At Addo Aesthetics, we’re firm believers that it’s never too late to take action on a dream and that you wouldn’t have that dream if you couldn’t make it a reality.
So, if you’re an aesthetic professional who has ever dreamed of crafting a brand of signature products, this episode with Anthony Standifer of mSEED Group is a must-listen!
With over 25 years of experience working within the beauty and personal care industries on both the corporate and entrepreneurial side, Anthony brings a unique blend of skills and insights that help beauty founders build and scale profitable brands in today’s competitive landscape.
And as one of the Founding Partners and Chief Marketing Officer of mSEED group, a manufacturing company that provides product formulation, contract manufacturing, and brand development to smaller-scale beauty brand founders, Anthony works to translate the tried-and-tested tactics of multinational corporations into the start-up space so you can be successful before your product ever hits shelves.
What you’ll learn during this episode:
- How to get your signature products off the ground as a self-funded product creator
- The mSEED Group’s mission and how they work with aesthetic professionals to bring their product dreams into a reality by lowering the cost of entry to crafting your brand
- The importance of packaging and how to analyze elements of packaging when you’re just starting with crafting your signature product line
- What to expect when working with a group like mSEED, and how to set yourself up for a successful launch before you even get your inventory
Resources Mentioned in Episode #423: Developing and Launching Your Spa’s Signature Products with Anthony Standifer of The mSEED group
- Learn more about mSEED Group on their website
- Follow mSEED group on Instagram
- Connect with Anthony on Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn
- Listen to our past episode mentioned with Jamie Kern Lima – Episode 211: Going from Underestimated to Unstoppable
Keep the conversation going inside the Spa Marketing Made Easy Community by clicking here.
IG / @addoaesthetics
WEB / addoaesthetics.com
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LINKEDIN / @addoaesthetics
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ABOUT THE SPA MARKETING MADE EASY HOST
About Your Host, Daniela Woerner
Daniela Woerner is the founder of Growth Factor® Fundamentals, a leading spa association for aesthetic professionals, and the creator of the Growth Factor® Framework—a proven system that has helped 582 six- and seven-figure spa owners scale their businesses with strategy and systems.
With nearly two decades in the aesthetics industry, Daniela has trained alongside top physician-dispensed brands, consulted with leading dermatologists, and helped thousands of spa professionals streamline their operations and maximize profitability.
Her mission? To transform overworked aestheticians into Spa CEOs—building a business and life they love with the strategic systems needed for long-term financial growth.
As the host of the Spa Marketing Made Easy podcast, Daniela brings expert insights, real-world strategies, and in-depth conversations to help spa owners elevate their marketing, optimize their operations, and create sustainable success. With over 400 published episodes, 1 million+ downloads, and a ranking in the top 1% of all podcasts worldwide, Spa Marketing Made Easy is the go-to resource for spa and aesthetic professionals looking to level up.
Tune in each week for actionable strategies, expert interviews, and inspiration to help you build a thriving, systemized, and scalable spa business!
PODCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Welcome to Spa Marketing Made Easy, a podcast for spa owners who want to step up their leadership and business skills and step into the role as spa CEO. I’m your host. Daniela Woerner, CEO of Addo Aesthetics and founder of the Growth Factor Framework® Program, where we teach, coach and guide spa owners in scaling their spas to the next level of growth and unlocking freedom in their life and their business. I’m so glad you’re here now. Let’s dive into the show. Well, hello, my dears, so happy to be here with you today on the spa marketing Made Easy podcast. We have a great episode. I am joined by Anthony Standifer, who is the co founder of mSEED, which is a manufacturer whose work spans product formulation, contract manufacturing and brand development. So what does that mean? This is not simply finding a private label company and slapping your label on it. It’s actually going to the next level, where you have the ability to customize and even own your own formulation. So really, really cool expansion possibility, new vertical for those of you that are really into E Comm, those of you that are potentially interested in creating something to go direct to consumer, Anthony really opened up, shared so generously with his decades of experience in the industry. I learned a ton. I hope you enjoyed this episode. It was a really fun one to record. Anthony, welcome to the Spa Marketing Made Easy Podcast. I am so excited to have you here. I think this is going to be such an eye opening conversation for so many of our listeners to really get them thinking outside of the box of what is possible for them with the skill set that they have. What are the other verticals? What are the other ways that they can be making money in their business and kind of adjacent to their business.
