A Publication of The Indie Beauty Network
ISSN 1530-9630 | Volume 7, Issue 48
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1. IBN Member Update: Welcome New & Renewing IBN Members!
2. Lifestyle CEO Report: Why NOT To Start A Small Business -- Win A Free Book!
3. Handmade Beauty Business of the Year: Nominations Are Now Open!
4. Introducing Monthly Beauty Business Exchange
5. Feature Article: Glam and Fam: IBN Member Combines Family With Beauty Business Success
6. Handmade Beauty Product Review: Ashi Asian Pearl Lotion
7. Here & There: Calendar of Upcoming Events

Handmade Beauty Recipe of the Week: Cranberry Sugar Scrub

\Life.Style CEO\n. A person who owns and manages a business, not solely for financial gain, but also to enjoy the personal rewards of entrepreneurship, independence, flexibility and fun.

Just the cold, hard facts with no sugarcoating from Ginny Wilmerding, small business consultant and author of What Smart Women Know About Business. Call the show live and you could win a copy Ginny's book! Join me and Ginny LIVE at 1:00pm EST to learn more, at Global Talk Radio.com. Just click on "Listen Live" at the home page to join us! Call in your own question or comment at (800) 773-0355.

And visit the Lifestyle CEO website book page to get the scoop on my book featuring several members of the Indie Beauty Network who are the ultimate examples of successful Lifestyle CEOs! 

Now and then you meet someone who demonstrates an exceptional amount of determination and resolve to make a business successful. I am proud to say that IBN is filled with such people, and one of them who I hove come to know personally and professionally is Lela Barker of Bella Luccé. Throughout this article, you will see lovely photos of some of Lela's products. Yes, they are fabulous and on the theory that people like to read more if text is accompanied by pretty pictures, I included quite a few here. But I hope that as impressed as you are bound to be with the products, you'll realize that they only tell a fraction of the story. If you have big dreams and feel something is holding you back from accomplishing them, Lela reminds you in this story of what you already know. It's not your circumstances that are holding you back. It's you and you alone who is standing in the way. 

I Was Just Minding My Hobby

Of course I've used beauty products all my life, but when my sister discovered tumors in her breast, I began to think of bath and body products in a whole new light. Mimi was in her 20's and there is no history of tumors in my family, so I set out to investigate how this could have happened to my otherwise healthy sister. Of course I read about food issues, but I also began looking into the chemicals used in skincare products. I began reading labels and ended up in my bathroom trashing many of my own shampoos, lotions and other products that contained unhealthful ingredients. I then went to a local natural market and began a search for some healthier alternative products with which my sister could pamper and treat herself. There were lots of nice things, but nothing really over the top and special for Mimi. So I did what any loving sister would do -- I decided to make some lotion and sugar scrub for her myself. Using the Internet as my guide, I created some great products and Mimi loved them. I began giving them away as holiday gifts and eventually, I became known for making bath and body products. It was a fun hobby. Then, my husband and I divorced.

What Am I Gonna Do Now?

So there I was. Long on lotion and scrub, but short on money and a father for my two kids who were under the age of 4 at the time. Yikes! No job. No college degree. No child support. Of course I looked for and found opportunities to work waitressing or as an administrative assistant, but I was not impressed with what was out there that would allow me to work around my children's schedules. I began to think about how fun it would be to take what I loved to do and what people knew me for and hit the arts and crafts show circuit selling lotions and sugar scrubs. Weekdays would be production days and my mom could be with my daughters while I did shows on the weekends.

I wanted to get a booth at a popular and well known craft show in Knoxville, Tennessee, but didn't have the $450 entry fee. I started selling my wares at local shows, hoping to make enough money to get a booth in Knoxville, even though I couldn't fathom paying someone that much money for the opportunity to sell my products. During this time, a friend of mine who had become a very good customer took some of my products to a local spa and emerged with a $3,000 order. At that point, I said "To heck with the craft shows! I'm going wholesale!" I sold a $500 treasured Persian rug (the only asset accumulated from my first marriage) and I was in business. That was September 2003 and I've not looked back since.

An Unconventional Business Plan

I didn't have a business plan, but I did plan my business. I spent hours on end poring over cost trends and learning what was new and hot in the beauty industry. I learned on my feet and I'm still learning. One of the things I noted in my research, and which I tell people know, is that in this or any business, having a niche is the key to success. There are a lot of wonderful people out there selling great products from their websites. But it is extremely hard and takes a very long time to create a steady stream of income from retail customers online. For this reason, I decided to go the wholesale route. I guess my plan was to look at what was out there, introduce something I didn't see, and then sell it like nobody's business!

