EP180. The key to indie beauty success: be visible, sell local

One of the questions that we're commonly asked at Formula Botanica is how can I start a beauty brand on a budget? Surely I need millions to get started. Look, I get it. You look at the big brands and it's easy to assume that that is exactly the model that everyone has to use. And then, yes, combine that with an economic downturn, which can absolutely feel tough. I completely understand that a lot of people have doubts. That might include you too. And then along comes yet another one of our amazing Formula Botanica graduates who smashes every preconception we have about what a beauty brand should be and how one should operate. I love those interviews so much because they challenge everyone's views and thoughts. Now, last week here on the podcast, I interviewed Leslie Reitgelt of Bella Botanicals, a Formula Botanica graduate and absolute indie beauty rock star. And Leslie told me all about all the ways that her brand is soaring. She dropped so much gold. You need to go back and listen to that episode if you haven't heard it yet. And you know what I loved the most about her interview? It was the way that Leslie told you and I all about the ways that she's grown her brand by selling locally. 80% of her sales come from local shoppers and she makes thousands of sales. That's amazing. It's so easy for beauty brands to get stuck on this idea of needing to go global or buy lots of ad space on social media or work with as many retailers around the world as possible. But Leslie ignored all of that, put herself out there to hustle, and created a really successful beauty business based in her local community. So in this week's episode, we're going to talk about the mindset shift I encourage all new beauty brand founders to make when they first get started. If you have a dream of starting a beauty brand, I know many of my listeners do, so this might include you too. Then settle in for an awesome episode in which we're going to look at the best ways to to start your beauty brand on a budget by staying local and being visible. Hi, it's Lorraine Dallmeyer, chartered environmentalist, biologist and CEO of award winning online organic cosmetic formulation school Formula Botanica. I host the Green Beauty Conversations podcast and these are my green beauty opinions in which I share my takeaways from the podcast interview we released last week and set you a challenge to make the green beauty sector a better place. If you want to be the first to hear all of my latest episodes, make sure you subscribe to this podcast now. You know what I thought was the scariest part of starting my business. When I first became an entrepreneur over a decade ago, it wasn't getting to grips with tech. It wasn't sorting out the accounts. It wasn't even dealing with human resources. As I started hiring people, no, it wasn't any of those things. Instead, my biggest fear was having to show myself to the world. I started my first website, and on my about page, I put up a photo of myself wearing sunglasses. That was about as far as I was prepared to go. One of my business friends even called me out on it. He said, I can't see your eyes. Why are you hiding? You know what? He was right. I was hiding because putting myself out there felt scary. And then I decided I'd film my first video. Well, that was an experience. This was way back before Formula Botanica, by the way. And I remember feeling so awkwardly embarrassed that I actually took my phone down to the bottom of the garden where no one could hear me, no one could see me. And I sat there and I filmed take after take after take. And you know what? I never used a single second of that footage as it was so cringy to watch. I even watched it back recently, and I still cringed. Now, if you fast forward to today. Seriously, I love going on camera. If there's a camera pointed at me, I want to talk to it. If there's a podcast mic, hand it over. I want to speak into it. If there's a stage, let me at it. I want to command the audience's attention. And I felt exactly the same energy come from our graduate, Leslie, last week. She talks about all the ways that she's put herself out there. She's networked, she's hustled, she's talked to people over and over to spread the message about her amazing beauty brand, Bella Botanicals. And in doing so, she's grown so much in confidence. She said it herself. And although it can feel scary in the beginning when you start a business, and trust me when I say that everyone feels this way in the beginning, I believe that all new beauty brand founders should embrace this idea of being visible, because this is the ultimate way to start your beauty brand on a budget. Look at Lesley's success. 80%, a minimum of 80% of her sales occur in her local community. That is phenomenal. It's mind blowing. And it goes to show that being visible works. It also shows that you don't need millions to get started. What this teaches all of us is that the beauty entrepreneurs who push themselves out of their comfort Zones will be the ones who move forward. After all. And I know you know this, and I know this too, we don't achieve personal growth in life without a bit of discomfort. Every single leap forward that I've made has come through some discomfort. But once you're over that hurdle, you've changed your life yet again. Let's not forget that no one else is going to change your life for you. You are the only one with the power to do so. And the other great point I took from Lesley's interview is that you don't have to make dramatic change either. You don't immediately have to try and take on the whole world. You, your change could literally be learning how to formulate botanical skincare, creating products to sell, and then selling those products locally by just talking to people and putting yourself out there. Everyone can do this. It is all achievable and the transformation is enormous. Just listen to what Lesley said last week about how her life has changed. So in fact, we have the blueprint to achieve exactly this transformation in our flagship International Organic Skincare Entrepreneur program, which opens up for enrollment in a couple of weeks time. And the people who enroll for that program will not only learn how to formulate something amazing using the right ingredients, but they'll also learn how to make their formulation safe, stable, sellable and successful. I can't wait to watch the beauty entrepreneurs of tomorrow start with us create their botanical formulations and start to think about how they can hustle in their local communities to create a successful beauty brand on a budget just like Leslie. So my challenge to you for this week is to come and sign up for our big free masterclass, which we're currently running at the time of recording. We're going to teach you how to make a botanical eye cream and then we're going to show you how you can turn that formulation into a business. It's going to be so much fun. It's going to be amazing. We always welcome tens of thousands of participants to our masterclasses and their big exciting event. So if you haven't got your free ticket yet, you are missing out. Head on over to formulabotanica.com straight away to secure your place in our masterclass. I will see you there. Can't wait. Thank you for listening to my Green Beauty Opinions. If you haven't subscribed yet to the Green Beauty Conversations podcast, please make sure you do so now in your favorite podcast app. Leave me a five star review if you enjoy the conversations. I host and I'll be back soon. With my next episode, Sam.