If you’re reading this, you probably went to the loo this morning without giving it much thought. Access to toilets and clean water is a basic human right and it’s one most of us take for granted. However, it’s something that two billion people are living without.

‘At the moment, one in four people in the world don’t have access to a toilet,’ says Simon Griffiths, co-founder of Who Gives a Crap. ‘There are more mobile phones than toilets in the world which is crazy when you think about it.’

As one of those rare people who really does give a crap, Simon has channelled his business nous and marketing expertise into creating an impact-focused (rather than profit-focused) business to help solve this global problem.

Who is Simon Griffiths? 

Simon brings humour, generosity of spirit, and a somewhat rebellious approach to Australia’s traditional business landscape. A born entrepreneur – ‘I was that kid at school who sold anything and everything to everyone’ – he discovered early on that something about empty ‘profiteering’ didn’t sit right with him.

At university he became interested in social mobility, and ‘why someone born in one postcode or on one side of a border is likely to get a vastly different set of circumstances presented to them in life than someone on the other side of that border or in a different postcode’.

He sought ‘a better model for capitalism’ – applying his marketing and financial knowledge to support social outcomes. ‘Everything clicked when I realised that if you added philanthropy into the business model, it started to make that transaction feel like it was a great thing, rather than just putting money into someone's back pocket.’

After pondering how to get more money flowing to the people who need it most, Simon’s lightbulb moment happened, as many do, while he was in the bathroom.

‘I was thinking about products that everyone uses regardless of where they live, what religion they are. Then one day I walked into the bathroom and saw a six-pack of toilet paper. I said, “Oh my god, we should sell toilet paper, use the profits to build toilets and call it Who Gives a Crap”.’

No-one gave a crap – then they did

Simon says the original plan was to donate 100 per cent of their profits to sanitation charities. However, on advice from business mentors, this was revised to 50 per cent.

‘If you donate 100 per cent, you won't be able to put equity into the business. The 50 per cent model delivers the most impact because we can build a business that's at least twice as big and therefore donations can be bigger over time.’ 

People willing to invest in a company intent on donating half its profits to charity were pretty thin on the ground, so in a hilarious crowdfunding stunt, Simon sat on a toilet for 50 hours to raise capital.

Finally, in July 2012, Simon and his co-founders Danny Alexander and Jehan Ratnatunga proudly launched Who Gives a Crap. As an online retailer based on irreverent (toilet) humour, with strong eco-credentials, appealing design and fun (bum) messaging, they experienced steady growth, and famously got many of us through 2020’s COVID-induced toilet paper crisis.

In 2021, investors changed their tune, contributing an incredible $41.5 million to the business. The company has branched into US, Europe and Canada, and its newly diversified product range is also now available in supermarkets.

For Simon, this recognition from mainstream capital markets ‘validates’ the social enterprise model, proving it’s possible to not only change consumer behaviour but ‘create a financial return while also creating a lot of impact’. 

To date, the company has donated $18 million to charities across the globe, helping to transform lives and communities by building clean toilets and ensuring they have access to safe drinking water.

The value of a purpose

So what does selling loo roll to fund sanitation in developing countries have to do with running a housing business?

Quite a lot, it turns out, because it’s not about the product. It’s about the purpose. ‘Doing good is actually good for business,’ Simon says. ‘I think the housing industry has a huge amount of purpose. You're building homes for people, and you want to make sure they're healthy homes. These are places where people are going to have a lot of life and memories.

‘You can also find ways to turn that purpose up, which is what we've done, where we've added a cause into what we're doing. To be successful, you have to find a cause that resonates so deeply with your customer or your team, it actually helps your business be better than it was without that cause in place. And that's the magic when you get that right.’ 

And even though the concept ‘goes against the physics of capitalism’, Simon adds: ‘We believe we wouldn't have been so successful if we didn't give away half of our profits.’ 

At the HIA National Conference in Melbourne, Simon will share more of his story and explore ways that housing professionals can apply a philanthropic lens to their own businesses. ‘I'm excited to look at ways to innovate and create positive change in a way that's actually positive for the business as well.’

Don't miss out

Book now to secure early bird discount for the HIA National Conference 2025 in Melbourne on 15-17 May. Join us for world-class speakers, interactive workshops, building products expo, networking opportunities and the HIA-CSR Australian Housing Awards.

Register now!

First published 11 March 2025