Before Bella Luccé, I had no formal business training. I talked to people in the industry including other manufacturers on Internet chat lists. I researched ingredients and trends until I found a sort of "look" I could live with. I have learned the importance of the "story" to the business. Remember to tell your story as part of your business outreach. Everyone has their own interesting story to tell. It's a huge part of good marketing and your story is free so make sure you make it a part of your brand. Every day is a new challenge and I constantly muck it up. But when I do, I dig my heels in and figure out what I'm doing wrong and try to build from there.

Just Old Fashioned Hard Work and Determination

I wish there was a secret to doing well in business because if there was, I'd bottle it up and sell it with my sugar scrub. But there really isn't. I mean, we've never done a single trade show. We don't have a public relations agent, we don't cold call on anyone and we have never had sales reps. Yet we find Bella Luccé products in hundreds of spas around the world. In fact, we sell just about as many products in the US as we do abroad, particularly in Saudi Arabian countries for some reason. I am creative and I work hard, and I find that new opportunities are right around the corner all the time.

My First "Real" Sale

I remember when someone ordered something at my website with a name and shipping address I did not recognize. It was my first "stranger" order -- not one from a friend of a friend or supportive family member. I couldn't believe it. My mom and I spent hours searching our phone books and papers to see if we could find her name anywhere. When it became clear she was a real "stranger," I was so excited that I called her and a great friendship has evolved.

Website Advice

When I first started out, I sensed the importance of having a good website and beautifully photographed products. One of the first things I did right was to launch a great looking website from the get go. If you want to get a lot of attention for your products, you need great pictures at your site. Your website also needs to be easy to navigate. Mine wasn't fancy or complicated, and it still isn't, but I made it look as professional as possible with the resources I had on hand at the beginning. There's no excuse these days for not having beauty at your website, especially if you are selling beauty. If you can't afford a professional photographer, rent a digital camera and learn how to use software to clean up the images and make them look nice with the right amount of light and clarity. Today Bella Luccé gets 90% of our customers through the Internet. It's more important than ever to have high quality, attractive product photos at your website no matter what you sell.

It's Fun But ...

What used to be fun to make is now a beast to create. For example, it was great to make my sugar scrubs in small quantities, but scaling up to a larger scale is very difficult. When you decide to go larger scale, you have to think longer term. For this reason, I recommend that people starting out wearing all the hats choose a few products that are easy to make and easy to scale up production so you can ramp up the business before you have to hire help.

Making a lot of the same thing over and over again can be mentally draining sometimes. For example, when we have huge orders to fill, we gather around in a circle on the floor and calculate how much of each product we have to make each day in order to fill the order in a timely fashion. We have in the past had to rent extra manufacturing space and drive ingredients and products back and forth in our cars in order to get huge orders filled. But that's part of the game. If you're not willing to do that, don't plan to grow.

The Payoff - Hollywood Came A Callin'

In December 2004, we made our first swag bag appearance for the Billboard Music Awards. Bella Luccé was just 15 months old at the time. We followed that up in February 2005 with the Screen Actor's Guild and later with the Cannes Film Festival. Once you do a few of them, you are in the "loop." We have to put the brakes on those sometimes because it's so much work for a small company to meet those kinds of requirements..

Defining The Beauty Market On Your Terms

When getting started in this business, you have to define your market. One thing to keep in mind is that retail customers are hard to come by. There are millions of websites out there selling beauty products. That's an awfully big pie and it's hard to get a piece of it quickly. It happens over time. If I was starting out today in this business, I would not go straight to retail. Wholesale is where I'd launch because you have a better chance of getting into spas and salons. It's even better if you can get spas to use your products on their clients and then sell them to their customers in their retail area. There's an even better sell through rate using that strategy. It's a trade off though because most spas want to carry products that are somewhat exclusive, and rightly so. They don't want to see your products for sale all over the Internet and in certain other venues. In order to maintain that air of exclusivity, they may ask you to limit your distribution outlets and sales channels. Not every business owner is willing to do that. If you don't want to go the spa only route, you have to find a way to sell both to stores and to spas while also trying to build a retail following through your website.