Awesome. Well, thank you. Daniela, I’m excited to be here, and this is going to be a great conversation and hopefully informative for the folks that are listening and watching. Yes,so to give everybody just kind of a background of who you are, I know you’ve got 24 years of experience in our industry, but tell us a little bit about kind of how you started in our space. What were you doing, and then what brought you to founding mseeds
Gotcha. Yeah. So I’ve been extremely fortunate to have found the beauty industry early in my adult career. So my second job out of out of undergrad, I got hired as a junior marketer for a small, family owned brand here in the Chicago area where I’m born and raised, and I started on the marketing and brand management side of things within that, one of my first brands that I managed was the company, salon professional brand, which has since defunct. But it was amazing experience.
And so I went, I think, in the context of my experience, I went from starting to two weeks later going to a very large hair show in Atlanta, the Bronner brother hair show. And it was like magic for a then 22 year old Anthony to say, like, wow, these people are extravagant and so but it started my really love and appreciation of the beauty space and of supporting both consumers and professionals in the in the market. And so I spent 14 years working in corporate America for a lot of big companies, most of the time. I think eight of those 14 I worked in different divisions of Revlon on several of their consumer brands and some professional brands as well.
And then just a little bit over 10 years ago, at the last place that I was employed, I met a woman, her name is Erica Douglas, who was my co worker at the time, and was the cosmetic chemist inside of the company that we were both working in. And she had an idea, and that idea was she’d left the company, and then shared with me, after she left, that she had this idea for a company, and the The goal was to support small businesses entering into the beauty and personal care space across hair care and skin care and personal care. And I thought it was an amazing concept, because what I did know is most of the companies that I worked for had huge manufacturing facilities that were associated with them. In some cases they did, like most people didn’t know at the time, and still true today, that Revlon will actually manufacture for other companies, and so they have contract manufacturing as a part of their their business model. But the complexities of doing business in that environment are oftentimes a barrier for new entrepreneurs, and it is assumed that you’ve got to have six figures of revenue in order to start a brand. And while that’s true for most, it shouldn’t be true for all. And so MC group was formed with the ethos of lowering the barrier entry for both custom product of. Development, as well as for small batch manufacturing.
And so we’ve been super fortunate over the last 10 years now to have supported roughly 250 or so entrepreneurs at various scales, whether they’re newbies just starting with ideas like in the market for one or two years and trying to figure out how to grow, or a few established brands that are doing some pretty incredible things.
That’s amazing. I know we had Jamie Kern Lima on the podcast, and she’s the founder of IT Cosmetics, and it was such an eye opening thing when we had her on, because she it was like, how did she start this brand herself as like, in her living room, and, you know, got down to her last $1,000 before she got onto QVC and all of this. And it really just having that conversation with her made it seem possible for so many other people, because she started just like us and as a very small consumer, and then ended up getting purchased by L’Oreal for 1.2 billion. So it shows there’s, you know, her alone is proof of concept that with the right ingredients and work and marketing, you can really let a brand take off. You don’t have to be those companies that you know have $100,000 to invest on an idea. Right off the bat, correct?
I see so many aestheticians, nurses, practice owners that are so passionate about ingredients and what they want to create and what they need specifically for their patient and for us here in in the spa world were mostly exposed to traditional private label. So you can go to a manufacturer, you can get there already done. The packaging is done, the formulations are done. You just put your label on it and then sell it. And there’s a lot of interest in that. There’s better profit margins. And and you guys do that as well, from what I understand, but you also have the opportunity. You can help work with the product formulation and the the your customer can actually own that product if they choose that particular package, which really is a big differentiator from other private label companies, yeah.
