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| Starting Your Own Bath and Body Business Mabel on Demand -- On Line Video's are here! |
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Starting Your Own Bath and
Body Business
Many women across the country are coming to me because they are in the
middle of opening their own bath and body store. Some are opening
soon, some are still in the planning stages--yet all are totally
committed. They range from forty something to thirteen years old!
Put nothing past the teenagers, they are making the most money!
Young and still open to ideas, their insights are very valuable. I
am a product developer and marketer. Some admittedly are using my
base formulas and noticed I am working toward wholesale. In
giving them advice, I realized I learned so much more in London than I
thought I did. I want my own store too! The LUSH model
makes it doable. They never spent a wad on store displays or
packaging at the start. Money went into the product. So, why
was LUSH so successful?
Years ago they started out with some cool products, made money hand over
fist-and then had extra money to "polish" their operations.
This is the ideal way to start ANY business. To see a venture make
a profit (test demand) before any big capital investments are made, is a
great thing. Second, to use profit off sales for the expansion
efforts and not need to pull in 3rd parties, such as credit cards, is
the best situation. Burt's Bees owner started with a bunch of
beeswax in the back of a trunk.
Before I get into the LUSH Model, let me talk
about Get a Guru.
Weird name, I doubt anyone remembers it---(it took me five trips) but
their simple store moves a lot of cold pressed soap and location was
memorable. (My soaps at the top of this page look like GuRu
style.) Located next to a famous restaurant in Tarpon Springs, FL,
they have constant traffic. Traffic is numero uno. Period.
Every time I go there I hang out an hour and count the customers.
Average price of an item? $5. Average sale? $20.
People will spend at least $20 on items that make them feel better.
Since they have about 10 sales an hour, they are grossing $200 an hour,
ten hour days $2,000 and it is then fair to say they gross $30,000 a
month--if they are non-stop busy they hit $60,000.00 a month Their
net is at least $15,000 a month and could be as high as $30,000.00 a
month net. That is a gold mine in this day and age.
Like LUSH, the Soap Guru does not package much and you can smell their
product all the way down the street. Essential oils scream
out--Lemongrass, Peppermint, Patchouli and the like. As I taught
for many years, essential oils are cheaper than fragrance oils because
you use much less. So, we can say smell is of second importance
because customers smell before they even get to see a product.
Get A Guru probably never saw
the LUSH layout--they concepted about the same time on different sides
of the ocean, but they are a lot a like. Good product thrown in
wooden crates. I know we pounded our heads against a wall for
years when it came to packaging and printing labels. We thought we
had too! These guys jumped that hurdle and made "lack of
packaging" work to their benefit. Customers can interact with
the product and that helps triple sales. Letting customers
interact with the product is third important. I could not make
it in a store where the product did not sell the customer. I would
not want to try. Then you are into a "Mary Kay" or "Avon" pitch
and must use product knowledge to sell. It is very hard to hire
educated staff these days, who care. When a product
does not sell itself--you have to address the most important consumer
question..."What does it do for me?" Be prepared to answer that to
support a sale. So, let's move on to an essay I wrote the
first person, at www.LushBox.com a
neat female already in business:Produce Market of Bath Items
The first thing that struck me about LUSH was the layout. Laid out
like a vegetable produce store, all products are displayed within
arms reach. Very little money is spent on store displays, or bulky
packaging. The money is spent on the product. The product
is the packaging. Few are the products that are shelved near
the floor or high and out of view. The only exception would be gift
boxes over flowing from a corner of the store. And they do sell a lot
of gift boxes, mainly to gents. They keep about 100 gift wrapped boxes
in ten different colors of paper. That sure is eye candy.
