How do you run a business if you give away all the profits?
Why not register as a non-profit instead?
Why is FiveADRIFT a B-Corporation?
These are questions that come up a lot when we're speaking with customers, employees, and partners. So we thought we would take a moment to share a bit about our philosophy that guides FiveADRIFT.
How do you run a business if you give away all the profits?
We are not the first company to do this. The inspiration to "give it all away" at FiveADRIFT comes from Paul Newman and the Newman's Own brand. By combining this charitable giving directive with its value of "quality will always trump the bottom line," Newman's Own became an unstoppable force for doing good in the world.
At FiveADRIFT we have decided to do the same thing. We are giving away the profit from the sales of our plastic-free products such as our all-natural cotton and hemp beach towels to remove plastic from the ocean. When we say all the profits, we mean everything left over after the business expenses (including the cost of goods, marketing, employee compensation, supplies, interest payments, inventory, rent, taxes, etc.). We believe in compensating our team and partners equitably and fairly. We want FiveADRIFT to become their passion, dare we say obsession, because they believe strongly in our mission and our products.
Why don't you just become a non-profit?
FiveADRIFT was founded with a big mission - a huge mission - to remove all plastic from the ocean. Gigantic problems need gigantic solutions from talented teams. We chose to found a for-profit company to achieve this mission so we can find and retain the best talent in flexible and creative ways. We have committed to giving away 100% of our profits to fund organizations and entrepreneurs who are removing plastic from the ocean.
Everyone involved at FiveADRIFT wants a career that's about more than just money. Money is of course the main driver in most jobs. Without it, we cannot meet our needs for the most basic of items such as food and shelter, but as many studies have shown, at a certain point more money does not make you happier. An engineer at an online fantasy sports company was interviewing with me once and said, "Harry, I'm tired of being woken up in the middle of the night because someone can't place a bet." At FiveADRIFT, our reason to get out of bed in the morning is to do something that can actually change the world instead of creating just another bland.
Our commitment to giving all the profits away allows us to inspire our team every day with a big, bold mission. More importantly, it removes the misaligned singular focus typical of venture-backed companies to grow as fast as possible and sell as fast as possible. By committing to giving away all of our profits, we're reinventing how conversations with potential partners unfold to align everyone around the mission: Get the plastic out of the ocean.
Why is FiveADRIFT a B-Corporation?
We also partnered with B-Corporation to help assess the governance of our organization to ensure we're meeting the goals of helping the planet, giving away profits, and treating people fairly. This enabled us to get up and running quickly while we take the time to thoughtfully expand our governance policies and engage external studies to assess the reasonableness of our operations.
FiveADRIFT is committed to transparency in operations. If you have any questions, please reach out to us and we'd be happy to continue the conversation.
