Grandma's Ancient Soapberry Remedy for Sensitive Skin Idea -> $500k/Month

Hello Rebels

🏖️ Fun one-liner:

Why do entrepreneurs prefer escalators over elevators? Because on the way to the top, they like to keep moving!

Onto Today’s story….

Michael Koh had problems with his skin, and all the regular commercial soaps caused horrible rashes.

He found a solution from his grandmother and decided to help others by starting a natural skincare company called Tree to Tub.

Tree to Tub produces shampoos, body washes, and facial cleansers made from natural ingredients that helped people with sensitive skin.

The idea looks small, but Michael makes $500k/Month.

Here is how he did it.

When Michael was a baby in Taiwan, he had horrible sensitive skin.

Bathtime was pretty much a nightmare for him, and the harsh chemical soaps would give him a rash every time.

Out of desperation, one day, his grandma collected some Soapberries in the mountains.

These Soapberries would lather up with a rub and were used as soap by the indigenous people for thousands of years,

before the cheaper, more convenient, synthetic soaps became popular.

Everyone was surprised - the suds from these fruits didn't sting Michael's skin at all!

He was finally able to end the bath time nightmare and shower like a normal kid.

When Michael immigrated to the U.S. as a high school student,he was surprised that no one knew about the Soapberries,

and that people with sensitive skin only had chemical-based pharmaceutical products to choose from.

These products were not that gentle, smelled bad,

and the worst part was that their branding made users feel like strange, undesirable patients with skin diseases.

As Michael gained more experience in the startup world later on, it became very clear to him that with the Soapberry and strong branding, they could help many people feel good.

He later went to UC Berkeley, and while studying there, he started a food truck business.

Even though it was just a small food truck business, the amount of stress really pushed him to the edge sometimes.

So he decided that if he had a partner, it would be better to share both the challenges and success!

After this, he worked at an on-demand peer-to-peer tutoring app startup, which didn't succeed.

Partnering with his college best friend Brian, Michael invested his last $10,000, while Brian put in a little more, to start Tree To Tub.

Initially, the duo naively thought they could extract the Soapberries and bottle the juice as their product in their tiny kitchen.

But after two weeks of boiling Soapberries in their tiny kitchen, they realized it wasn't possible to do this way, and they needed a real manufacturer.

They were not sure how to find one.

They soon gathered a shortlist of potential advisors in the industry and reached out to them through their connections or directly on LinkedIn.

Some actually got on a call with them!

One of the phone calls was with Ric from 100% Pure, who later played a very important role in their business as an advisor.

They soon learned the big picture of this business and the fact that they needed a legitimate manufacturer to formulate for them and scale with them.

They were determined to create a premium, all-natural product without relying on artificial fragrances, parabens, silicone, or harsh foaming agents.

But to do this, they faced higher costs and lower margins compared to their competitors.

Instead of artificial fragrance, they wanted to use natural essential oils, and that itself was a 5X difference in terms of cost.

They hit upon a solution.

They decided to go for the premium market.

That decision influenced their branding and design.

They knew the packaging needed to be elegant, and that it needed to tell the story of the Soapberry.

They even included a small drawstring bag of Soapberries in their packages, just so people could experience it in its rawest form!

They soon realized that the $20,000 they had invested into the company wasn't enough.

It wouldn't cover the Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ) or the marketing expenses needed to get their products into the market.

Not wanting to take on any investments at this stage, they decided to launch a Kickstarter campaign for a presale.

Being new to crowdfunding, they approached their friends, friends of friends, and basically anyone they knew who had run a Kickstarter before to learn from their experiences.

They took notes, followed these strategies, and worked tirelessly for 2 months before they finally launched the campaign.

They weren't comfortable with the popular strategy of list building through Facebook ads.

However, they had many friends.

Before the launch, they consistently posted on their Facebook to keep everyone engaged.

Then, they private messaged thousands of their friends via email or chat to get them to back the campaign on the first day.

As a result, their friends helped them hit $10,000 in the first 15 hours, which triggered the Kickstarter algorithm to promote their project.

Eventually, they hit a modest yet satisfying $40,000 campaign.

