The fashion industry is the second largest polluter in the world next to oil. This is largely due to the rise of fast fashion companies like Zara and H&M and a change in individual habits. People in developed countries hold a tendency to wear garments only once and never again. This is due to the decrease in cost for a similar looking – but not quality – product that the fast fashion brands offer and because of a social stigma around wearing the same garment to two different events.

This raises the question​, what if everyone could instantly have access to quality garments so they do not have to buy it? What if the garments they had access to were not from businesses but from their community? How might this change our concept of ownership?

From these questions, Boro was born.

Boro is a peer-to-peer marketplace for women to rent clothing from the stylish closets of Toronto. No more having to spend hundreds of dollars for a quality garment you will only wear once. Airbnb for hotels, Uber for cars, and now Boro for clothing. It is the last key piece to the growing sharing economy.

All of our pieces come from women in Toronto who had the exact issue we raised: they purchased a designer piece for hundreds of dollars for an event, wore it once, then stuffed it in the back of their closet. These timeless pieces would attract any shopper yet are gone to waste and hidden from the world. Boro brings life back to these garments while making our lenders money and our customers looking amazing for a low price. It’s a win-win.

We maintain a high-quality standard when accepting garments from our lenders. This is not because we are “picky” with our style but because of internal brand standards. You only get one first impression. If users were to come to our site and see low quality garments next to a Gucci handbag, they will not be able to grasp what it is that we, as a business, are trying to accomplish. Additionally, when new lenders see what garments we hold, they won’t think “They seem to take anything, I will just give them all the clothes I was going to throw out anyways” but instead “It seems like I need to offer great looking and high quality pieces to be a part of this lender community”.

Boro’s long-term goal ​is to become the first place everyone goes when they are looking to shop for an upcoming event. It will be a long journey there, but we know it is important to us and the world to do so.

From our story, we can offer three key takeaways​.

The first is to fall in love with the problem, not the solution​. If you decide to create a product or service you think is ‘cool’, when the going gets tough, it becomes too easy to quit. When you fall in love with the problem, especially one that is bigger than yourself, you will become more adaptable to whatever life has to throw at you because you know that it is truly important that you do so. It makes the hustle much more bearable.

The second takeaway is to say no more often so you can say yes to the opportunities that truly matter​. It is always easier to lower your standard of quality than it is to raise it. When starting out, though you are going to have the urge to say yes to anything and everything, have the restraint to reject customers or offers if they do not fit your business goals. The foundation of your business will dictate a lot as to where you will end up, so think long term when saying yes. In our case, it was for what garments we reject, not accept, that makes us who we are.

The final takeaway is to think big but act sma​ll. The problem we are trying to solve seems unattainable right now. But to stay focused, we have broken down the problem to what is achievable. Our goal at launch was to get one successful sale. Once this was accomplished, it became ten, then one hundred, then one thousand, and so on. Incremental milestones make the journey much more enjoyable.

If you are scared or afraid to start and have internal doubts, know that you are not alone. You may think that those who pursued entrepreneurship were fearless, but you would be wrong. Mark Twain said that courage is not the absence of fear but acting in spite of it. And this is what the hustle is all about – acting tirelessly in the face of your fears and getting to work.

So get to work and start hustling.

Wear different,

-The Boro Team

Be sure to follow Boro on Social Media!

Boro will be hosting an event on April 23, 2017. For more details click here.