Latest / Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast) / The Secret Skincare hit $1M in sales in 6 months, here’s how Dr Clara Hurst’s won the beauty game (Part 1)

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The Secret Skincare hit $1M in sales in 6 months, here’s how Dr Clara Hurst’s won the beauty game (Part 1) · Imagine If with Doone Roisin | Health, Wealth & Wisdom for Women (formerly Female Startup Club Podcast)

• 0:00
  This is Dr. Clara Hurst for Female Startup Club.
• 0:13
  Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the show. It's Dune here, your host and hype girl. If you are a small business owner or an entrepreneur listening into this episode, we have an amazing entrepreneur joining us today, Dr. Clara Hurst, who's coming on the show to share the founding story of her brand, The Secret Skincare.
• 0:34
  We're covering how she accidentally stumbled across a huge opportunity in the Australian market, why it's rapidly growing across the country and also internationally, and some great insight into why they've had such success.
• 0:49
  And we've also got some real gems sprinkled in about R&D tax credits and grants and even a tip on how to make sure you've got the best product available on the market. Before we get into it, I'm just going to quickly mention the girl code. If you missed it in our last few episodes, I'm bringing in a very casual code here that if you love our episodes and you learn something or you feel inspired or you get a smile across your face from hearing these brilliant stories,
• 1:19
  I'm asking that you take a tiny action that helps us in return. It can be something small, just like a podcast review or sharing something on social media or even just sending it in a text message to a friend. All these tiny actions are so critical to indie podcasters like me because it's bloody tough out here and I need my hype girls to keep the wheels moving. To everyone who already does this,
• 1:46
  I see you. I appreciate you more than you could possibly know. All right, let's get into today's episode. This is Dr. Clara Hurst for Female Startup Club.
• 1:59
  Clara, welcome to the Female Startup Club podcast. Thank you for having me. It's such an honor to be here with you today. I'm so excited to be chatting with someone in Perth. Do you have any wins or oh shit moments that you want to share from today? From today already? Well, a win is being here with you today and just challenging myself to do things outside my comfort zone. I feel very happy about that. Yeah.
• 2:25
  Any losses to date? Not yet. It's been a good day so far. It's always a rollercoaster. You want to know what's so funny? A few weeks ago, and this is going to loop back to you and the secret skincare. So a few weeks ago, I did Derma Milan and I had my freckles removed. So my kind of girl group
• 2:45
  WhatsApp chat has just been like firing on the skincare front and we've been talking about all these things, blah, blah, blah. And I used to live in London and I used to go to fire clinic on Harley Street. And so my best friend, she goes there too. And so she was there and we were on the phone while she was having an appointment with Sarah. And for some reason we started talking about skincare and like what Sarah recommended and –
• 3:06
  Beck, my best friend, had been talking about the fact that I'd removed my freckles and like, we're all kind of like chatting at the same time while she's at this appointment. And then Sarah was like, oh my God, the best skincare, you know, that's come out of Australia is this brand called The Secret Skincare. And then we're all chatting about it in the group. And Beck's basically like, okay, cool. I'm going to try. I'm going to order it, whatever. And then I was like, yeah, that brand sounds really familiar. And then I got home and I was looking at my kind of
• 3:33
  my diary my calendar and I was like I'm actually interviewing the founder of the secret skincare this is such weird timing and it was just such a weird moment of like that is such a small world moment it really is but um but I'm very happy to hear that and yeah the five clinics the best clinic in in the UK uh led by the best people is that where you worked when you lived there
• 3:55
  I didn't, no, but it's actually one of my friends that owns it. And he is the leading cosmetic doctor in the UK, and one of the leading doctors in the world. And Sarah, who your friend spoke to, is just a top clinician. She's an aesthetics nurse, and she's at the top of her game as well. So I went over there recently and trained the team in the Secret Skincare, and they were all so excited because I used to work in the UK. So I kind of know how the industry works over there.
• 4:24
  And that's kind of what started me off. So I knew what challenges all the clinicians are facing over there and how to improve those challenges and find solutions. And that's, yeah, that's why we're here. Oh, my gosh. So I used to go to Phi Clinic. I lived in the UK for the last eight years. And Sarah was also who I would go and see too. And so all of my group of girlfriends, one at a time, we'd be like, so this is who we're going to see. And then the next one would be like, hey, that's who I'm going to go see. And we all started going there. But I didn't know they were the leading clinic. That's so great.
• 4:53
  They are. And Dr. Tapan is an amazing doctor. So he owns the clinic, leads the clinic. And then also, interestingly, one of my nurses at my clinic here used to work at Viaclinic. Oh, my gosh. Wow. Sam Naki. She used to be a nurse there. And then when she wanted to move to Australia, I found her a job in my clinic. Wow.
• 5:14
  That is so cool. Wow. Shout out to Phi Clinic. Small world. Small world out there. It is. I want to go back to kind of the beginning of your story. I mean, you were obviously living in London. I'd love to kind of get to this point of how you decided to come to Australia and start a clinic here. Okay. So I already was running a business and my clinic in the UK prior to that. I first trained in injectables. Yeah.
• 5:41
  almost 17 years ago and have been doing it since. And after I had my first child, so I'd lived in Australia previously for a short time. And then I had my first child in 2012 and she was a micro preemie. She was a one pound baby and she was born, uh,
• 6:00
  five months when I was finally pregnant. So we had a lot of difficulties with that and challenges with that. And when we came through, we decided that Australia would probably be a better climate and better lifestyle for us and for our baby. So we decided to move here with...
• 6:16
  no expectations and no, I mean, you know, I didn't have a job or anything. I had worked here before. And so, yeah, I moved here, took some time to be with my baby, had another baby, and eventually kind of got back to, what do I want to do? And do I want to continue my career in that? You know, I always worked, but I want to do something more. So I kept things going, but then it got to a point where,
• 6:44
  I wanted to do my own thing and launch my own clinic. So actually what happened is I had almost a newborn baby and a four-year-old and decided that would be an amazing time to open my own clinic and launch a skincare business at the same time and build a house and build a clinic. So it was a bit of a hectic time, but you know what? Just get it all done at the same time. Why not? It actually worked out fine. So the reason why I...
• 7:13
  opened the clinic was because there was no local clinics that I wanted to go to that I felt like they were amazing and I was really thrilled to go there and they were offering all the treatments that I thought were the best and I thought well if no one else is doing it I'll do it. And so what made you think I'm also going to launch the product range at the same time did you say?
• 7:35
  Coincidence, it was not expected. It was not intentional. So what happened is back in the UK, I used to prescribe a lot of prescription skincare in my clinic over there, really successfully for... Is that like Abagi and stuff like that? Abagi, yeah. So I used to prescribe Abagi for, I don't know, 12 years to my patients and had really good success. The results, I don't know if you used it, but the results were incredible. And...
• 8:04
  There was nothing better than that. But it had its challenges. So when I moved to Australia, I decided, well, I'll use Avajin in my patients here. And as it turns out, the distribution was really difficult here in Australia and I just couldn't find a way around it. And I thought, wow, you know, somebody needs to be doing this. So I went to my pharmacist and I said, how do I get around it? How do I get these products here or...
• 8:27
  kind of similar products. And she actually said to me, look, there's actually a doctor that works up the road who's doing really similar things to you, prescribing really similar products to her patients and who has an interest in, you know, cosmetic dermatology and women's health. So why don't you meet with her and see where you're both at?
• 8:44
  So sure enough, I met Deb and she literally works at the end of my street. And I've never met her. Yeah, she works at the medical center at the end of my street. So we had a coffee and we kind of stayed and chatted for a couple of hours and realized that, hey, we are actually doing like solving similar problems slightly differently. Why don't we combine forces and do something really cool and combine your experience and my experience and make something better than what's out there? And again, solving the problem. There is nothing else.
• 9:12
  available that we'd want to use. So why don't we make it? And so kind of the secret was born, but it wasn't born. The secret was born like just this one cream. And actually, initially you had to come to either, well, actually you had to come to my clinic to get it. So you'd come in and then we'd prescribe it for you. And then you'd come a week later and pick it up.
• 9:33
  And that was it. We had one product, which we knew worked, which is, again, essentially all the combination of really potent, effective ingredients that we knew really worked, that we'd use for years and years, but into one jar. Because the problem with other systems, as you probably know, is that they're multi-step. You do four steps in the morning, four steps at night. You have to go to bed 20 minutes early to do your skincare. It's expensive. I'm in that routine right now. Yeah. You don't know how much you have to use. As a lazy beauty girl.
• 10:01
  oh, I'm too lazy. And, you know, we're busy and most women have got other things better to do. And also your results can vary depending on how much you're using. And it's just too many variables. And we wanted to smooth all that out. So we wanted one cream that did everything that you put on and you went to bed and you woke up and you looked amazing. So we made one cream, which was our hero product, which is still is our hero product. And yeah, it was literally just available to our clients.
• 10:31
  local patients and so what happened is that people started talking and people started showing up with amazing skin so their friends would say hey you know you look great what's your secret or you know they'd say was it called the secret at this point no it wasn't called anything and then um it was called dr clara dr devs cream it didn't happen
• 10:52
  So then people were saying, you know, it's a secret and all that kind of stuff. And then the press wrote an article and it was called The Secret of the Western Suburbs and How Come Women Are Looking So Great and la, la, la. And so we thought, hey, you know, we might have business here. Why don't we like launch into the real thing and call it The Secret? And so The Secret was born. That is so cool how it's kind of come about in this really –
• 11:19
  organic, almost accidental way. Did you have to go through a lot of R&D to get to the formula? Yes, we did. We did. What was the kind of time, investment and process in that? Okay. So the challenges were around the actual ingredients that we use have been proven already.
• 11:41
  clinically proven for decades. They've been around for decades and we know their efficacy, we know their safety profile, we know everything. There are hundreds of clinical studies. So the ingredients themselves weren't in question or their efficacy. It was more of how do we combine them and
• 11:57
  make them stable. The problem and the challenge that no one has solved yet was how do we combine this many ingredients, not one or two, like several, five, six, into one jar and it doesn't break down. So initially we made this cream and like, usually you make the cream and, you know, a doctor can prescribe you this cream. You can take it to your local pharmacy. They make it up.
• 12:19
  After three weeks, I guarantee you it's going to turn to like a runny, mushy consistency. And it's just not very nice to use. And it's not really that effective. So initially we had that problem. Then we made a cream that was stable for three months in the fridge. But again...
• 12:36
  problematic because you can't travel and it's just a bit annoying you have to remember to go to the fridge and so on but that's the cream that we sold for a while eventually we had a cream that was stable for three months outside the fridge and then now we've developed and developed and researched and now we have a cream that is stable for 12 months outside the fridge it's stable for longer than 12 months but the stability testing that we've got recorded is 12 months however the
• 13:00
  The potency, because they're fresh ingredients and they're made to order, they're not mass manufactured. Each cream is made for you. The potency will decrease. So we recommend that you throw them out after six months. The jars are meant to last four to five months, well, five to six months, really. And then you throw them out.
• 13:16
  So you shouldn't be keeping it after 12 months anyway, but it is stable. It's just not going to be doing as much good as when it was fresh. And so is that you're still saying that that's made specifically for someone based on their specific needs. So does that mean people still need to come into your studio, your clinic? Or, you know, are we doing this on Zoom? Or how are you like scaling that part of the business?
• 13:38
  Okay, so initially they would come in and then we decided quickly as it grew very, very fast and people were traveling from all over the place that what we'd do is we'd launch a website and we'd assess everybody via the website. So they would essentially fill in the questionnaire and then we'd assess the condition and then recommend a cream and then ship it to them. Now, we decided to launch this. We had our launch on the Friday. I think it was like February, March. Yeah.
• 14:06
  about three years ago. And then on the Monday, COVID hit and everything got shut down. So we, the whole country went into lockdown, which was kind of challenging in the short term. We felt quite worried like everyone else, but it was a really important pivotal point for us because it really meant that our business boomed really, really quickly because everyone was at home looking in the mirror, doing Zooms.
• 14:30
  not being able to go to their beauty appointments and finding solutions on the internet. And we were the solution. So it worked really well. We worked it to our advantage and it was ideal timing for us. So yes, so what we've done is a lot of people
• 14:48
  Can I ask sometimes, you know, but do you do do you offer a Zoom consultation? Now, you can see me and I can see you on Zoom. There is no way I can assess your skin on this Zoom. It's impossible. What information am I getting from doing a video call with you? Zero. You know, everybody's kind of the camera might be blurry. It might be filtered. You might have makeup on. It's impossible to determine. It's a pointless, pointless question.
• 15:11
  activity, what you need to do is really take a really thorough history. We have a really specific questionnaire that will give us a detailed description of your skin now, of your skin previously, how it behaves under different situations. And then we ask you for photos. And then we can properly assess your skin.
• 15:30
  makeup-free, good quality photo is much better than doing a Zoom. It is totally pointless. And there are other companies out there that say, it's really important that we do video calls. We just don't see the benefit. It's wasting your time. It's wasting our time. You can do this in the comfort of your home, your photos, and send the form when you're good and ready.
• 15:48
  Send that to us. And there's an open dialogue. So we can come back to you and say, you know, we noticed that you've ticked that you've got acne. But actually, on examining your photos and your history, you're saying that you're only getting three pimples a month. That's not really, you know, that's not what we would describe as acne. This would be better for you. And we talk to the patients and make sure that they're getting the right formulation for this skin. So although we have...
• 16:12
  13 or so formulas that are regular formulas that we use and that we pull from because we know we trust them they work well we know most people will fit into those that's why we've developed them
• 16:25
  There are times when somebody might come in and say, we might think, well, this cream's perfect for you. But actually, you know, you're allergic to vitamin C or you're not getting sufficient results. You've had one round of this. Let's double the strength of that. So each formula, because they're made for you, each jar, we can actually tweak it. And we do tweak them to suit the customer. It's not the cream fits, you know, it's not the customer fits the cream. The cream fits the customer. Mm hmm.
• 16:53
  Yeah. And does that mean then you're, you mentioned that you were, you know, doing training in London. Does that mean that you're kind of the way that you expand is also then to sell into other clinics, you know, in Australia slash around the world?
• 17:07
  Yes. So that's what we've launched this year. So each year we've done different steps. I'm jumping ahead. Sorry. No, no, no. So the first year, I suppose we did the website and develop more products. We did lots of more prescription products. So we went from one formula to maybe six formulas and so on and that.
• 17:27
  from there on. Then the second thing that we did is having worked in a clinic for years and having stocked other products, I knew that there were some things that were necessary for our brand. One of them was that we stocked them in clinics or we provided them or we made them accessible through clinics. And the reason for that for me is each clinic has got a database of say, between 1000 and 5000 patients on the list. These are patients who are already
• 17:53
  your type of client. They're your customer. They're already searching for an aesthetic improvement and have an expectation of investing in their skin. So they're committed to that already. So who better to promote your product than people who already have a database ready to go, right? And so the exposure then increases
• 18:13
  just expands, multiplies dramatically. So I always knew that that was something that we wanted to do. And it's difficult to do, but, you know, there's something that we've launched this year, those partnerships. And then the second thing was that because our products are prescription only, we couldn't advertise them.
• 18:34
  Oh. Yeah. So you can't advertise schedule four medications or medications in general. So we can advertise the range, but we can't advertise particular ingredients or products. And there are very tight regulations and we do always make sure that we adhere by the regulations. We break the rules. That's really important to us, you know, early on.
• 18:55
  So does that mean you need to lean obviously away from kind of very specific ads and paid media and you need to lean into PR, influencers? Are you allowed to work with influencers?
• 19:08
  We are, but recently the regulations have changed again this year. So TGA regulations mean that you can't pay an influencer to endorse your product or medication as such. So they can use it freely and they can speak if they've used it freely and they've bought it themselves, which happens very often. Then they can speak freely. That's their experience. We don't have anything to do with that.
• 19:31
  anyone who's paid they're not allowed to speak about the benefits um or promote the product as a medication as such and that includes spf now as well so spf falls under that category they're not allowed to say this claim claim benefits or effects from it so there are ways around it and we work ways around it and that's uh you know is to protect the public and we understand that so we have to work within those guidelines and we do work within those guidelines um but yeah just going back to our previous point then the other thing that we knew that we had to do to grow as a business
• 20:01
  because of those challenges, was to create a non-prescription retail formula or formulas range that we could stock in clinics that people, because they were not restricted items, they could pick up off the shelf, purchase it, take something home. And that would be an introduction. It's a lower price point. It's an introduction to the brand, but also provides us with a marketing opportunity because the products are on the shelves. The products can be advertised. And those are such things that we've always been asked.
• 20:31
  So patients always ask us, you know, this is great. You know, I'm using your face cream and your night cream and your eye product. That's amazing. What do I do? What do I wash my face with? What do I, what SPF should I use? You know, what serum should I use? So we thought, why are we recommending other people's products? Why don't we make something better than what's out there? So we actually collated all the products that we really love.
• 20:53
  And the whole team come in with a bunch of products they love. And we talk about why do we love them? What is that sets them apart? What could we do better? What kind of aspects could we improve on that? And then we come up with dream list. And then we get this hit list of products that we...
• 21:10
  And we're all really into skincare, obviously. So we've got some great ideas and we've tried products from all over the world. And then we make something better. Literally, that's how we work. We go, what's the best out there? How do we make it better? How do we combine? This is amazing. This is amazing. This is amazing. How do we combine it all together? And that's how our base range was born. And so far, we've launched three products within the base range, which is a beautiful oil, nourishing oil.
• 21:35
  a serum hydrating b3 b5 and hyaluronic acid and a the most amazing spf which i think is probably the best or one of the best products we've ever made wow cool i love that for you it sounds so exciting
• 21:54
  We love to touch on the money piece of building a business, especially in the early days. And kind of when you're starting out, you're funding the business before you kind of necessarily, well, maybe you have already decided or maybe you haven't, but before you kind of go down the funding path, if you're going to take that path, what kind of capital did you need to invest in The Secret to get started? And what are your thoughts on how you've been funding the business since then? Yeah.
• 22:23
  Okay. So each business is different, of course, and I can speak from both aspects, a clinic and a product line. They're both very different. Look, luckily for us, we created a product where essentially, in a way, we were the middleman. The patient was paying for the product and the pharmacy was making the product. And we are just the middle person prescribing the product. So...
• 22:50
  We didn't need an investment early on because we made one cream and then we would sell it to that patient. And we made everything to order. If you make everything to order, you don't have an inventory. You don't have any...
• 23:02
  Stock to purchase, you have very little outgoings. All your outgoings are just going, if anything, on marketing. But we grew on word of mouth, so we didn't even have to do any marketing initially. The marketing did itself because the results were great, so people walking around with the results on their face, and that's their marketing. And that's still our most effective marketing to this day, those results, those before and afters that simply can't be achieved with any other products. And trust me, because I sell lots of other products also in my clinic.
• 23:31
  So I guess there are some businesses where you don't really need an investment initially. However, as you grow, you do. So we did set aside pretty much.
• 23:42
  majority of our funds that were coming in. So we kind of planned to use revenue for the profits for growth. And we knew that growth would come and that we would have to expand and grow. And that wasn't just in the prescription skincare sector, but as I said, launching a base range and partnering with clinics and those things did require an investment. But luckily for us, because we had
• 24:08
  We made profits really quickly and it's always been profitable. And we then invested those profits into growth. And when it came to launching the base range, the actual physical product range that you do have to stock and produce and mass produce and the minimum order quantities are very large. Yeah.
• 24:30
  Yeah, they're large minimum. Like 10,000 plus or? Of each. Of each SKU. Each product, yeah, yeah, each SKU. That's minimum. So because of that, yeah.
• 24:43
  you need to fund that and the vessels, the products and also the product development costs money. And then you're obviously investing into marketing and so on. So that's probably our biggest investment was that. And that's the only point actually at which we've taken out a loan. We took a small loan to finance the, to fund the packaging. So our packaging is amazing. And it wasn't just for packaging.
• 25:13
  our most successful campaign and probably the most incredible marketing moment we've had in the company is launching. Last year, we launched a sustainability series. So we made the whole brand fully sustainable. And that was a costly exercise, but it's worth it. And we're really pleased that we did it. It took a lot of work from the whole team.
• 25:33
  they did incredibly well and they brought out a line where everything is fully sustainable. So it's refillable packaging. And we're the first prescription skincare line to do refillable packaging. And one of the first brands, skincare brands to do refillable packaging. And everything is recyclable, refillable or biodegradable. Everything in the box, even the bubble wrap, even the labels. That is so cool. Wow.
• 26:01
  You know something that I've been getting a lot of emails slash LinkedIn messages with people dropping into my inbox asking about R&D tax credits and the R&D kind of money back that you can get. Is that something that you have leveraged in your development process? Could you speak a little bit about that for anyone listening who might not have heard so much about it or might be wondering how they can access something like that and if they're eligible?
• 26:30
  Well, look, for us, we have done everything through our accountant. So we made sure that we've got specialist accountants on board who have done this before. And because it's not that easy to navigate, not always. Our CEO has experience in it and she definitely drove the whole thing. She's worked really, really hard to make it happen. It's not something that I'm personally involved in, but...
• 26:56
  There are definitely lots and lots of grants out there that you can access. It's possible. The Australian government do fund a lot and help startups a lot. There are opportunities out there if you do it the right way. So it might seem daunting. So I would actually just advise to seek the help of somebody who's done it before and can help you navigate this. And that's probably your accountant's.
• 27:21
  It's just ticking the boxes, filling the forms and making sure that you're doing everything right so that you can get that funding. So, yes, we have done that. And it's been really helpful, especially for international expansion. Yes, the EMDG grant.
• 27:36
  Yeah, for anyone listening who, you know, is wondering how to look into grants that are available to business owners like the EMDG grant or R&D tax benefits and credits. If you even for me, what I personally did was just emailed my accountant and he connected me to the people that he works with and they're specifically grant specialists. And I think that.
• 27:55
  When we went through the process, I was like, I mean, there's no chance I would have done this myself. Like, I absolutely would prefer to pay a commission of, you know, what I was going to be entitled to get versus doing it myself because there is a lot of paperwork. Yeah.
• 28:14
  I think that if you find people usually, and last thing I'll say on this, just for anyone listening, usually there's no upfront payment. There's no retainer model, nothing like that. It's all based on performance. So you should never be paying upfront. You're just going to give 15 or 20% of what you are entitled to, which if you're not someone who loves to be in the weeds with paperwork, I think it's totally worth it.
• 28:35
  But the other thing is that you have to spend the money to get it back. Yes, you have to spend the money. It's no good just getting the money with plans. You have to spend it first and then you claim it back. That's how it works. Yes, absolutely. That's a good one to note. Thank you so much. I was reading about you and I read that in that first six months you hit a million dollars in sales and then when we look at 2023, you're on track to doing something like $7 million in sales, which is just amazing. Yeah.
• 29:01
  And I want to understand kind of what's shifting the needle for you now this year. Also keeping in mind that you have these kind of TGA restrictions and things like that. What are the kind of main drivers for you? Look, what's been a game changer for us has been launching into clinics and those partnerships because we've been able to grow very quickly. As I said, we've currently, I think, got 18 or 20 clinics on board. We've got another 20 waiting to onboard.
• 29:30
  So I guess the hold up for us is we need more BDMs. We need people to support these clinics. And that's where the growth can slow down if you don't have the right people in the right jobs or you don't have you don't have people in the jobs yet. So the interest is there. We do have just so many clinics in Australia and overseas waiting to onboard. But that's been huge growth. And.
• 29:56
  I would say it's probably closer to 10, 11 million for this year based on that. If we hit the targets that we are going for at the moment. The other thing was launching the base range. You're not having a second line, having a different income stream. It's completely separate. They're essentially two separate businesses and two different income streams. They work very differently. So we've added something else. We've kind of started a sideline business, I suppose. And they both complement each other. So when you buy one, you buy the other.
• 30:26
  So it kind of works really, really well for us. And as I said, it's a lower price point. So it's an entry point for somebody who might not be too sure or might not be ready for that kind of investment yet. However, if you have ever used our brand, you realize that it's very cost effective.
• 30:43
  So one set, which has got everything that you need is between five and $600, depending on what you get. And that will last you five to six months. So for $100 a month, you have everything that you need. That's it. People message, oh, but then do I use that serum and that vitamin C? No, that's it. You don't need anything else. So it's very cost effective because you're needing a little drop. So, yeah, those are the two things. And then for next year.
• 31:09
  It will be continuing with clinics. We've got more products coming with the base range. But one of the big ones is our overseas expansion. We've launched in two clinics, one in the Netherlands, one in London. And we have been holding off doing that because we have been in a little bit of a battle with clinics.
• 31:32
  our IP, you know, our trademarks. And we've won, so we're very happy. We just had news last week. Yes, the hugely expensive exercise. But yeah, we had a little bit of a fight with Procter & Gamble, but...
• 31:50
  Was it about the name or was it about the formula? It's about the name because they launched the deodorant back in 1953 called Secret that they don't use, but they had it first. And then it's a deodorant. So look.
• 32:07
  We were confident that we would get it and we had a really great IP lawyer. So we've continued and persevered. But because of that, we just didn't, we couldn't do that. But now we've got the trademarks. So investing in trademarks early on is really important. That's one piece of advice I'll give everyone. Make sure you secure trademarks early on in the game. So you've got actual IP that belongs to you. And should you come to a moment where you need to expand or overseas or even in Australia or sell or whatever or get investors.
• 32:36
  You need to have that locked in and it can take years. And if it's not going to work, then maybe consider changing your name, but work it out early. It's so interesting you say that because we actually, it's quite a hot topic in our private community magic at the moment around, you know, trademarking and IP and all this kind of thing.
• 32:58
  It's so important to trademark, but you've also obviously got to have the budget to be able to go into these kind of legal battles. Are you able to share kind of ballpark pricing, how much those legal fees cost you to take on someone like P&G?
• 33:15
  I don't know off the top of my head, but it's many, many, many tens of thousands of dollars. Do you think in hindsight it is better to have The Secret as the name or do you think in hindsight you wish you had, you know, a more obscure name that potentially you could have avoided? No, I love it. I think it's great. It's super catchy. You can create lots of marketing around it. Oh, I mean, I love it too. I mean, more from the point of, you know, is it worth spending 50 grand or 100 grand to fight something like that? No.
• 33:46
  No, if you can come up with something obscure that is also memorable and suits your brand, why would you spend money on something you don't have to? No, I guess that's a costly mistake. That is, you know, it's worth it for us. When I thought of the name, it was just because, again, as I told you the story behind it, but it wasn't, you know, we didn't think it was going to be as big as it is, honestly. So, yeah.
• 34:14
  Live and learn. No, we are, we are. Live and learn. And if you're confident, then fight. And now you've got the amazing story. Yeah. And the amazing name. Yeah. You won. Yeah. And look, it's an ongoing battle. We've won UK, Europe, Australia and so on. But there's still territories to win. So it's an ongoing cost.
• 34:35
  For you, just kind of on this same topic of IP and, you know, it's no secret that beauty is such a crowded space and you launched a couple of years ago and you said that at that time there wasn't really anyone in the market like Obagi or those kind of brands doing what you're doing. Have other people since entered the space competitor-wise? Yes. So I would say there is very few competitors globally.
• 35:01
  So it's very, very niche, very unique space as a global market, which we're very lucky. And that's why we did enter the market. And also because not everyone can launch this business. If you don't have a medical background, you're not a doctor, you can't prescribe, then you're kind of stuck, you know.
• 35:16
  And you need to have the experience also to back it up. But within Australia at the time, we were the first ones to launch. So we're Australia's first prescription skincare. Then there is a couple of other businesses that have launched since. One of them is a large kind of part of another group.
• 35:35
  And they produce much lower price point, lower concentrations, just kind of to the masses. You go in and they give you maybe one or two ingredients. There's a market for that. So that's also great. We're very happy to share the space with somebody like that. And they do the whole thing online and you go on.
• 35:54
  They will send you kind of cheaper looking product and cheaper end product, but it's still going to have some benefits. It's just not quite the same. It's not as potent. So you probably will end up needing to buy three or four of this to make up for the one that we will put together for you. So you still have to do some kind of multi-stepping. But I guess if somebody has a lower budget and wants to try out and...
• 36:18
  it's not really that bothered about the results or, or the, or how quick they get results, then that might be an option for them. And that's great. Do you know this market for everyone is the world's a big place and Australia's a big place. Then there's another company who is much smaller and they have a non-medical person behind it. And they make again, products, lower end one or two ingredients and, um,
• 36:44
  kind of maybe a little bit more homemade, I suppose, formulations. It feels like it's a very exciting space for you to be in. You know, when you, we talk about this a lot on the show as well, you know, being able to find something that's a true gap in the market where you can truly add a point of difference and be kind of, you know, the leader in the space is just so, you know, so important, so critical in the success of not only that, but of course, like critical in part of the success of building, you know, a huge, huge brand. Yeah.
• 37:13
  Yeah, yeah. One of the best things is just being that we just love all the detail, like as a business.
• 37:22
  We take care of all the small details. So and that really shows collectively when you then have a product. So we wanted to make the product not just really effective, but then also a luxury product that felt luxury. It didn't maybe cost luxury, but it felt luxury. It was still affordable. It's accessible, but it feels luxurious to use. It's not in some cheap products.
• 37:46
  packaging with cheap branding and you can sit on your shelf and be beautiful. You can be proud of it. It can be unisex. You know, we thought about the whole sustainability aspect of it. The marketing education is really important to us. So just every, every last thing we just wanted to perfect.
• 38:05
  everything that we knew was on the market with our background and make it better it wasn't just like oh this is the product and you know that's it and when we went to fire clinic recently when I went to train the staff there one of the things that came out is that you know all the clinical staff there um actually said you know you've thought of everything like it's we're just blown away by the detail the forms the questionnaire the website the ordering the packaging the product the
• 38:31
  Just all the bits and those little bits is what drives me. I just love the detail and I'm really anal with the detail. I'm so pedantic with getting everything exactly how envisaged. And I think I drive everyone crazy, but...
• 38:48
  in the end, it's worth it because then you launch something that I don't want to launch something mediocre and I don't want to launch anything that everyone else wants, can launch easily. I want to do something that no one else can do. Only we can do it. Yeah. Yeah. You have a very defensible moat around what you're doing and what you're building. What do you want to shout about that's coming up? What kind of things are you launching or campaigns that are going live or fun things that you want to tell everyone about?
• 39:17
  Well, my amazing marketing team have got a huge marketing strategy lined up for the rest of our base range. And it is so amazing. It's so beautiful. They know the brand better than I know the brand myself now. And it's amazing.
• 39:33
  Everything that they do just blows me away. So they did a presentation for us the other day and it just had lined up the rest of the products that we've got coming up for the rest of the year. Now, challenges that we face is always manufacturing and things being a bit slower than we expected, but they are lined up to drop later this year.
• 39:52
  And we have got some really, really cool products. Like every product that we launch, I'm just like, oh, so good because it's just the best. And I always say to the team, I don't want to launch anything that I wouldn't replace my existing skincare for. So like if we launch a cleanser, it has to be better than any cleanser I've ever tried. Because otherwise, why would I switch? You know, if price point's not my issue, it's just quality and results, then it needs to be amazing. So...
• 40:20
  The next product is going to be dropped in the next month, I hope. And I know it will. And that's something to look out for. We're really excited. We've got a really cool campaign around it. And then we will have another one.
• 40:36
  in a couple of months as well. I don't want to tell you too much. I don't want to ruin it and get told off by the marketing team. Everyone needs to just tune in, come back in a month, and then a couple of months, see what's going on. Just follow The Secret Skincare Online on Instagram, and then you'll be up to date. And do you know what? The newsletter is amazing. We send these beautiful emails with heaps of products and information and exciting news and stuff, and we don't –
• 41:02
  kind of overload people either. So if you sign up to the newsletter, you'll be first to know. And usually, you know, there's some kind of things that are only available to people who are on their mailing list as well. So. Amazing. Sign up to that. Love that. We're going to link it in the show notes for anyone listening. What is your key piece of advice or recommendation to any other business owner, small business owner, entrepreneur, founders who are in the early stages of building a business in the beauty industry?
• 41:31
  Okay, so the main thing I would say is have a plan. Have a really clear plan of what you want to do. I mean, you know, you can change your plan as you go. It doesn't have to be set in stone, but have a really just like crystal clear vision of what you want, what you want to achieve. And then I guess do everything with purpose after that. So on purpose, so that every action, you're not just like, oh, I'm just going to try this and I'm going to try that and then see if that works. No, you know, if you have a plan,
• 42:00
  You can then measure, you know, measure three times before you execute it and just have a clear idea of where you're going and where you're heading. That's not to say you're not going to try things. Some things might work. Some things might not work. But if you have a really clear picture of where you want to go, this is where you are and this is where you want to end up, then you can sort of work out the steps in between.
• 42:23
  I guess with that, just again, brand, just your brand image and, you know, who is your customer and just get to know your customer. What do they want? What are they looking for? What problem are you solving? I know you're really solving a problem because you're not solving a problem. You're not selling products. It needs to be find out what the best on the market is and then make it better.
• 42:43
  And maybe there isn't anything on the market, which is amazing. You can start small. You don't have to have a huge line of products, whatever it is, whether it's skincare or something else. You don't have to launch with 10 products, 20 products. You don't have to have a line. You just have to have one thing. And one thing needs to be amazing for it to take off and to stick that one product.
• 43:05
  thing is enough generally you know and people worry that they need to just curate this epic line and then they don't start because then it's overwhelming and it's scary so just start like just don't stop thinking about it and just actually do stop thinking and start doing
• 43:22
  And I guess the other thing is, do you know what? Take setbacks and challenges as opportunities, because every time you have a setback and a challenge, of course it's infuriating, it's frustrating, and it can put you back and it can cost you money. And so many things, but it happens to everyone, everyone. There's not anyone I know who's been really successful who hasn't had tons of setbacks. But if you use that as, well, what's my opportunity here, then
• 43:51
  that's perfect right you know you're going to grow that's that's how people grow and that's how businesses grow um so yeah I guess stick to your values stick to your vision and make sure that your team also aware of what your vision and mission is so that they can all stick to it and maybe you know you need to do that together that would be great if you have a team and then just remind people of why you're here what what's
• 44:16
  what you try to achieve together. So many gems in there. I really love the, you know, figure out what the product and the solution is that you're creating and make sure it's better than anything else on the market. And something that I've heard come up multiple times, and I just want to remind anyone listening who's in that early phase, a great tip is to, you know, go to any brand that you're kind of looking at in the same industry and read the one, two, and three star reviews.
• 44:41
  Read what the problems are with these products on the market that everyday people are struggling with and then improve on those things. That's like step number one to make the best product possible. That is such good advice. That is great advice. Yes, I love that. I might start doing that myself. Hell yeah, you should. Yeah, that's great advice. Yeah, I hadn't heard that one.
• 45:10
  Hey, it's June here. Thanks for listening to this amazing episode of the Female Startup Club podcast. If you're a fan of the show and want even more of the good stuff, I'd recommend checking out femalestartupclub.com where you can subscribe to our free newsletter. We send it out weekly covering female founder business news, insights and learnings in D2C, and interesting business resources.
• 45:35
  And if you're a founder building an e-commerce brand, you can join our private network of entrepreneurs called Hype Club at femalestartupclub.com forward slash Hype Club. We have guests from the show joining us for intimate Ask Me Anythings, expert workshops, and a group of totally amazing, like-minded women building the future of D2C brands.
• 45:57
  As always, please do subscribe, rate and review the show and post your favorite episodes to Instagram stories. I am beyond grateful when you do that.
• 46:13
  Hey, it's June here. Thanks for listening to this amazing episode of the Female Startup Club podcast. If you're a fan of the show and want even more of the good stuff, I'd recommend checking out femalestartupclub.com where you can subscribe to our free newsletter. We send it out weekly covering female founder business news, insights and learnings in D2C, and interesting business resources.
• 46:37
  And if you're a founder building an e-commerce brand, you can join our private network of entrepreneurs called Hype Club at femalestartupclub.com forward slash Hype Club. We have guests from the show joining us for intimate Ask Me Anythings, expert workshops, and a group of totally amazing, like-minded women building the future of D2C brands.
• 47:00
  As always, please do subscribe, rate and review the show and post your favorite episodes to Instagram stories. I am beyond grateful when you do that. Thank you.