Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal care but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Eran Arad, co-founder of Shiny Leaf LLC., located in Hollywood, FL, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Shiny Leaf makes premium haircare, skincare, and personal care items since 2017. A lot can change in 5 years at the crazy pace that the world is moving today. When we started the business, we had very simple principles in mind:
We wanted to produce high-quality products for ourselves. When you make a product for you - it has to be the best, and there's confidence and pride in seeing more and more customers try our products and coming back for more. We also wanted to produce in the USA. That helps us to support the local economy, simplify supply chain issues (No hard feelings, China!), and to be able to guarantee quality and consistency. Finally, we decided to use natural ingredients where we have a chance and never ever use harsh ingredients.
With that, we started. Technology and automation allowed us to stay lean and offset the higher costs of producing quality products in the USA. We face and overcome challenges with persistence, enthusiasm, and optimism. We love to see the support and compliments from our customers.
Our customers begin with ourselves. We religiously use our own products and create more products that we would like to use. But everyone is our customer. from everyday Moms and pops, grandparents, teenagers, to salons and spas, all over the world. And we invite anyone that wants to spoil him/herself with fantastic shampoo, invigorating conditioner, or a fast-absorbing facial serum to try our products and fall in love.
Tell us about yourself
Shiny Leaf was established by three partners, Eilon and Eran Arad (brothers) and Oron Barber. We all come from completely different backgrounds in technology and marketing, and we have always wanted to harness our knowledge towards doing e-commerce. The opportunity was immersed in 2016. We started creating products that we would like to use, namely carrier oils, shampoos, and conditioners, later evolving into very specific supplements and skincare. We launch new products slowly after extensive research and testing and keep optimizing and improving our operation as we go, but our true motivation comes from our customer's feedback.
We pride ourselves on the best customer service on the planet, and where quality and service meet, customers are happy, and the responses and reviews that we receive are what makes us get up in the morning on the right foot with energy and enthusiasm to fight all battles so our customers will receive the best product at a reasonable price in the most transparent, fastest and simplest way.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
We've had numerous challenges while growing and scaling the business, but we think that the biggest challenge was and still is the manufacturing. Creating a profitable business model in the hair care, skincare, and supplements verticals when the constraints are production in the USA and quality ingredients and formulations is a big, nerve-wracking challenge.
We've reached a position where we have the ability to produce our formulas in several locations in the US and still provide quality and consistency to our customers. We've grown from a company that manufactures a few hundred products per batch to tens of thousands of products in frequent batches.
One of our greatest achievements within this framework lies in our customer service department. Every customer is treated like an immediate family member in a personalized and speedy way. We look to actually solve customers' issues and solve them quickly without going around the bush. Trust is extremely important to sustain the longevity of a business.
I think that our success proves that hard work and persistence pay, but one has to be patient.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
A business owner must look at the business within the widest framework possible. Whether the owner is involved in the day-to-day business or not (and we heavily are), the owner is responsible for having the right products, at the right price, at the right place, with the proper marketing message that will expose the company's products or services portfolio to the intended market.
In more cases than not, there are conflicts that need to be addressed, and a responsible compromise must be decided. I look at things as a triangle where on one end there's Quality, on another, there is Price or Costs, and the final corner has speed. They cannot come together; usually, it's very rare. Where do you draw the lines? Will you answer the customer within 1 hour even though it will increase the company costs? Do you have to use this specific expensive ingredient for this product? Will you absorb a delay in the production of 1 month to improve the strength of the individual protective product box?
Sometimes it is not easy to make these decisions. In the end, a company is probably measured by which corner of the triangle it favors. If you are one of our customers, you'd probably attest that Shiny Leaf chose quality.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
First and foremost, be persistent, insist, and work hard until it pays off. This may take time, but I cannot stress this enough. Never ever give up, and always keep pushing and find ways to improve. Many entrepreneurs face obstacles and choose to give up on minor issues. I believe you need to be stubborn to succeed.
Second - don't go into this alone. There's so much more you can achieve in a team. Choose your partners carefully. I don't like to go into partnerships if I don't know the partner/s for a long while, usually at least a couple of years. Good partners are priceless and are hard to come by. But you'll need the help. If not partners, the least you can do is to surround yourself with smart and hungry employees. In most cases, we found that hunger is more important than experience. You can teach someone to do things if he's curious and ambitious, but it's much harder to teach an experienced employee to dedicate him/herself to hard work and the company's success.
Third, spread your risks as much as possible. Avoid having your business rely on one supplier, one sales channel, one customer, one product, and so on. This rule may have a few exceptions, but if you have a chance, diversify. In short - prepare for the best, plan for the worst.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
If you want to reach us to ask questions, make comments, suggestions, or anything else on your mind, feel free to go to our website (www.shinyleaf.com) and hit the contact tab. We answer very fast. Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list and be the first to know about a very exciting 2022 full of new product launches and surprises.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.shinyleaf.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shinyleafusa/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shinyleafusa/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/shinyleafusa
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/shiny-leaf-llc/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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