Circular furniture for students

A school project that turned into a circular business.

Learn more about starting a circular business and get to know Jed one of the owners of Cohabit. He shares his experience of owning and starting a sustainable business

In 2021, I started my master's in Leadership for Sustainability in Malmö, Sweden. This was a great year where I learned a lot about sustainable development. This program was international, so I had students from all over the world in my class, including students from India, the USA, Brazil, Europe, and the Philippines. Here, I met Jed, who came from the Philippines, and I also lived with him in a student house.

During the course on Social Entrepreneurship, we had to develop a sustainable business idea. Jed and two others came up with the idea to start an organization that provides rental furniture for students, which they called; Cohabit. They came up with the idea because they all experienced how difficult, expensive, and stressful it was to buy furniture when they arrived in Malmö. So, they thought of a way to make it easier for new students. Initially, it was a school project, but they decided to take the chance and start a real business!

Almost two and a half years later, the company is still operating and growing. They now have an office in Malmö with a storage space connected to it. Jed showed me the office, where they have brainstorming sessions and work. It’s a coworking space, so there are also other social entrepreneurs working in the same building. They help and support each other as well, which I really liked. The storage space looks empty now, Jed says, and that is a good thing because most of the inventory is rented out to students. But Jed also mentioned that if all the furniture comes back from the rental periods, it won’t fit anymore, so they are currently searching for a bigger storage space.

Co-working space

Warehouse

I also asked Jed some questions, and that was really interesting. As friends, we don’t talk much about work-related topics, so it was very nice to learn more about why he started Cohabit, his vision of owning a circular business, and his view on a sustainable future. Here are some of the highlights from that interview with Jed.

What drove you to start a sustainable/circular business?

It started as a school project—students had to focus on an environmental or social topic. Jed and his project group identified the need for circular furniture for students because of their own bad experience when arriving in Malmö, and because they knew that Malmö is a popular and growing student city. A lot of students come for only six months or one year, and much of the furniture they buy gets thrown away. This was a problem we saw, a gap in the market, and a solution we created by offering rental and circular furniture, Jed says.

What are the main challenges in your sustainable business?

Jed says that the main challenges are the costs. They had to balance between having a sustainable concept and considering basic business principles. Even though it is a sustainable business, you still have many costs and financial aspects to manage.

Another challenge with circular furniture is that there are more processes involved in getting the furniture to the customer. Normally, the customer buys it, and that's the end of it. But with the concept of Cohabit, you need to source the furniture, perform quality checks, clean it, and provide more personal attention to the customer in terms of choosing the right furniture, discussing rental periods, delivery, etc.

What is the most fun about owning a business with a sustainable mindset?

Creating impact and helping students is important for Jed. Making money is also important because you want to sustain the business, make it profitable, and allow it to grow. But the most fulfilling and fun part is that we are actively solving a sustainable problem and helping students make their study time in Malmö easier and more enjoyable.

Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to start a sustainable business?

One piece of advice Jed gives is not to forget the business side of a sustainable business. Be conscious about the financial part of owning a business, and realize that you also need to make a profit to sustain the organization. It's not about trying to make the most money, but about figuring out how to run your operations and where to get your resources to grow—this is sometimes overlooked, Jed says. He also mentions that owning a circular business is completely different from a linear business. Think long and hard about your circular vision and find out why it is better than a linear business model.

Do you have a message you want to share?

Jed says that sustainable businesses are challenging to implement and pull off, but very fulfilling. After a while, you start to see the benefits, and the struggles from the beginning will be worth it. Also, because it is a business with a sustainable mindset, you get more help, support, and positive feedback, and good things always come from that. Jed hopes that more people come up with sustainable and circular business ideas and that these businesses become the majority and make a big impact.

It was fun to see my friend Jed and to talk with him about Cohabit. It is cool to see that a school project can turn into a business that has a positive impact on the people in malmo and the environment. A big thank you to the team of Cohabit for showing me their workspace and telling me more about their business.

The Cohabit team, click on the picture to go to the Cohabit website

This was only the first of hopefully many cool other sustainable organizations visits. The next one is already planned and I am super exited for that. I have been invited to an organization that protects and saves turtles in Tulum, Mexico!