That $40,000 was extremely crucial for them to get things started.

But sales were not good at all.

Six months after their Kickstarter, they almost burned through all their cash, and they started contemplating closing their business.

However, one of their advisors and friends encouraged them to focus on Product-Market Fit.

He was convinced that they had awesome products but just hadn't found the right customers for them.

So they started emailing surveys and calling up their customers,

literally chatting with each of them for almost an hour over the phone to get a deeper sense of their characteristics and why they bought from them.

They totally misjudged their customers.

They targeted the "natural/organic" market, but their real strength was in the "gentle/good for sensitive skin" market.

With that observation, they completely revamped their marketing language,

catering specifically to people with sensitive skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis, Michael explains.

They also realized that most of their customers preferred to shop on Amazon, which convinced them to shift their focus to Amazon.

Amazon ended up saving their business.

They excelled at product development and branding but struggled with traffic - the most crucial element.

Amazon solved this issue.

All they had to do was understand the platform and tell an engaging story.

Michael says…

“One of the biggest lessons we learned was the importance of truly understanding our customers.

Once we pivoted our messaging to focus on sensitive skin, rather than just natural or organic, everything clicked."

With the right setup, they began to witness a sales volume they had never seen before within just 2 months on Amazon.

They knew they had survived.

Revenue continued to grow.

They introduced more products like shampoos, body washes, and facial cleansers made from the Soapberry and other soothing botanicals.

Their products are formulated with natural ingredients like soapberries, aloe vera, and chamomile,

which are known for their gentle, soothing properties and suitable for even the most sensitive skin types.

They also started a blog and built a strong SEO presence by offering valuable, educational, and most importantly keyword-targeted blog posts that their target market loved.

Within three years of shifting their focus to Amazon, Tree to Tub's revenue grew by over 500%, and they now offer a range of 15 different natural skincare products.

Now they are making $500k/Month.

Michael says..

"Take a step back, and evaluate whether your business or career will be optimally serving your ultimate goal,

which for most people would be some variation of living a happy, fulfilled life."

"Remember the end goal. It's rarely about business success.

It's about success in life. Treat your business or career as a means to an end."

7 reasons why he succeeded

1. Turned personal struggle into business idea

• Michael had sensitive skin and suffered from rashes caused by regular commercial soaps.

• His grandmother's Soapberry remedy solved his skin problems.

• He decided to start a natural skincare company to help others with sensitive skin.

2. Identified a gap in the market

• In the U.S., Michael noticed that people with sensitive skin only had chemical-based products to choose from.

• These products were not gentle, smelled bad, and made users feel like they had skin diseases.

• Michael saw an opportunity to create a natural, gentle alternative with strong branding.

3. Partnered with a friend to share challenges

• After running a food truck business alone, Michael realized the importance of having a partner.

• He partnered with his college best friend Brian to start Tree To Tub.

• They invested their personal savings, with Michael contributing $10,000 and Brian putting in a little more.

4. Took help from mentors

• Michael and Brian initially tried to extract Soapberries in their tiny kitchen but realized they needed a manufacturer.

• They gathered a shortlist of potential advisors in the industry and reached out to them.

• One advisor, Ric from 100% Pure, played a crucial role in guiding their business.

5. Pivoted their overall messaging from "natural" to "sensitive skin"

• Michael and Brian initially targeted the "natural/organic" market but realized their strength was in the "gentle/good for sensitive skin" market.

• They revamped their marketing language to cater specifically to people with sensitive skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis.

• This pivot in messaging helped them connect with the right customers.

6. Built a strong SEO presence through blogging

• Tree To Tub started a blog and built a strong SEO presence.

• They offered valuable, educational, and keyword-targeted blog posts that their target market loved.

• Blogging helped them attract organic traffic and establish their authority in the natural skincare space.

7. Treated business as a means to an end

• Michael encourages entrepreneurs to remember that the end goal is rarely about business success alone.

• He suggests treating one's business or career as a means to achieve success in life.

🍦

Hope you liked the story and the tactics which made them successful.

Keep Rocking!

Yours "Build your Biz with almost no risk" Vijay Peduru