cat’s actual resources. We choose a phased development roadmap, engage with the government to minimize risks for projects that add value with stakeholders collaborating with us. Reference: Global consumer change
Risk management strategy:
| Category | Risk assessment | Rate | Solution | |
| Market | Price depends on global market | High |
|
|
| Policy |
|
Medium
High |
|
|
| Environment | Natural disasters, drought, pests…
(We generally assume that environmental risks are force majeure risks) |
High |
|
|
| People |
|
Low
High |
|
|
| Finance | All activities related to financial
(capital, investment, cashflow…) |
High |
|
|
Theory of change roadmap:
The business and social problem we are solving is focusing on cotton for our business growth and minority ethnic independence economy
| Inputs | Processes | Outputs | Outcomes | Impact |
|
|
|
|
|
After gathering information about the sustainable bag product line and the preparation steps for the cotton fiber product line, Green Cat received useful comments for the implementation and also risk management process for our project. We synthesize and draft the plan as follows:
In these 2 lines of Popular brands in the market that have similar products line & story with Green Cat including the upper line whose business model is based as a social impact business and the lower line whose main business model base is trading fabrics. Therefore, we selected the brands closest to us to provide a benchmark direction for Green Cat
- Evidence of engaging stakeholders to understand their ESG concerns and expectations
Repeet is a Vietnamese textile brand specialized in manufacturing alternative material solutions for the fashion industry and beyond.
REPEET
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Mission: Make sustainable materials commonplace in our market and further abroad.
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Vision: A future where fashion has a positive impact on the environment.
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Values: Connection,Openness & Change.
Green Cat’s priority goal is to preserve minority textiles that have less negative impact on the environment and to restore cotton plants that catalyze transformative change within their communities
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Mission: To convey the beautiful value of traditional Vietnamese fabrics that bring a piece of nature to daily life as an eco-friendly choice in the fashion world.
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Vision: Promote ethnic minority artisan growth and impact to every community and striking the balance in sustainable fashion.
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Values: Empower, Practice fair – trade, Sustainable
- The data for investors’ due diligence are well-collected:
- Green Cat was established from 2019 to present, after 5 years of testing the market and starting with the SME business model. Although our business has grown steadily, we do not have enough strength for scaling up to increase attractive profit margins. 2024 is the period when Green Cat looks back on our journey and researches deeply into the strengths we have and the issues that need improvement. We realize the importance of transforming our business model when we are ready for a new project with promising potential growth. Green Cat turned to experts in the investment fund industry for further advice and and do preliminary appraisal of our capital raising phase described as follows:
Source:IBS training slide – Module 7 Smart Fundraising Strategies for Social Business
Green Cat’s data prepare for investors’ due diligence:
Tangible Assets - Internal fiscal report 2019 – 2023
- Financial statements 2019 – Q2/2024
- Business plan 2025 – 2029
- Inventory
- Legal: business registration, website
- Actual Business operation: up to 20 retails stores partners, production – materials sourcing
Intangible Assets - Team & Advisor
- Market research & potential growth for new business model
- Potential market: stakeholders, buyers, term of production
- Networking: export market
D. LEARNING CURVE
- Describe what you have learned from the execution of your business model and how you improve your project.
- Evidence of the learning process is credible
- Evidence of the transformation in the mindset, behavior, and strategy is credible
Since participating in the contest organized by SBC, I have had the opportunity to clearly define the social issues that Green Cat wants to solve and it is also an opportunity for us to clearly define the problems businesses must improve for business sustainable growth
- From Round 1 and Round 2: I lacked understanding of how to do well and I was weak in presentation skills. However, thanks to my efforts to reach the final journey, along with the help of my coach and team, I completed the past rounds well with the result that was good enough for my motivation.
- From round 3: When investing more time in data collection and research. I am more bold in seeking outside sources of support and boldly sharing about the project to receive opinions from related experts.
Reference:
Evidence:
- Video interview Mur Mur owner – one of Green Cat partners:As for the above advantages and disadvantages, could you give GreenCat any suggestions to improve?
- Interview records: Could you give us some suggestions for improving our products
- Email mentoring & support Greencat Project
- Email Trainer Pham Van Cuong – Best B
- Email Nexus: Nexus gmail
- Email process USDA: USDA process
Source:
- Luc Nghiep Thanh Cooperative
- Consumer trend 2023 – 2024
- Global cotton production increased, strengthening the industrial supply chain supporting the textile industry 22/04/2022;
- https://vcosa.vn/vi/magazine/ban-tin-thong-ke-vcosa-thang-6-2024/
- https://cotco-vn.c
- Report data for cotton fiber Sep23
- information about cotton fact;
- Process to get USDA cert;
- Máy tách hạt cotton con lăn dùng trong phòng lab Testex TB510C (imall.vn)
- Organic cotton source: https://theroundup.org/
- Cotton plant failed – VN sub
- Government approved the program to develop Vietnam’s cotton crop until 2015, with an orientation to 2020
- Cotton growing area will increase in 2020 – 2030 – VN sub
- IBS training slide – Module 7 Smart Fundraising Strategies for Social Business
- Global consumer change
- VCOSA July,2021
- https://www.nasda.org/
- Vietnam Economic news May 24
- Decision No.29/QD-TTG
- UEF: The MKT plan of team 1 ; The MKT plan of Team 2
- WECV: WECV workshop
- Circo: Circo Leaflet
- AWE: AWE Bootcamp
- SBC: SIG Scores; BMI Scores;
- Ashley & Alvin: Avin & Ashley HK website
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