Jolie Skin Co. is a perfect example of why your idea is important. A few interesting facts:

• Profitable in 5 months

• 3 full time employees 

• $4 million in sales in its first year

• Subscription based with 80% of first time customers choosing the subscription option and 97% retention (better than Netflix)

• 85 point margin

Ryan Babenzien had successfully started DTC sneaker brand Greats in 2014 and sold it to Steve Madden in 2019. But that experience dialed in what he thought made a good business. 

So he created a framework for his next business: 

• No sizes, just one standard option

• Something people used every day

• Which appealed to their vanity, it had to make them look and feel great

The idea hit him like a lightening bolt in the shower. He had dry skin and realized that the water had all of these chemicals in it. People were spending all this money on creams and cleansers, but the fundamental problem, the water, wasn’t being addressed. 

So he created the first beauty company that sold a filtered shower head. 

They launched by amassing an excel spreadsheet with 1,200 people and started reaching out. Nothing fancy, just putting the work in.  

Ryan’s thought process was that there are A and B list influencers, but even an F level influencer with 50 followers could drive sales. After all if that one influencer was given a product and lead to one sale then:

CAC = COGS + shipping, which with an 85 point gross margin made it a win. 

They focused on spreading the word and made a commitment to not sell through Facebook for the first six months. They wanted to make sure it would work without paying the Zuck tax. 

It worked. This is the power of an idea. The idea was unique and solved a problem. Seven out of 10 people they contacted responded. In the first year there were 5,000 unique pieces of user generated content floating around the socials. 

And they didn’t do it by just focusing on the beauty influences. They reached out to chefs, dog walkers and anyone they thought would be interested. 

What’s Jolie Skin Co. Revenue?

Jolie is on track to sell $25-30 million in its second year. It’s surpassed what Ryan thought they would do and is the perfect example of how an idea is a multiplier on execution. 

How You Could Compete:

In a pod Ryan mentioned that he knows there’s millions of people who want a rain shower and handheld version, but they’re focused on their main product until it starts to slow down. There’s an opportunity!

Another opportunity would be if someone could create a filter that was an add on, but didn’t require the replacement of the shower head. Bonus if it was easy to replace. 

Oh and FilteredShowerHead.com is still available.

Sources:

The Pop Up Report Podcast - interview with Ryan Babenzien

Chew on This Podcast - interview with Ryan Babenzien

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