Setting up like a produce stand, saves a ton of on also lends itself to
the main over all theme which is “Fresh.” That is, fresh cosmetics, in
Londoner talk. Have those little plastic carry baskets you see in
produce shops for customers. Soaps, bath fizzies, and all of the various products are laid out and piled up in mountains of 200, as would a pile or tray of tomatoes, apples, pears, or in the case of soap, cheese that is piled up and would be cut on a table. Soap is sold by weight in both operations. Usually $1 an ounce. It is apparent one of the founders of LUSH had a background in fresh produce and display. I suspect the only thing missing is they do not sprtiz their products every morning with water! We will get to the "humidity curse" in a few. The appearance of bountiful product is a very basic and critical marketing tool. Opening a store with sparse product is going to be a "sparse" endeavor. You get what you put in. People like the appearance of success. So, notice piles up 200 or so pink seltzers next to a pile of 200 aqua seltzers. It is psychological. Customers buy more when products appear a "bounty."
As with a floral stand, LUSH and Get a Guru wraps the products selected in newspaper. In fact, they wrap most of the product items in their own newspaper that features the LUSH product line. Get a Guru does a like thing. Making your own standard newspaper is not hard and the cheapest form of print there is. This solves the ingredient issue, as all ingredients—except proprietary secrets, are listed out on the newspaper almost like ads. The newspaper also offers a cool perceived value and people will read it after they unwrap their soaps. Even when fresh product smears the paper--customers will save it and will read it. So, the print also offers a way to mention cool insights about the company and attributes of all products. This also helps new employees learn about product attributes. Customers also love a "story" as Burt's Bees taught us.
Store break down: Soap is fun, whether it be Melt and Pour, Cold Process, but understand soap is the exception. I noticed soap constitutes 20% of sales whether it be LUSH, Crab Tree, or whoever. The Guru makes all their money on soap because Tarpon Springs is a once a month trip for most couples and families. That is, about the time they need more soap. If Guru depended upon a weekly soap purchase, they may not be doing so well. So, no more than 20% of a store dedicated to soap, 50% dedicated to outrageous "piles" of bath melts, seltzers and "fun" stuff, and 30% in lotions, crèmes, lip balms, salt/sugar scrubs, and packaged items. You can add packaged items as you go along. Don't confuse your customer. Keep items "ruff and natural" or "nice and neat." This whole article targets ruff and natural. Crabtree and Evelyn are an example of "nice and neat." You can figure a ton of money has to go to support a package heavy business and custom location displays. The one theme LUSH uses to tie its products in seems to be the color black. This is apparent with the black boards and white chalk signs over each of their products. GuRu did not have to do this with their displays, but they still have a sign near each pile of product that explains the product. GuRu picked a medieval type font and gold foil lettering which gives a little romantic edge to their theme. Do not confuse themes. Meaning don't flip from "country style" to "pop culture" in the same store. Stay true to your theme. Summary: Aim for locations, known traffic of congregated people, smell of the product as a draw, clearly defined "fun" products as a focus, a newspaper with your print to "tie it all in," are critical components to succeeding. If location or timing does not work out, you still have product you have move and are not heavy into custom building expenses. Do watch other business practices and see if you can tie it into your own store. Whole Foods has done a great job appearing like the total emporium it is. Their success was made on the appearance of "bountiful." What would I do different? I may add soy candles in. LUSH just never knew much about them and made enough money off "fresh cosmetics" when they did. I would keep candles in the back because I hear "sun fade" from every candle store owner I ever met. 20% of my space would be dedicated to candles. Product preparation: Once you are sure a product is going in your line, you can pre-make it before you do find a good location. Like soap gets better with age. And as we know, costs are rather low to punch out product. Unless you count your time, as you should. The issue arises when you do well, are moving a load of product, and no one knows how to make the product. Pre-plan for that "good problem."
My Agenda
I plan to come up with a
distinct product line, and franchise it out, keeping entry fees low and
sustaining royalties affordable. I will continue to support
efforts of independents who already have a theme and aspire their own
brand--and keep their trade secretes mum as usual. I have enough
of my own trade secrets. Some brands can go into our line--as long
as it "fits." I do question a persons ability to really punch out
the product when it really sells. Some people can find success of
their product a lot of work.