And so for us, we we anchor ourselves primarily as we were starting the company. The thing that we did not want to be was this company that just has a vat of moisturizers and serums and hair care products sitting in drums in the back, and we’re just pumping them into bottles and jars and shipping them out. It was super important for us that these brilliant entrepreneurs that we were engaging with have the ability to have custom formulations.
And so even in today’s environment, while I do some private label the majority of my customers, like 90% are actually dealing with customized formulas today, 2025 and our current ecosystem. And so we do this model where even within stock formulas that we have, and so if you’re looking for specific product, again, our goal is to lower the cost of entry for most entrepreneurs to get into the market. Because our belief is that the real magic is when you’re on the field selling product to consumers or to clients. And so the idea shouldn’t be that you need a 250 $250,000 just to vet an idea. And so for us, when people come and they want to develop products, we find out, well, what is the profile of the product that they’re looking for? We then provide them with that profile with what the formulation cost will be.
Now that can be as little as $3,000 that could be as much as $15,000 depending on the type of product that you’re looking to put into the marketplace and what features and claims you want to be able to make with that sometimes a $15,000 price tag is a Whoa, sticker shock for a bootstrapped entrepreneur that is self funding an idea at that point. And so we offer them products at a smaller scale, or, excuse me, at a smaller price point, where you can take one of our stock formulas and you can add some customizations to it, but essentially, the base of the formula has already been has already been developed, has already been tested and validated to be effective, and then you have the ability to come in as a brand owner and then add the uniqueness that you want in terms of marketing story. What’s a little known fact inside of the beauty space is that in many cases, the things that people are marketing as the bells and whistles of a product are usually not added at significant amounts. There are some exceptions to that, but when we talk about ingredients specifically and unique things, there can be some variances there.
And so our goal was to support, you know, the entrepreneur that was doing that. So there is the stock formula option, and then there is the custom formula that then says, like, Let’s build it from the ground up and make sure that you’ve got something that really, really works for. You and will deliver and stand in alignment with how you’re positioning your brand. And both options exist in our universe, and it’s really, really important for us to be able to make that distinction and to make that offering available to our customer base. In addition to not having to buy 20,000 units or 10,000 units as a starting point. MC group has also been a place where people can come and start with 1000 units, or 2500 units, to really validate their concept. And then as they scale up, they get distribution. Multiple chains are taking it. Whatever the pathway forward is. I’m also happy to make 100,000 units of the same something as your as your brand, scales in the market.So what is the the kind of scope of products that you’re manufacturing? So are we looking at when we’re talking about skincare specifically? Are we talking about cleansers, serums, moisturizers? Are you additionally doing, like chemical peels or body products. What kind of Yeah,so for us, we’re doing most things that are liquid or cream, with some exceptions in today’s landscape. So for instance, I don’t do FDA regulated products in terms of pharmaceutical grade products, because they have a different set of requirements that are that are mandated by the government in order for us to formulate and produce it. But on the skin and body side, I’ve got the ability to do the foundational basics in terms of body washes, cleansers, moisturizers. We can do exfoliating agents in terms of depending on the format, if we can get them into a liquid cream or gel format, serums, moisturizers, what am I forgetting? I feel like I’m forgetting something.
Oh, body products. Big part. Did you say cleansers? Yes,cleansers, yes. So we can do cleansers and moisturizers, so all of the foundational things that are there. It gets a bit trickier.
I do have clients who then come in that are looking for very specific things that perhaps are outside of our purview, and then we’ve got partner organizations that we and partner manufacturers that we send them to. So my goal again, is to lower the cost of entry and lower the barrier of entry. And so if you come to me with an amazing idea and I’m not able to fulfill that, then I’m happy to then refer you to another qualified manufacturer that can do that. And we do have customers who do business, both with our company as well as with other companies. And so it’s not uncommon, particularly as a brand scales, to have multiple manufacturers, multiple formulators, that are working on on your behalf. And so we’re happy to play, you know, our role on the team as entrepreneurs are out entrepreneuring and making things happen.So can we that that what was coming up in my mind was packaging, because when COVID happened, and there were so many that were pivoting into the E com space and private label and all of these types of things, they were loving this formulation from this place, and this formulation from this other place. And the issue was this consistent packaging was not happening. And that was, that was a real challenge.