The Call From Shop At Home

Yes, we've been on Shop At Home. One day, I was sitting at my desk and the phone rang. I could see "Shop At Home" on the caller id, and I wondered out loud what they could possibly want with me. Lo and behold, it was one of their buyers who had found Bella Luccé on the Internet and she asked if I would send some products for them to sample. Once I got her to assure me it was not a joke, I packed up some for them to take a look at. They ordered everything I sent them and I soon found myself on live television selling Bella Luccé by the hundreds at a time.

Just imagine, Shop At Home saw Bella Luccé products reviewed at an online website, which lead them to my website. It was the website that caused them to pick up the phone. Again, good product photos at your website is key.

Lifestyle Choices

I honestly don't think that I would ever make a good employee. I guess you could say I'm a "Lifestyle CEO" to my core. If I didn't do Bella Luccé, I think I would have found something else to do on my own. I was always an enterprising child. Not only would I have a lemonade stand like the other kids in the neighborhood, but I'd also have muffins and fruit drink at my stand. I always wanted to go bigger and better than the average. Other than that sort of personality which I was born with, there really is no golden key that unlocks the door to success in business. You need dogged determination and you have to really really want it badly. And don't overlook easy to find resources. My mom has screwed on a lifetime's worth of cream lids and my daughters are some of my best product testers. I have friends who help and a great staff too. 

You may have to start small, but no matter where you start, even if you start with nothing as I did, you have to get yourself incredibly fired up. My kids help with that in the sense that my desire to provide for them drives me to succeed. I also enjoy having the flexibility to care for them in a "hands on" way, which I would not be able to do if I was working for someone else. My daughters are my "Spoiled Bath Princesses" They can't just take a regular bath like other people, they have to have one with oils or fizzies and stuff. It's fun to watch. My kids schoolmates watched my Shop At Home debut, and the network was kind enough to let me say hello to them on the show. It's great to show my children what is possible and to provide them with a good example of entrepreneurship. I also now have a wonderful husband, who had been my high school sweetheart.

Parting Points

No matter what you do, you have to refine your vision as you go along, and pursue it with great passion. Keep at it and never lose sight of what you want to do. If you do this, I think you can do just about anything. It's hard to grow a small venture into a larger successful one. It's even harder if you have no resources and no help starting out. But but as women, we can be a fired up, determined little bunch so don't give up if you really want it.

Editor's Note: You can enjoy my review of Bella Luccé's Manuka Honey Drizzle (pictured at left) here. The above summary was excerpted from Lela Barker's appearance on the Lifestyle CEO Show last year. We did not have a transcript of the show, so Lela's comments and insights have been summarized in a way that flows logically for the eye. You can enjoy the entire hour-long interview here.

Of all the determined entrepreneurs I have enjoyed knowing over the years, Lela is among the most impressive. At only 30 years old, she's had experienced in her short time as a business owner what most business owners long for but rarely achieve. Why? Old fashioned hard work and the dogged pursuit of a specific niche, that's it boiled down into a nutshell.

Got success? Copy Lela's example and you'll be well on your way. You can also visit Bella Luccé's website and blog to catch up on the latest exciting news and new products, including a decadent Gingerbread Crème Sugar Scrub. Can you just DIE for it!!?

Ashi Asian Beauty Pearl Lotion
4 oz. | $30.00

There's lot of great products to rave about, but I really love to tell you about the ones with really unique ingredients in them, and this one contains stuff I didn't even know existed until I tried Asian Beauty Pearl Lotion. That's right, you guessed it. There are powdered pearls in this lovely face cream made by IBN member Ashi Aromatics.

Made by Kelly Holland Azzaro in her mountain healing retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains in northwestern North Carolina (my new home state), this cream is a smooth blend of rich jojoba oil and rose hydrosol, coupled with several of my favorite essential oils for the skin including frankincense, sandalwood and rose. The scent is fantastic and the pearl powder is said to be a beauty remedy from the Orient. Judging from the way my skin feels when I use it, Kelly is onto something. Plus there's something special about using a product made at a retreat. I've never been there, but I feel like I get a little bit of it on my face each time I smooth in this pearl lotion.

Kelly is a practicing aromatherapy expert and her use of essential oils combined with her knack for making soothing beauty products gives her an edge. Kelly is also the vice president of the National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy. You can meet Kelly, her mountain retreat and Ashi Asian Beauty Pearl Lotion at Kelly's website.

As always, there's a lot going on at IBN, and our members are very busy. I'll be including this chart in upcoming issues so everyone can stay abreast of the happening here at IBN!