2023 reflections, 2024 predictions with Good Citizens’ Nik Robinson

As we start to wind down before the holiday break we are asking a wide range of SME business leaders – from Bassike and Blundstone to Willie Smith’s Cider and Zero Co, and all points in between – to reflect on 2023 and gaze into the 2024 crystal ball.

It’s been quite the year, and the only certainty for next year is uncertainty.

Today, Nik Robinson, co-founder of purpose-led sunglasses brand Good Citizens (co-founded with his wife and sons, a real family business), shares his highs, lows and plans for next year.

How has business been going in 2023?

In all honesty, it’s been a bit up and down! We definitely noticed when the cost of living squeeze started to affect people but at the same time, being a seasonal product, winter is naturally a downtime for our sunnies anyway. Spring and summer are always great for us and this year is no different.

The prescription glasses side of our business has been going well this year and has evened things out.

How have interest rate rises/cost of living pressures affected your operation?

We noticed a dip in sunnies sales in February and March but I truly believe that being a purpose-led business has helped us stand firm. We have an excellent returning customer rate and our citizens are phenomenally loyal. They are our biggest advocates and do a great job of spreading the word. 

Had we been just another eyewear business, I’m not sure we would be looking as strong today. Sadly, we’ve seen a few small eyewear brands go under this year. It’s because they are not doing anything different and have found it hard to stand out in the clutter. 

We’re manufacturing in Australia and we’ve re-engineered the way frames are made. Ours are quick to make, thereby requiring less labour and energy and they are repairable. That’s a big point of difference.

How are you – the leader of your business – going personally? 

Now that’s a good question! It depends what day you ask me … or rather ask my wife/business partner for that matter!

I’m a very passionate person and tend to become obsessed with solving problems. I can go into a dark hole for a week or so until I get a breakthrough. With the nature of our business, even three years in, we still encounter production issues and those absorb my attention. It can be draining and I have to be careful how much it affects the team. 

All up, I’m okay and feeling super positive about the future of the business. Our sole mission is to ‘untrash the planet’ and this keeps me focused and driven. 

You’ve been blazing a trail for sustainability for a number of years, has it got easier?

Yes and no. I think the consumer’s understanding of sustainability has improved so we’re spending less time educating people on why sustainability is better, but with that comes the challenge of other brands wanting a piece of the action. It’s a very noisy space now and so many brands use sustainability as a marketing ploy – sometimes knowingly, sometimes not. 

Sustainability claims are poorly regulated. Many brands may say their product is recycled even though it’s made with only 5% recycled material and 95% virgin materials, not 100% recycled like our Good Citizens frames. 

It’s getting better and the ACCC is starting to clamp down on greenwashing. I’d like to see more of that.

What do you love about working in the profit-for-purpose space?

There is so much goodwill in the sustainable business community. We support each other and share war stories. It’s such a difficult space to be in as you’re often breaking new ground and things rarely work first try, so it’s great to have a group of people to lean on as they know exactly where you’re at.

What frustrates you? 

Very simply, the smoke-and-mirror tactics of greenwashing brands. It’s the one thing that is guaranteed to get me ranting! But as my kids say, quoting Taylor Swift, “Dad, you’ve just got to shake it off!” They’re right. I have to focus my energy on what we’re doing right, not what others are doing wrong. I believe we will win in the long run.

The social media landscape is shifting profoundly: What’s working for you marketing-wise? What concerns you? 

The privacy changes are a big challenge and have meant we’ve had to be more strategic. Thankfully, we have an amazing social agency to share the responsibility for that strategy. 

I have a creative background and I’m very protective of our brand’s look and feel, so I do worry about the craft of creativity as we rely more and more on AI algorithms to pick and serve ads. We created a brilliant ad recently that the algorithm didn’t choose so it didn’t run. That concerns me. If we continue down this route, we run the risk of creative becoming vanilla and failing to cut through.

From an organic point of view, we get good engagement from our posts, particularly our live videos – we get a lot of comments and feedback (sometimes critiques!). We are very open about what’s going on in our business – we share the highs and the lows. Authenticity and radical transparency are working well for us and luckily, I don’t mind filming a quick video when something comes to mind; the kids like to join in too! 

We recently interviewed Small Business Minister Julie Collins: she argued that the Albanese government is challenging the concept of the Coalition as the champion of small business issues. How are Labor doing? And what about the NSW government: does it provide any help?

We sit in a strange category and there is little to no support for businesses in the sustainable space. Imagine if businesses were rewarded or given a tax break for using recycled materials. 

They don’t make it easy to get funding, and so we haven’t received a grant to date. As a product manufactured in Sydney and using 100% recycled materials, you’d think we’d be top of the list.

What do you love about being an SME operator?

We’re very nimble so we can jump on an opportunity quickly if it’s right. The analogy I use when asked this question, is running your own business is like sailing a boat. When you pull a rope, you get instant feedback and you can make quick decisions. Failing fast and moving on is something we are very good at!

What’s the best thing about running your own business?

You’re in complete control of your destiny. You live all the highs and the lows and make all the decisions. You feel very alive every day. 

Funnily enough, a byproduct of our authenticity and transparency is that we are constantly approached by incredible leaders and brands wanting to work with us. We’ve been invited to tell our story at global conferences, meet with leaders of countries, and work on projects with massive brands, so we’ve met some seriously impressive people along the way.

I’m constantly inspired by the potential of our business and what it could become. 

What do you hate? What would you rather outsource?!

I used to hate doing dispatch, so we have outsourced that already to an amazing company called Avenue. They are NDIS funded and it allows people with disability to have a job. We have a team of that works with their carers to get our orders packed and out to customers. 

How are you feeling about 2024?

All in all, very positive. I feel like we’re hitting our stride now and I’m excited about the road ahead. 

What should we – readers of SmartCompany, and your customers – be excited about?

We’ve been working with an innovative company to produce 100% recycled plastic from a massive waste source. Our frames will be one of the first products to be made with this new recycled plastic. We’re in the testing phase now, so we will launch this next year. 

Where are Good Citizens going? What’s the end-goal (or BHAG)?

Good Citizens has the potential to be so much. It’s not just an eyewear brand; it’s a movement. We will expand our product suite and the waste materials we use of course, but the real potential is in how we could shift consumer mindsets towards waste. 

My personal BHAG is to create The Good Citizens Fund whereby we invest in and support other small businesses working to protect the planet.