So how does it work with your company or your partners? Do you are you guys giving the products in the big gallons and then packaging is done themselves? Are they in the actual bottles. How does that work? So we’re,we’re a turnkey manufacturer, and so within that scope, we provide finished product to our customer base so that they can then go either execute on services or sell directly to their their retail customers. And so we want people focused on sales and marketing and not like, where’s the bottle or where are the labels that go along with this unique with this unique product. And so for us, we go out and we work with a dozens of packaging suppliers to come up with the format, whether those are salon sizes and larger formats or smaller formats that can be delivered and either used in service or sold directly to the to the consumer. What makes it interesting? You’re correct. I call 2020 and 21 The Hunger Games period, because we literally scavenged for packaging everywhere here in the US internationally, and it became a significant challenge.
But here was what was interesting in that is by force we had to make, we had to say the brand owners, you’ve got to make some pivotal decisions when supply is so low right now, do you want to sell product in the standard format, or do you want to make an exception during this global crisis to then do alternative formats in terms of packaging, so that you can still deliver what’s in the packaging to your end customer. And so it was a, you know, very not ideal situation, but it was the thing that we did, like most other brands, and we made tweaks and variations.
So people who traditionally had, like, pink caps, now we’re doing Black Caps. And I was like, but the product is the same, and the customers, if you communicate with them in.
The middle of this global crisis, will understand that, hey, I’m still able to get product and get delivered in the in the same format. So for us, packaging is a part of the process. When you come in to work with us, we start talking about, what do you want your product to do, and what the performance is that is conversation number one, and then conversation number two is then, well, what is the format that you want to deliver that packaging in. It gets really interesting when we start talking about, like, customization of packaging and the minimum order quantities that come along with that. Most of my customers come in and they have an idea and the packaging formats that they’re looking for, you know, usually have some sort of unique, ornate or customized format.
And I go, great, as long as you’re prepared to buy 10,000 units of that from a US supplier or a Chinese supplier, then we’re, I’m happy to go and procure it. But the minimum order quantities to do truly customized, innovative, never before seen packaging comes with a with a hefty, minimal order quantity. And if you can financially support that, then it’s a great way to go into the market with, you know, differentiated packaging. But here’s the thing, and this is a sometimes controversial stance, I’m of the opinion, particularly on the professional side of the business, with professionals, is that packaging is less of a less of a decision making factor for making a purchase, if you’re delivering a great service to Me and you’re a source that I trust, I believe most customers don’t care what format is.
I think you can actually go with more standard formatted packaging and still have an amazing business. Rather than going for the uniquely shaped double walled glass jar, go with a thing that is that is standard and that is accessible in massive quantities because managing the supply chain. Even today, when we talk 2025 we’re dealing with the issue of what are tariffs look like in terms of bringing in products from from other countries at this point, and if I’m sourcing your packaging from Asia or from Mexico or some other country. We’re now dealing with a cost implication that is going to be significant. And while we can do those same packaging formats in the US, we’re also now finding that there is a supply and demand issue where US suppliers are already higher than sourcing from from overseas. Well now that supply is going up, these same manufacturers are saying, okay, great.
Supply is is growing. I can actually take my prices up even more. And so as business owners, we are constantly playing this economic game of, how can we keep our costs lower reasonable? But these external factors that are beyond our control are then impacting us, and we now have to make really interesting decisions about what we want to do. And so if you’re a new business owner, just recognize that business ownership is all about a series of decisions and concessions in many instances, but keeping your eye on the goal of like I got to get in market and deliver this product, or deliver the value of this product.
There’s multiple ways to do that, but just recognize that packaging is one of those things that in today’s landscape is very, very relevant, and there’s things that are beyond both of our control. So being willing to negotiate and make compromise is, fortunately part of the process, because the unfortunate part would be, it’s not available. I can’t do it, so I just abort the brand completely. And that’s a that’s a tragedy, in my opinion.So you MC, your company also helps with consulting and business development. Your expertise and your experience has been bringing brands to mass market, so getting them into targets. Is it like Sephora Ulta? Something Correct?
