Our Successes and Challenges

At The Good Roll, we believe in “dream big, do big”. Our vision is grand and inspiring: we want to provide all of Ghana with safe and clean toilets. To achieve this dream, we have achieved great successes as a team, but have also faced significant challenges. But as always, we remain determined to create positive change. We take you on our journey:

The success story in the Netherlands

In 2017, we started The Good Roll, where we were the first to offer toilet paper on a subscription basis. With the slogan 'let's make the world less shitty' we generated a lot of media attention. However, the step to a subscription seemed too big, so we also had to make it possible to place individual orders. 'Once that got going and customers got to know our product, the step to a subscription turned out to be much smaller.'

Six years later, we have around 13,000 subscribers and 50,000 individual orders are processed annually. Our rolls are now available at Jumbo, Crisp and Pieter Pot. In the United Kingdom, even supermarket giant Asda has included our rolls in its range. We also supply The Student Hotels, Vondelgym and Bilderberg Hotels, among others. Our rolls are no longer just made from recycled paper, but also from 'softer' bamboo. We built our own factory in Ghana for this purpose. We have a special bond with Ghana, as half of our net profit goes to the foundation that builds toilets in the African country. Our big goal is to help one million people with clean and safe sanitation by realising 200,000 toilets in developing countries. We know that there is still a long way to go, but we are still proud that the counter stood at three hundred toilets just over a year ago!

The bumps in our road

Of course, at The Good Roll we like to make the world a little better, but let's not forget that every success story has its own challenges. When the corona crisis broke out, there was massive hoarding of toilet paper. There were mainly private orders, while at that time it was mainly delivered to retail and companies. That meant sending a lot of small packages. 'As turnover increased, so did the costs, we became a relatively more expensive company and had to think more carefully about, for example, our liquidity'.

Our factory

These obstacles have taught us a lot and shaped us into who we are today as a company. Building our own factory in Ghana was an exciting adventure that presented us with a number of challenges. For three years, we immersed ourselves in the complex world of setting up a business outside the Netherlands. Obtaining permits, which took a full year, was a time-consuming process that taught us an important lesson: starting a factory from scratch is a big job. It took courage to take this step, but sometimes taking a step back is the key to progress.

The location of the factory in Ghana presented its own unique challenges. Despite the beautiful location, we struggled with creative challenges. In addition, we suffered from unpredictable power outages of four hours per day; try keeping your machines running! We then made the strategic choice to transfer the factory to the local partner who now continues to run the factory independently. This allows us to refocus on our core mission with a new factory; creating a positive impact on the local population by generating employment and income there!

Cultural differences

Another important challenge was understanding cultural differences when working with people in Ghana, where hierarchy is very present. Respecting and understanding these cultural nuances was crucial for creating long-term collaborations. Fortunately, we had the right connections and were not afraid to make difficult choices and adapt to different cultures.

Deliveries

Finally, deliveries still bring challenges from time to time. In order to keep up with the large number of orders, we sometimes ran out of stock quickly, which meant it could take a while for the rolls to arrive at your door. We have been working resolutely to keep up with our stock and speed, because we want to make sure our rolls are ready at the right time to brighten your day!

Loyal fan base

A special part of our success is the long-term loyalty of our customers. Many of them have stayed with us from day one. Both large retailers and significant B2B customers continue to trust us, and these relationships continue to grow! Our successes and challenges show that the road to sustainable entrepreneurship can sometimes be bumpy, but it is definitely worth it! Successes and fuckups, they are both the building blocks of a greener future.