Sebastien Powell: Mowgli South West Entrepreneur

The Mowgli Foundation UK South West: Entrepreneur Mentee Case Study Sebastien Powell : Co-Founder and Director at Flavrbox, Redefine Us and Seeducation; Voluntary Director at the Community Farm.Sebastien is 23 and holds a BSc in Business Administration from The University of Bath and is studying a GDLfrom the Bristol College of Law. He grew up and studied in Luxembourg, gaining a European Baccalaureate,and speaks both French and English fluently. After the first year of his business degree, Sebastien felt thathe needed a new challenge and travelled to Poland with his friend and business partner Ruben Kostucki,having heard that there were business opportunities there. At the age of 19, Ruben and Sebastien wererelatively experienced- “looking back on the business plan we wrote,” says Sebastien, “I’m actuallyembarrassed!”- but still managed to get venture capitalists to seriously consider their startup business plan(an online voucher initiative similar to Groupon), while financing their stay through English teaching,although eventually the idea didn’t take off.The two returned to the UK with a new thirst for entrepreneurship, and while Sebastien finished his degreeand started a placement as the marketing manager for outdoor gear and clothing startup Webtogs.co.uk,they kicked around ideas for new businesses along with Ruben’s brother Noam. In 2010 they took theplunge, launching the charity Seeducation, an organisation which provides resources and training toeducate and develop social entrepreneurs- and a business, Redefine Us, a creative agency which works withclients to reshape communications both internal and external. However, Sebastien was nurturing anotherpassion, which was re-ignited when he went to spend some time on an organic farm project in Italy.Flavrbox was born in 2011, a project which combines Sebastien’s interest in communications with hispassion for sustainable local produce. Flavrbox is a platform to champion independent food producersthrough e-commerce, giving people an opportunity to connect with the high quality food available in theircommunities. The team of Sebastien, Noam, Ruben and Simon Bos, another partner, aim for Flavrbox to sellproducts through the site, benefiting local producers; allowing them to create jobs, and making Flavrboxfinancially sustainable. With a healthy start in sales and a new website launching soon, they are well on theway already- while they all continue to spend time on the other two projects.Sebastien feels Mowgli mentoring could be of most benefit for him in his role at Flavrbox. His aim for 2012is to work with a mentor developing this project, clarifying the strategy and helping him focus on long termgoals. “I know that I could really benefit from the expertise of someone who’s developed businesses in thefood sector,” he says. Sebastien also feels that he could do with someone to help keep him focused on hispriorities. “I believe that Flavrbox has the potential to be something big- but I’m not always sure what Ishould be spending my time on in order to be most productive and to drive Flavrbox forward. I’ve neverworked with a mentor before, and I’m very close with my partners, but we see each other all the time and Ineed a new perspective. Objective advice, some personal motivation and confidence, and also somespecific sector knowledge and support are what I’m in need of if Flavrbox is to take off. I hope that the newnetworks available through the Mowgli programme will help make this happen, and that I find a mentorwho will encourage and support me in my ambitions. ”

Sebastien Powell: Mowgli South West Entrepreneur

by Mowgli Foundation on Feb 09, 2012

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Sebastien Powell: Mowgli South West Entrepreneur — Document Transcript