Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in cosmetics, but not sure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Neel Patel, the founder of Après Pacific, a modern skin wellness brand, in Toronto, Canada.
Tell us all about your business...
Après Pacific is a modern skin wellness brand inspired by Indian skin secrets and Ayurvedic remedies to target real skin issues. Our products aim to invigorate our global community with a newfound sense of self-love with each product usage through affirmations on the actual products.
Our core customers range from 22-55 year old females. These individuals will ideally connect to Indian skin secrets, tradition, and are looking for brands that resonate with them emotionally and culturally. They are suffering from 1 or more skin conditions and are afraid or not comfortable to use prescriptions, so they are on the hunt for more genuine connection with the brand of their choice and want safe, effective skincare solutions for dark spots & hyperpigmentation.
What's your background and motivation to grow as a business owner?
Après Pacific was a journey going back to my own Indian roots, inspired by own mother. During a time of struggling with dark spots and eczema, I was reminded of the power of turmeric through the Indian wedding tradition of applying turmeric all over the body a day before to ensure the skin awakens its natural glow on wedding day.
Combine this, with my mother’s weekly routine of applying a turmeric, amla berry clay mask on her skin to induce relaxation and calmness showed me the power of these Ayurvedic adaptogens to target skin issues and become a prominent self-care ritual. Wanting to highlight my Indian heritage and tradition with a clean, cultural, conscious brand that infuses self-love in a modern way is exactly how Après Pacific was born.
This wellness ritual of applying the mask for 10 minutes and taking time to slow down and just be is exactly what we wanted to bring the consumer – making our products a place of refuge and treating their skin with positive intention.
As an entrepreneur, what does success ultimately mean to you?
Having been partnered with major retailers like Hudson's Bay in Canada and working with major beauty subscription boxes in the US is a major accomplishment. While the brand is in its infancy stage, it is encouraging to see customers around the world being attracted to the brand, loving the products, and truly seeing results and feeling much happier and confident in their skin.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being an entrepreneur?
Being a sole founder comes with many challenges that one must navigate. One is ensuring you have the right team in place to help you grow and scale. We have made mistakes in hiring the wrong people and agency which has wasted valuable time that could've been spent otherwise, but these are things you just learn and evolve from.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run or grow a small business today?
1) Find a niche (even in a saturated market) that you're passionate about and go all in. Don't try to be a brand for everyone, because that is extremely hard to do.
2) Surround yourself with the right people, whether this includes mentors or team members. Having people that challenge the status quo or lead you in the right direction can save a lot of time and money, which is vital as a start-up.
3) It's great to be passionate, but it's equally important to be realistic. Always go back on the data and the numbers to see if your initial assumptions are right or not. If the data doesn't validate your ad campaigns or things you thought should be a certain way, you must be flexible and agile to move forward from that and test a new idea.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
Don't be afraid to reach out to other founders or anyone that can shine some light or provide knowledge. It's important to constantly be learning and inspired by others.
Where can people find you online?
https://aprespacific.com/
https://www.instagram.com/aprespacific/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as an entrepreneur or business coach 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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