Okay, most of my experience has been in the mass retailer. Some of it has been within salon, professional chains of distribution. But honestly, across this 25 year career, most has been direct to consumer, recognizing that the professional has a unique channel of distribution, and there’s expertise that comes along with that. So I always caveat in areas where I’m not like 100% subject matter expert, that I’ve got an opinion and some limited experience, but there are people who live and breathe that world that should be counseled and taken and their perspective should be taken into consideration. If you’re wondering, like, hey, how do I expand in this very specific, unique channel of distribution?
Yeah,I know there’s a lot of spa owners who want to create a separate vertical. So there’s, you know, one aspect of, here’s what I do in my spa. This is my professional brand, or this is my name brand. You know, we’ve seen some celebrity aestheticians out there that are kind of creating their product, but they are where, traditionally, in Spa, the perception, or the the kind of feeling. Is, we don’t want these things sold on mass market.
We want to we’re consulting with our patients. We are making our recommendations, and kind of what we have in house is a certain level of quality that’s balanced between the expertise and the treatments that we’re doing in the spa with, you know, the home care that we’re sending these, these individuals home with. But there’s also this whole other vertical, where, by being an aesthetician and by being a skincare expert and developing a product, where you have a separate vertical to get into mass market, would be something that you essentially would have a competitive advantage over someone who didn’t. And I love to look at like drunk elephant, or, you know, these different brands where her story, you know, she started in her 40s. And I love that. I love when I hear people that are starting midlife or later in life, to do things that really take off with great success. Because I think it’s never too late to kind of follow on a dream. And I feel like there’s a lot of estheticians who are interested in E Comm, who are interested in this, you know, direct to consumer or mass market type of thing, and that’s an area where you really shine and where you’re you can help them navigate.
How do, how do I even start with that? How do I, how would I even create something that would get into a channel like that?Yeah, so again, as you’re as you’re thinking about this as a business owner and a professional esthetician or doctor, the thing that I would start the conversation is, what is the intention? And so if the intention is, I have a service based business. I’m an esthetician, I’m providing a dermatologist or some other professional and I want to be able to have as much impact as possible within my practice.
If your goal is to make sure that your practice is thriving at the level and the scale that it can then, by all means, stay in that lane and excel in that lane. And I believe that there’s a ton of growth and opportunity that can happen within that model, but recognize you’re not going to be all things to all people then. And so if your desire is like, how do I go beyond the walls of these physical locations or the places where you or your teams actually physically show up and you want to make a footprint in the homes where there isn’t a person? The mass retail is the way to do that. And there’s tons of ways to approach it. I do believe that there’s tons of opportunity of leveraging professional expertise in the mass market. It is a tried and true methodology. I think as we start to look at just how the world is evolving, how technology involves the way that business was done 20 years ago is not the way that it’s going to be done four years from now. And so I know it’s a sticky topic.
When you talk about, like, how do you control and keep, you know, professional, great products out of the hands of the end consumer, because we don’t want them improperly using it. And yes, those are valid concerns, but I believe that the way that the world is moving from media to information to all these other things, it is the democratization of access, and people are going to be getting their hands on all of the things. And so how do you as a business owner maintain a proper ethos? And I, and it gives a great I have a dermatologist who was a client, and so we had a salon Grade Form, or a professional grade formula for him as a dermatologist that he used in his office. He had a two practice office on the east coast. But then he also desired to then move into mass retailer, and started with a direct to consumer e commerce site to leverage his expertise.
Clients flew from all over the country and sometimes the world to see him, and the ability that they didn’t have to come to his office or engage his office to get product, then opened up the landscape. And so if I’m having amazing experience with you, Daniela, and I’m like, oh my god, this is amazing. You’re you’ve cleared all of my issues, and I want to now tell my friend about this and provide them with access to the same things, but they maybe are not able to afford or get to the physical location where your services are being offered. Then it becomes a barrier, and the more barriers that you have, the more constraint you have in the scale of your business.
And so think about it as my only word of caution and advice to a business owner as they start to think about what limitations they want to have on the access to products that they offer and services that they offer to the larger landscape. If I’m in the middle of Kansas and things are just there, but I desire great products, and you’re on the West Coast, how do I. Still have that same experience, or a version of that experience, because it could be with consumer grade formulas in that instance, but it’s still branded around your brand, and then caveat it with the things that it can and cannot do within that specific format. I think there’s a ton of opportunity to be made there.
And so consider those things. It’s, it’s, there’s no easy one way. I know for a fact they’re going to be people that are going to cut the system. And particularly as my younger professionals are coming into the marketplace, they are like, I’m ready to make money. I’m ready to do these other things. And they are moving fast. And so this idea that, Oh, there has to be this separation between the two things, in some cases, from my experience, is not necessarily as rigidly held as it is with folks that are that are my age, that have been in this, this industry for some time, and are really looking to maintain what previously was the standard for salon and professional grade products.
So let’s talk about timeline then. So with your experience of, you know, your 250 plus patient or clients that have come to you. And I’m sure there’s a range, and it, you know, counts on how fast your client can actually have the answers that you need. But what would you say is a typical timeline like, Hey, I’m coming to you, Anthony. I want to have a product. I want it to be direct to consumer. And here’s my ideas from the time that we come up with a formulation, I bring you on for the business development as well. What can I expect as milestones? Is this a one year, a three year, a five year, like what am I looking at in a general range? Yeah. So we tell people the reality is, is that custom formulation takes time, and so be prepared to make that investment of your dollars as well as your time. Six months is a fast timeline. You’ve got a relatively simple product, and we know what we’re doing in terms of, like, the targets that you want to hit, we’re going to formulate against that six months.
We can generally do two to four rounds of revisions, because I’ll put together an initial formulation, send it to you, encourage you to use it yourself, or to use it on patients first, and to give us feedback. And so that’s six months in a fast time. And so those are typically base levels, slightly salon grade or professional grade products that we’re that we’re offering at that point nine months, is the average that we take in terms of being able to do product development. But on the longer side, particularly if there’s the need to see like progressive progress over a specific amount of time with continued use of a product. It can easily be a year and a half.
And so if you give yourself that time to be able to see the progression of what happens and to see it over a specific set of patients, then a year and a half is where I’ve seen brand and brand owners go from the time that we start the project to the time that we say this formula and this packaging is amazing, let’s go into production. Those are the timelines that you can typically, you can typically see, but you’re correct. It is a back and forth.
I always call getting customer and consumer feedback hurting the cats. And so we have an internal communication that’s like, have the cats giving you their feedback on that last round of product that we sent to you, because we know somebody sent an appointment for you, they pushed it out a month, or they pushed it out of two weeks, or they just stopped coming completely. And if they were one of, you know, five people that you were getting feedback from in terms of a product, it poses challenges because, you know, they may be three months into the evaluation process and then disappear or just not be able to participate for any number of life reasons. And so it’s the reason that, when we start talking about that evaluating product, I recommend seven to 10 people as a customer, as a testing base across clients that professionals are using, or consumers in general,and as far as the marketing strategy, website development, launch, all of that, can that be done at the same time? Or we wait? Are we needing the actual obviously, we have to wait to take the photos and all of that type of stuff. But are there other pieces of this project that can be worked on during that development process 1,000% and it is the reason that I encourage people start selling your product before you get a formula, goop in a jar or group in a bottle, and particularly as service providers, it’s the best time to pre engage your intended customer base.
You’re the professional. You’re providing these services as you’re either using them in your practice or encouraging others in other locations or people in your state. Have to do that, like bring them into the journey at some level. Now, you don’t necessarily start day one and then make people wait a year and a half, but certainly, when you feel like, hey, we might be about six months or so out from the actual launch of the product, bring people on that journey with feeding it start.
Oh my god, seed it. Give people like, Hey. This is the intention. This is what we’ve been working on. You know, I spent the last six months, and I think I’m about six months away, I want to bring you on this journey with me. We’re seeing incredible results along the way. A really great launch has pre sales associated with it. So the day that I ship you product, if half of that pre sold, you’re winning. And so that takes a level of consistency and a really strategic effort to do that, because, again, you’re selling something that doesn’t exist, and this idea of instant gratification is delayed.
But the really smart folks who get into this and really follow our process and our system see the value of it, because then those are people who are buying in day one, and those are the people that then will give you great, honest reviews from the onset. They’re also people who are more likely to then re engage you and re purchase products if you’ve got multiple products, if they try a small selection, they’re more likely to then try other products in your collection on a second and third buy. And so the idea of bringing people along on this journey is such a great, smart money wise decision to do and to execute on from the very, very beginning, before you ever have a product in hand. And do you recommend starting with one SKU, or are we starting with three? You know, what is the because that’s another thing too, right?
Like, there’s, it always evolves. It always evolves. So I it depends on budget, and so that’s what I what I tell folks. And it’s funny, you mentioned I had an esthetician who I was like, I think you should probably bring this. She started with, like, five products. And I was like, wow, that’s a lot to start with,but not for us. I mean, it’s like exactly it was like, yes, no, you’ve got to have follow the system. And it’s the pre system, it’s the thing, and it’s the post.
And I was like, okay, but launching and just the physicality of getting feedback from the consumer base is just when it’s done well, is a tedious process, and so I encourage folks, like, if you can do it in one to three products as a starting point, it’s so much easier. Because the hard part that I also advise is, like, the product development is a lengthy process, but it really isn’t the hardest part of the brand journey. The hardest part of the brand journey is actually selling product and selling product at scale, and understanding that you’re spending all of this money and then you’re getting, like drips of money in at a time as you’re selling product. And so managing cash as a business owner is is really where the hard part is.
And so minimize your exposure, I get it seven steps is really what’s going to deliver the best results. But if you can start with the two and really say, like, wow, this is making an incremental difference in my skincare and my body care routine, then I think you then position yourself on a second round to then do three or four more products. But I get the temptation, because the way that we’ve been structured and trained is that it’s systems, but I’ve seen folks do some pretty incredible things. I had a customer who did a spot removal product that was a single product.
She did an excellent job of engaging and really delivering and just talking about a single topic for like, a year and a half, and then when she came out with like, two or three other products after that, like her pre sales were amazing, because she had an instant credibility as somebody that with a single product, could deliver the kind of results that people expected. And I think there’s also ways that we can incorporate products to, you know, really boost our bottom line help with the profit. Because, as you were saying before, our cost as business owners have gone up tremendously, inflation, like you know, all, all of the things have gone up. And so we’re looking at ways that we can make more revenue. So when we have even, like an oil that we use to Derma plane with or a body lotion that has a signature scent from our spa. It doesn’t have to be this insane, you know, formulation that is totally breaking ground of something brand new. It can be something that’s an extension of your brand that helps the person think of your spa and feel your spa when they’re at home. And that’s probably going to be less expensive and less time consuming to manufacture on that first go round, as you’re kind of getting your feet wet and understanding the process. Yeah, and so great. Great, great point and so, and that’s where for us and my manufacturing environment, I then say, hey, why don’t we consider maybe a stock formula that we then do some customizations around? So let’s add, you know, some key ingredients. Let’s add your signature fragrance. I’ve had a spa owner who did that, and again, her challenge was she’s like, Hey, my employees will use everything that I provide to them. They are horrible at selling everything that I recommend. They sell to our customers as they come to receive services. And so she wanted to do a massage lotion for not to have it as a gel or as an oil, but to have it as a viscous moisturizing lotion. And that was part of the service that they offered. And so we put together a great formula. And so then she had the, you know, the formulation was not the hard part, and that was the part that I said, Hey, I can help you and move you forward quickly there, but getting and setting the systems, the structures and the incentives to get each one of your massage reps to then sell this to somebody that’s received a service for them, I said that’s a little bit harder to do for me, and so it became really great point of entry for her to experience it without having to wait. Because in that instance, it wasn’t a year and a half of product development, it was, you know, a six month time frame that we were able to pull things together, maybe even a bit less, because, again, she went with a formula base that already delivered, and we just customized and tweaked that formula so that it was in alignment with, with her, with her business, specifically.And so that’s lowering her back bar cost Absolutely, and creating a more elevated experience, because it’s branded. It’s, you know, making it more unique. So there’s, there’s so much that you can do, if you really think about, you know, like you were saying, what is the intention, what is the focus that we want to do with this? And you don’t have to go in and create your entire line right off the bat. You can come in and think about, how do I create an elevated brand experience? How do I start with something and kind of go from there? I love that. No, it’s amazing.
It’s amazing. Anything else you want to add to, you know, questions that I’m not asking about this topic, because it’s so fascinating. I know there’s, there’s so much, but, you know, I feel like we covered a lot, but I don’t know.
No, this is great. You know, the only other thing that I that I encourage folks, Daniela, is that, if you’re thinking about it, do it. And now that’s a very Anthony thing to say in terms of just get in motion to making it happen. But I, the one thing that I consistently see across the board as I talk to business owners is this overthinking of a concept or overthinking of a thing? We always say action creates clarity. So oh my gosh, 1,000% yes, that is amazing. Action creates clarity. So I’m gonna borrow that. I will credit you. Go for it. No, borrow it, take it. And it’s so true, because in many instances, as particularly as professionals and people that are already in business and, you know, we’ve got life experience. We’ve been burned.
We’ve, you know, had failures and things that didn’t go well. The product entry space does not have to be a space that you spend three years thinking about an idea like, if it’s really sitting on your shoulder and has been there for some time, get in motion to make that thing happen. And this is the part where we talk about the concessions. You know, maybe you do have this idea for this amazing nine step system that then cures all and does all for the face and the body. Well, that’s the ending point, potentially, or the middle point for you, like, you can start with two products and then make that journey part of your process. But you know, we I say that we oftentimes think our way out of a good time, because we are just constantly in our head about like, this is all the things that couldn’t work. These are the things and maybe this and maybe that. And I find it incredible.
Every business owner that I know has talked about the lessons that they learned for questions they didn’t even know to ask at the beginning of the process. And so I believe that there this entrepreneurial journey is really a process of learning and experience, and those things happen together as you have the experience, you get the learnings. But if we are conceptualizing and ideating all the time, then it you know, you hamster wheel we’re stacking,yeah,no, I love that. So we’ll include all your links under the show. But where is the best place where you hang out the most? Where can people connect with you?
So I hang out the most on social media, uh, Instagram and LinkedIn.
So if you’re in both of those places, the Anthony Standifer, the Anthony Standifer, I’m in both places. Anthony standif on LinkedIn, but for you folks that want to take a look at my content, I’m happy to answer questions in DMS again, in places where I have time I am a person who I. Probably spends too much time on social media. It is my, you know, mindful or mindless thing to do is scrolling through the social media. So I’m like, literally on LinkedIn, just looking at videos, and then I’m like, oh, there’s a message. Let me answer it. Oh, yes, that’s right. I do have this lovely deliverable that was is due in an hour. Let me go back and focus on it. So you’re a welcome distraction for me in my inbox or in the comment sections of postings that I’m making. So I welcome questions. Again, information should not be, you know, hoarded. So I share as much as as possible.
And when there’s times where I can’t share, then I say, Hey, this is something that I don’t have expertise in, or it’s going to take a longer time to answer. But again, getting you and getting people the information that they need to make decisions so that they get an action is something that I’m super, super focused on. Well, hey, thank you for this interview. I mean, this was really great. Answered tons of questions, and I I do really hope, you know, we want that action to create clarity, but I hope that this episode really gets people thinking about what is possible for them and really opening their mind and expanding their mind to different ways that they can create revenue in their business or adjacent to their business, different things that they can do with their unique skill set. So I really appreciate your time and energy. It was really fun conversation. Thank you so much. Daniela.
