Mishel Wong is one of those young entrepreneurs we’re dying to see complete their mission.
First of all, there is her contagious enthusiasm, but above all she starts with her solution to a real environmental problem with economic arguments.
Because of the pandemic, we’ve started consuming a lot more take-out meals in single-use containers. In March 2020, at the time of the Great Lockdown, Mishel was working at ServiceLab Canada selling cleaning products and renting dishwashers to restaurants.
Since the canteens were closed, operations almost came to a standstill. ServiceLab then started selling ready-to-eat containers. Here Mishel had a shock and an idea.
Ecological Awakening
“Just by what went through our warehouse, I imagined the massive amount that would end up in the trash. There must have been a mountain of rubbish somewhere and that didn’t make any sense,” thought the woman who, by her own admission, had never really dealt with the environmental cause.
Mishel was already established in the restaurant network, where she envisioned being able to turn things around and make them better.
So she started looking for reusable containers to replace single-use containers. It had to be solid and end up costing less to use the permanent than the ephemeral. Without economic arguments, ecology easily prevails, you know it like me.
In November 2020 Mischel founded BOPAQ. She also worked on developing a web application to enable tracking of containers registered in the consumer’s account.
The loan is free for consumers if they return the containers to the collection points. They are then washed by Bo’s sister company LavaBo.
The service started at the end of 2021.
Reuse is better than recycle
“When you use BO, you reduce your costs. This is what I want ! “, says the young entrepreneur, who has entered into a partnership with her employer ServiceLab for the sale of containers – they can be put in the dishwasher 1000 times.
“My dream is to normalize reuse so that people think there’s no point in throwing them away,” she says.
BOPAQ will not be profitable tomorrow morning. She knows. Mishel nevertheless pulled off a feat by securing $650,000 in funding from PME MTL Ouest-de-l’Île and BDC just before the holidays. His gratitude is great.
partnership with his employer
Mishel already employs more than 15 people, but she kept her job at ServiceLab. It had been a busy few weeks, but nothing could take away his smile.
“I work 60 to 80 hours a week. Some like to cook or garden, I grow BOPAQ! “, says the woman for whom her young company is both a job and a hobby.
His boss understands: as long as the work is done well, everything is fine. And since both companies target the same customers, there are synergies. Mishel is also beginning to develop the niche of retirement homes: every gesture counts, in every place. He also has his sights set on grocery stores that offer ready meals.
For a woman allergic to 9 to 5, Mishel Wong knew how to throw it out well. But it’s not his only way of embracing life differently. Being the head of an innovative start-up that combines environment and technology at the age of 34 also means taking a path that only a few women dare to take.
BOPAQ
- Founding year: 2021
- Founder: Mischel Wong
- place of the headquarters : Quebec
- Field of activity: Restoration
- Field of activity : 16
Profile of Mishel Wong
- Work : founder
- Age : 34 years old
- Education: Handel, Concordia University
