Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal care but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Philip Pellat, President of Purelygreat Inc., located in Peterborough, ON, Canada.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Purelygreat makes natural deodorants that are EWG Verified™, vegan, aluminum-free, and effective. We're committed to helping our customers lead a more natural lifestyle. Our customers are health-conscious people who want to feel safe using clean products.
Tell us about yourself
As a new mom, Deb was searching for clean products to use in our home. At a local farmers market in Toronto, she bought a natural deodorant cream. It worked so well, and Deb took lessons from the vendor and created the formula for Purelygreat Cream Deodorants. She shared them with family and friends, and the response was so overwhelming we built a simple website and started Purelygreat! A decade later, both Deb and I work full-time manufacturing and selling Purelygreat Deodorants online and in health food stores across Canada. The positive reviews we receive from our customers about how Purelygreat has helped them feel confident, safe, and healthy in their daily lives keep motivating us to continue growing the business.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Starting Purelygreat from just a simple idea to actually seeing it grow, both online and in retail stores across Canada, has been a very rewarding experience.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
As owners of a small company, we have to wear many hats. We also have to find great outsourcing partners to help implement various tasks, from manufacturing to marketing. As owners, we have to ensure we educate ourselves enough about all aspects of the business to enable us to oversee these activities. We can't be experts in everything, but we do need a certain level of knowledge to communicate and lead our team and partners toward our goals. Keeping on top of daily business and being aware of new technologies and strategies is an ongoing struggle.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Jump in and get started! You can plan so much, but then you need to take action, and things will evolve as you move forward. There are aspects of your business you just can't foresee (Like COVID), and you'll have to adapt along the way.
- Diversify your revenue streams so not all your eggs are in one basket. Again the pandemic taught us a lesson - while retail store sales dropped, we saw revenues grow online. And even online, we have several marketplaces we derive revenue from, like Amazon and our own website. That diversification enabled us to be where the customers were and keep moving forward.
- Be clear on your goals. For some startups, it's about raising a lot of capital and fast-paced growth; for others, it could be more of a lifestyle business and ownership of your time. Not everyone needs to build the next Tesla to feel the sense of accomplishment and ownership that starting your own business provides.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://mynaturaldeodorant.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Purelygreat/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/purelygreat/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philippellat/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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