As far as my endeavor, I
know ahead of time, I cannot possibly make all the final products and
would need to be part of a bigger support system to make it work.
I would prefer to support the "sister hood" and small town folks-if
possible and have costs punched out prior. Not having huge
buildings does save on gas and over head. I will have a series of
"crafters" who do want to secure contracts making agreed products.
And we will have our share of those people who are in large cities and
want a shop, we can fill in return. Crafter's can either submit
ideas and price quotes, or quote me on product specs I create and hand
to them. Formal items, such as lip balm, Bee Pollen Oil, lotion
and crème will have to go to silk screeners. Based on the
final line, I can create a newspaper that ties it all in. Group
interaction and support is important for ideas, and dynamism.
Tasteful web sites are also really important--I can whip them out.
Creation of product: I do have this
"odd" vision of LUSH, basically correlated with the "Pet Rock."
Each cute bath item is created and given a "name" and a "theme."
If it sells, it stays in the line. Another thing I forgot to
mention, is they treat raw bath materials like artists. They
decorate with dried petals, sugar cake decor, (that ends up floating
casually in the tub) and other un-conventional methods. I think
price is really important, everything should be $5 retail or close.
The manufacturing should not exceed $2, including shipping. As a
retail rule, when you get into low balling, you tend to set your value.
A product should sell because it is awesome, not because it is 2 for 1
or cheap. Start thinking "awesome" and let the product sell
itself.
Gas prices: It is in almost every e-mail.
So, it surprised me more to see many people diving into a bath and body
business. Why would people do that at such an unsure time? I
wondered. The answer? When the going gets tuff, the tough
get going. Supplemental income. But you can bet everyone is
watching the bottom line and being prudent in their costs. Since
my customers will proceed with or without me, count me in! Any feed
back, do write me:
mabelwhite@sbcglobal.com
Whether you are for group association or independent,
do seek out high traffic areas to stake your ground. Really watch
the traffic and habits before you dive in. Do not be so in love
with your idea you cannot see past it.
Inspiring e-Bay Sellers: Click photo to
see their store
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Mabel
On-Line Video Viewing has arrived! :)
So making products so appealing, it would be a shame to box it, is
important. There are some exceptions to unpackaged products.
Products like lotion and crème, as we know, needs to be in a bottle or
container. So, the 20% of your line that is dedicated, such as lotions
and balms—all the stops can be pulled out on the best silk screened
packaging possible--as you make money on the non-packaged items. Such
as little glass balm pots for balm with silk screen and not just a
floppy label. Little glass pots as Burt's Bees uses so well,
gives true perceived value. Incorporating a few nicely
packaged items, will pull your whole line together and make it work.
My only concern for this endeavor is protecting the product. 50%
of product in a store like this is exposed to moisture attack.
Solve this, and everything should work out fine. Spring
and summer can do a number on some products if not in a well air
conditioned space. A/C can cost $20 a day, so this needs to be
considered. If a business is saving more than $20 a day on needless
packaging, costs of controlling temperature could rival that. How does
moist London keep the $8,000 in raw materials from "igniting?"
I know they don't use clay. Clay makes a tub look so dirty.
You have to test your products in a humid and steaming car--or near a
dishwasher that just started the "dry cycle" to ensure your end products
are going to make it. If they can pass that test--your on. I
have heard a coat of puzzle glue works like a charm for melt and pour
items. I remember that stuff in kindergarten art class. I
used to eat it, and I lived. As far as bubble blocks (LUSH did
patent Bubble Bars) and bath seltzers, they simply have to be made dry
as possible. I do use some body butter to keep them glued
together, that helps humid ignition, and some rubbing alcohol to make
them hard and dry--London taught me. It does make a tight and dry
bath bomb-and the alcohol does evaporate. 
