2016 was the best and worst year of my life.
I changed careers and started this company. I finally confronted my substance abuse problems and PTSD and went to rehab. I got married and went to Thailand on my honeymoon. I lost nearly 30 pounds. And most importantly, I grew mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
I am a different person on January 2, 2017 than I was on January 2, 2016.
I am a fan of numerology. And it’s apropos that 2016 was a “9” year collectively. Nines embody the energy of completion. I was wrapping up an old chapter and getting ready to start a new one. 2017 is a “1” year, which, you guessed it, signifies beginnings.
This will be our first FULL year in business, so I want to be strategic and intentional about how we grow – and about how we serve you, our dear customers.
Here are our New Year Resolutions.
Delight Our Customers
Our customers are everything to us. We love you so hard.
From the beginning, we have made it a goal to provide delightful customer experiences. For awhile, I was dropping hand-written notes into each order. I starting including Inspiration or Oracle Cards into each package. We experimented with sending organic teas, teeny tiny crystals, and other gifts. I worked to add personal little touches to each mailer. I shipped orders almost as soon as they came in. That is…until we grew and it became clear that we needed a concrete process.
We’ve worked out the kinks and have our packaging and order fulfillment down to a science. You still get the inspirational messages with each order and beautiful packaging. And we ship 3 days a week to make sure you get our orders lightning fast.
But we knew the best way to delight our customers was to create better packaging.
When it was just me, it was difficult to do more than simply slap a sticker on a bottle and be done. Making custom labels was time consuming and expensive – and clearly not in my zone of genius. But I knew that each product (we had over 50!) needed to have its own label with ingredients clearly listed and instructions for use.
I also know that people just love pretty things!
Especially with skincare and cosmetics – women especially want a bottle or jar that makes their eyes light up – something that looks pretty on a vanity table or in a bathroom.
So we have invested in giving our customers just that. We want the outside of the package to match the goodness inside. We hope you’ll love our new look.
Educate the Market
We want From Molly With Love to be so much more than just a skincare brand. We want it to be a movement.
Our #1 focus this year will be to educate the market about the toxic and harmful chemicals lurking on the shelves of our favorite stores.
I was having lunch with a friend last month. This friend has a 1-year-old son. And she told me that she wasn’t quite prepared for just how much she would worry about him. She said that she was consumed with fear and guilt most days. Is she feeding him the right food? Is that diaper rash cream going to hurt him? Is something bad going to happen to him?
If you’re a mother, you can probably relate.
She was angry and frustrated that it’s so hard to make the right choices for her son. That’s why I want to help you know which cosmetics ingredients to avoid so you can make safer choices. We know it’s overwhelming to know which things are harming and which are helping. So we want to help demystify that.
We want to raise awareness about the dangers of toxic ingredients to the masses so that, together, we can create change.
In order to do that, we are investing in content marketing and public relations. Yes – one goal is to grow the business. But the other – and most important goal of these efforts – is to educate our customers so they can make safer choices and vote with their dollars.
>>Download & print our FREE toxin-free cosmetics guide
Grow and Scale Rapidly
Speaking of growth…
It is our mission to get safe and healthy skin care products in the hands of as many people as possible. Our big vision is to be on the shelves of major retailers so you have a safe option at your fingertips whenever you want it.
In order to do that we must grow. In order to grow, we need funding. In order to get funding, you must show that you’ve been able to grow the business on your own.
Growth = traction. Traction = funding. Funding = being able to serve more people and help them live happier and healthier lives.
In our first 4 months in business, we grew 1200%! Future growth at that rate isn’t sustainable – but we have ambitious goals regardless. You might laugh at me. But I think we’re going to grow 700% in 2017.
Continuously Improve Products thru Better Sourcing
Now that we’ve reached a certain volume of orders, we’ve started purchasing in bulk. As we grow and have more flexibility with purchasing & man power, we plan to ensure that we’re able to source the highest-quality ingredients at a price that still enables us to make a healthy profit. We also strive to source from other small businesses who have eco-friendly practices as much as we possibly can.
There’s nothing wrong with the way we currently source. As the “end user,” you’re getting top notch products today. But I think we can do even better.
OK – now over to you. What are your New Year Resolutions?
