Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
Susie Wang, 24, sometimes feels disconcerted that she's notyet bringing in millions with her San Francisco natural skin-carecompany, Aqua Dessa. But Susie, we're here to tell ya, whileyour sales may still be under half a million, the notorietyyou've received from the likes of Mademoiselle and the businesspress is nothing short of remarkable, when countless brandsaren't getting any coverage at all.
Three years ago, Wang, then a math communications major/businessminor at the University of California, Berkeley (school's onhiatus for now), borrowed $5,000 from her 19-year-oldjunior-pro-golfer brother, James, to begin researching ways tostart a skin-care line. She could either go the easy route-hire aprivate-label manufacturer to mass-produce everything frommoisturizers to shower gels-or start from scratch, which is whatshe did.
Near-residency in the medical library taught Wang that heroriginal idea of using natural ingredients to make the "plainold stuff" like cleansers and toners wouldn't work,because when the ingredients she wanted to use-like vitamin C-arecoupled with water, they oxidize and no longer exude theirbenefits. Eager to set Aqua Dessa apart from "companies usingnatural skin care just for aesthetic appeal," she exploredfurther. "I studied every single herb, botanical and vitamin Iwanted to use and formulated them to see how they'd counteractor react."
Wang also ensured product safety with clinical testing (the feeis "minimal"), and by 1999, she found herself in thefinal stages of formulation. Her boyfriend, Byung Kim, 24, whorecently graduated with a bio-engineering degree, aided in theprocess. The quality of life at the time was endurable at best."The $5,000 [loan] wasn't strictly for the company-it wasfor me to eat, too," says Wang. "[Byung] and I would buya big sack of rice, boil it and just drink water."
Starvation was avoided when Wang got through the doors ofdepartment stores and beauty Web sites. After borrowing another$5,000 from her brother for packaging and labels (which Kimdesigned-now he's discovered his calling as an artist), shestarted cold-calling buyers. One Nordstrom buyer said yesimmediately after applying Aqua Dessa's Green Tea Mask to herskin.
With her 100 percent natural- and organic-ingredients approach,Wang has landed Aqua Dessa on gigantic sites like beautyjungle.comas well as in specialty stores, including Sephora and Nordstrom.Earlier this year, a spa corporation offered her about $1.3 millionfor 100 percent interest in her company. But knowing that others inher position (like Hard Candy's Dineh Mohajer) have earned wellinto the multimillions from corporate buyouts, Wang feels AquaDessa's worth more-plus, it's her "baby."
Says Wang, "It's a shame a lot of products don'thave much integrity. That's what I want Aqua Dessa to be knownfor."
Test It Out
What do buyers look for in a skin-care product? Cheri Botiz,cosmetic product market buyer for Southern California and ArizonaNordstrom stores, says she might test a product on her hand, butshe primarily looks for uniqueness. "I would tell newcompanies to make sure they have a point of difference [in their]ingredients and packaging, and a marketing plan in place to helpthe product," she says. "A lot of vendors just createproducts and think 'I'll just present it, and becauseit's an excellent product, it'll sell.' "
Botiz stresses that your packaging and ingredient approachshould depend on your target market. Mass-market audiences mostlikely won't know or care about obscure wonder-ingredients butwill notice brighter packaging. A higher-end audience (which iswhat Wang is aiming for-she's already turned down a hugedepartment store chain because it was mass-retail) probably prefersa classier look and special ingredients.
Contact Source
- Aqua Dessa, (800) 418-2658, www.aquadessa.com
