I eventually got a few agents and surf brands on board. If someone didn’t like the idea, I’d ask them what they’d do.
So, you actively sought the advice of lots of people?
Yes, I wrote letters to the large retailers asking for advice on how to get the product and they were more than willing to help.
They told me “you should contact this person” or “do this differently”. There was a lot of scepticism, some people thought it was too crazy, but the advice of others really helped.
Did you ever have doubts?
Yes. I think every day I woke up and thought “why am I putting lip balm in a shell”?
What was the breakthrough?
The product was mentioned in two of Canada’s leading fashion magazine and a distributor got in contact with us. It was then represented at a trade exhibition, which got it great exposure.
Magazines in Italy and the Netherlands also covered the product. It was a challenge to upscale to Europe, cashflow, freight providers and currency conversions were all issues, but we did that in 2009.
Where is the product stocked now?
Canada, Korea, the Netherlands and the UK. Around 80% of the business is still wholesale. It has been the slowest year so far due to the high Aussie dollar.
We lost around 25% of sales this year because of the Aussie dollar. We need price points so that we can pass that on to the retailer, but the Canadian market has suffered badly, in particular. Orders really dropped.
What have you done to remedy this shortfall?
In March, we decided to refocus and get more Australian retailers on board. We sent packs to surf and apparel outlets, especially in tourist destinations.
The product is an excellent gift and impulse buy. Initially we saw it as a beauty and health product but neglected it as a gift, which was a mistake.
You see it at the counter and see that it is very different to everything else and you buy it. Once we were honest with ourselves about what the product was, we could tailor ourselves to the market. We’re now in 250 outlets in Australia.
We focused a lot on the ingredients, spending a lot on making sure they were certified organic. It cost a lot more, but we’ve had great feedback. We have women writing to us all the time.
But we’ve realised that we have to focus on the ingredients in Australia and the packaging overseas.
Aussies like to know what is in a product, while overseas, the first instinct is that “wow” factor.
What are your ambitions for the business?
We’ve picked up a bit of the slack in New Zealand, we’ve got into the largest surf chain there and the cost of freight is low too.
The high Aussie dollar has knocked us around, but I remain positive. We are launching 20 new products in March next year – a skin and body range and a baby range too.
I’m confident that we will get back to where we were by mid next year. We’ve reduced costs in things like our suppliers, printing and packaging. We’ve negotiated better deals so that we can give the retailers some margin.
We’ve subsidised the Aussie dollar, in a way.
