KASEY Hou set up her repairable flatpack toaster business, Pivoke, to tackle the growing problem of e-waste as part of a student project when she was studying at Edinburgh University. Hou plans to expand the business to include other repairable kitchen products in the next few years.
Name: Kasey Hou
Age: 37
Position: Founder
WHAT’S YOUR BUSINESS CALLED?
Pivoke
WHERE IS IT BASED?
Edinburgh
WHY DID YOU SET UP THE BUSINESS?
IT started as a graduation project. I was a project design student at Edinburgh University two years ago. What we have currently is a prototype. After graduating in July 2017 I took it a step further and set up a business related to repairable kitchen products.
I set up a website to showcase the prototype but it is far away from a real product.
I tried to get more funding to do product development because the prototype was not safe so I had to modify the product.
I applied for Scottish Enterprise funding, the Scottish EDGE competition and an accelerator programme called Converge Challenge.
I also got accepted into a programme called Climate-KIC.
The procedure to repair the current prototype is not user friendly so it needs modified. We want it to be really easy for people to change parts. Repairing is more about replacing parts and there will be detailed instructions on how to do this.
HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM COMPETING BUSINESSES?
THE closest competing business is a toaster brand called Dualit. Some models they sell are repairable but I spoke to people who have had a bad experience of repairing Dualit toasters and said it is not easy to do. They intend for people to look for an electrician to repair it instead of the user.
WHAT IS YOUR TARGET MARKET?
I HAD to do market research to find out the target customer. I visited some local repair shops to ask their opinion. We want to tap into the green market.
The target customer is eco-conscious consumers, people who care about the environment and buy green products.
I spoke to these people and they said they hate to throw away broken things and try to repair them first.
If they can’t fix them they will try to recycle them.
They were interested in my toaster as it is repairable.
Another market is people who like to DIY things. Some of the target consumers might care about the environment and DIY but there is usually a priority over what they care about most.
ARE PEOPLE BECOMING MORE AWARE OF ELECTRONIC WASTE?
I THINK so but when we speak about how to make electronic appliances more sustainable people think in terms of energy use.
The business is about environmental sustainability.
E-waste is big and we must do something about it.
In electronics the recycling rate is very low – less than 20% of electronic products are recycled and that means 80% still goes to landfill.
I thought maybe we could use repair as one of the solutions. I am not saying recycling is bad but people should try different solutions first.
WHERE DO YOU HOPE THE BUSINESS WILL BE IN 10 YEARS’ TIME?
IN 10 years I imagine the plan is to have other kinds of kitchen appliances in the line.
We also hope to expand to other countries in Europe and the US because they have a much bigger market for repairable kitchen products. We also want to challenge the way a business can be run. We want a sustainable business model.
One option could be to sell products as a service model – people rent products instead of buying it.
We’re at the beginning and the business is at an early stage so we will start simple and then evolve and explore different possibilities.
I have supervisors to give me some opinions and in two to three months’ time I will have to hire employees.
Things will happen after one year. I want to focus on product design and development first.
When we have a working prototype, we will use it to launch a crowdfunding campaign and a lot of marketing will be done around that time.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel