Turn Boring Business Into Good

Who knew that the life of a printing machine can generate 200-400 kg of pasta.

In the last 12 months, over 20 tonnes of food (mostly pasta) have been given to the neediest.

Meet Michael Foldi, Founder of ‘Make A Difference Office Machines‘.
The profits generated with their printers are being leveraged for Melbourne’s biggest food charities.

How do they do this?
They turn boring business expenses like photocopies and printers and turn them into palettes of food for charity.

I am inspired.
Really inspired by their social spirit and entrepreneurial heart.

I reeled in George who’s head of finance here  @CreativeCubes.Co to meet Michael…. watch how this unfolds

Social responsibility isn’t a latest fad.
It’s an action worth taking.

Enjoy this vlog 🙂

Transcript

Tobi: So Michael here, why don’t you tell everyone what you do and how you do it.

Michael: What we do is turn a boring business expense of photocopiers and printers into pallet loads of food for Melbourne’s largest charity.

In the last 12 months we’ve directly funded over 20 tons of predominantly pasta, because that’s the number one food item required. When you talk about Foodbank, which is the biggest food distributor for charities in Melbourne, they supply over 400 charities.

And SecondBite, which gets all Coles’ food that’s coming off the shelf, and also FareShare, which is the biggest charity kitchen in Melbourne.

The number one thing they need is pasta, because it’s just so practical. It can go in stews, it can be given away as a pack. So whether the charity is literally running a soup kitchen, or whether they’re handing out food parcels, pasta they need. And we’re over two tons a month now, and that just comes out of our profit to turn what is a boring business expense like a photocopier, most companies need them.

Tobi: The machine or the paper?

Michael: The machine and the print. So the money that people spend typically will fund between 200 and 400 kilos of pasta for the life of that machine.

Tobi: Wow.

Michael: So that’s around 2 to 3,000 meals each machine will create. And of course we know that we’ve got to be as competitive as anyone. We’ve got to provide fantastic service.

Tobi:  I’m going to make a phone call very quickly. Going to call my CFO, see if we can buy some photocopies for South Melbourne. Photocopiers and printers.

George Garth: Okay.

Tobi: But there’s a massive point of difference.

Michael: The massive point of difference is we’re funding currently over two and a half tons of pasta a month to Melbourne’s biggest food charities, and we do it by donating back half our profit.

And because you’ve dealt with photocopiers and printers, you’ve got some sites already, and there’s nothing innovative that comes out of our industry. It’s very old school, and it’s very sales orientated.

It’s just, sell another copier. I have a view of the world that transaction-based giving is the future, to solve just about all the world’s problems, which I know is a massive statement. But there is trillions of dollars flowing around in the world, and now as consumers, we’ve got access to information at a few touches of a button. So we can see the companies that are giving generously, we can see the proof, we can see the recommendations.

And the photocopier industry in Australia is over a billion dollars. So there’s $100 million that can be generated out of our industry alone, easily, through people thinking, “Well gee, this is not going to cost me any more. The service is going to be great, the machines are great.” And yet in your case you will fund over a ton of pasta. And you’re in such a fantastic position with being a shared office space. You’re wanting to inspire your clients, and you need practical ways-

Tobi: See where this is going, sir?

George: Yeah, 100%.

Tobi: So we going to shift?

George: Let’s talk.

Michael: That’s it?

Tobi: Well, we just bought nine photocopiers.

Michael: And funded over a ton of pasta.

Tobi: Yeah, that’s great.

Michael: Which is about 8,000 meals. So, we’ll be able to organise a volunteer session at FareShare, so you’ll be able to invite your people down. Or SecondBite.

And they can actually see the pasta going into massive pots of stew and all sorts of things and going out to families. I mean, as a parent, imagine not being sure how you’re going to buy the food for the rest of the week. Just how horrific that would be. And that’s where a lot of this food goes. So it’s pretty good.

Tobi: Well, we’re proud to be part of this. I’m equally as inspired by you as I am by your son. And we’re in. We’re all in.

Michael: Fantastic.

Tobi: All right.

Michael: Thanks.

Tobi: Thank you. Thanks for coming by. Cheers guys.

George: Yeah.

Tobi: Make a positive impact on the world.

George:  That’s excellent, yeah. Are you guys doing the vlog?

Tobi: We just did it.

Michael:  Just did it.

Tobi: You just featured.