ONE Cherry, which was set up last year, is a marketplace that allows users to buy from local second-hand shops, such as charity shops. The website currently focuses on charity shops in Scotland and the UK but Anton Puzorjov believes it could expand into Europe, Australia and the US.
Name: Anton Puzorjov
Age: 25
Position: Founder
WHAT’S YOUR BUSINESS CALLED?
One Cherry
WHERE IS IT BASED?
WHY DID YOU SET UP THE BUSINESS?
I ALWAYS wanted to set up a business. I came up with One Cherry and thought it aligned well with my values. I see business as the best way to do good and make an impact. My background is really versatile. I’m a biologist and have a Phd in synthetic biology. I’m also really interested in business. I have been taking business school courses in things like economics and marketing so I had a brief understanding of how everything works. I used to work part time as a freelance web developer where I helped businesses to step up their game online.
The whole retail market is online but if you want to buy local and second-hand online it is hard to do so. We had to work out why the existing solutions were not used efficiently by the shops so I volunteered in charity shops in Edinburgh and in December last year we made the app.
HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM COMPETING BUSINESSES?
WHAT we are doing is unique. Physical shops are coming together and that allows local people to see what’s in the shops. Ebay is mostly aimed at people selling to others. Ebay isn’t a place where people shop locally. The cost of packaging and transport can offset the environmental impact and people don’t consider this. Depop is mainly for young people and there’s no way to track items in the shop. Customers get a convenient shopping experience but we help shops too as they have physical products that change very quickly and come and go all the time. Ebay and Depop don’t consider this.
WHAT IS YOUR TARGET MARKET?
INITIALLY we thought we would target people who love charity shopping in general but realized some of them wouldn’t use the app because charity shopping is a certain kind of experience – people like to go through the rails. So instead we targeted people who would love to use charity shops more and shop more sustainably. Charity shops have limited hours – if you work nine to five the charity shops will be closed when you finish work. It is hard to find something that fits in charity shops. This is where we come in as you can shop 24/7.
WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT RUNNING THE BUSINESS?
SEEING people actually using the site. We want to create value for shops and customers. The easiest way to check if you can buy sustainably is to check One Cherry. We have limited items right now but the fact people check first is the most important.
I have been in Scotland for six years and I was pleased to see how much support there is for business here. There’s financial and mentoring support from Scottish Enterprise, Business Gateway and Scottish universities. They don’t have that in other countries.
WHERE DO YOU HOPE THE BUSINESS WILL BE IN 10 YEARS’ TIME?
RESALE is one of the fastest growing retail markets – growing three-times faster than the overall retail market so it’s a good time to develop solutions for this market. People love convenience so if you want people to shop sustainably it must be as easy and convenient as possible. The same concept can be applied to other countries like Germany, Estonia and Latvia – maybe they don’t have charity shops but they have second hand shops. There are thrift shops in the US so that’s a big market for us. We need to dominate the initial UK market before expansion. Social media is allowing businesses to reach beyond the UK – people from Australia and the US who run second hand shops are following us to see the value we bring. It is good to encourage charity organisations to be more accepting, challenging and ambitious. It is hard to attract people to charity shops and a manager of one told me they can no longer sit and wait for people to come in so we need to do something. I believe we have one of the best solutions.
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