September 16, 2024 • 31 mins
After launching Bondi Blades in 2020, Ali Clarke has built a razor-sharp business brain with huge amounts of international success and recognition. Ali has utilised her networking skills and successfully grown her product-based business into a retail agency for other businesses.
From navigating distribution, pitching to retailers and being the trend as opposed to following them, join Ali and Georgia for a ‘tell-all’ style chat about business and the startup process.
Ali recognises that her happiness and success in business comes down to family. Being able to work with her husband and having something to pass on to her daughter, Ali’s insights on family and business balance are inspirational.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
From ZM and iHeartRadio. It's bored to Boss. Real stories
of how to navigate starting your own business with me
Georgia Patton, Welcome to another episode of bor to Boss.
I've been so looking forward to having today's kiss on
as I followed her business journey for a while and
(00:22):
I am in absolute awe of the business that she
has built in just a few short years. So today
we have Ellie clark On from Bonde Blades. Welcome Ellie,
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
For having me. I'm so excited to be here today.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
How's your week been.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
It's been quite busy already. It really doesn't stop. We
work seven days on this business, so wow, lots going
on crazy.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
And you said you've taken a little bit of break
and escaped out of the city at the moment.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Yeah, just up in the country for a little bit,
just having a little bit of a relax. But yeah,
we come back and forward from the country, which is nice.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Oh that sounds so nice. It's always good to have
a little bit of an escape to get started. I'm
going to start you off with a scenario to get
a quick overview of your business and what you do.
Are you ready?
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Absolutely cool?
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Okay. Scenario We're on our way to a concert, which
I recently learned. You haven't been to the Era's tour,
but we're going to see one of your favorite artists.
We don't know each other and we're sitting next to
each other on the tram. We get talking and I
ask you what you do for work? How are you
going to reply?
Speaker 3 (01:24):
So I would say, Hi, my name's Ali Clark. I'm
the founder of Bondai Blades Australias. First at Home, derma
raise a company, and I've actually got some of.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
My bag here.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
I would love you to have a try of them.
Here's some blades for you to try.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Oh my gosh, you're so prepared.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Because I carry them everywhere.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
You should always have them in your handbag because you
never know who you're going to meet.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
You are so prepared. It's one thing that I always
knock myself for is I forget my sunglasses all the time.
I probably shouldn't admit it, but for someone who owns
five thousand pairs of sunglasses, I often leave them in
my car or my handbag. So I want to start
from the very beginning because raisers are such a niche
product to get into. So how did this come about
(02:05):
and how did the idea kind of start?
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Well, it started back when I was pregnant with my
daughter and I was going to a salon and having
dermo planing done.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
I'd heard about this like really amazing treatment that you
could have for facial hair.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
And from my background, I'm very hairy all over and
I have been a fan of removing every part of
my body hair for as long as I can remember.
And once I found out you could get your basically
face shaved in a salon, I.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Thought, Wow, how great is this.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
I went and tried dermo planing in a salon, but
I was shocked that it was one hundred and fifty
dollars and when I realized she.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Was just chattered and fifty.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Yeah, I was like, I love this, but I'm about
to have a baby. I can't afford the time or
the money to come and keep doing this done, so
I need to find a way.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Well often did you have to go get it done?
Speaker 2 (02:52):
I was going like every two weeks. Wow, And I thought, you.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Know, I need to be able to do this at home.
Surely I can do this myself. It's just shaving my
face with a little razor. It can't be that hard.
And I started looking online and at that time, it
wasn't really a thing or a trend, especially in Australia,
and so I thought, let me go and have a
look online for where I might be able to order
some of these products. And I kind of had a
(03:19):
light bulb moment because I previously tried e commerce.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
I'd always wanted to have my own business.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
And I thought, from the experience I had with I
did drop shipping of Fast Fashion, oh yeah. I obviously
went to Ali Barber, like most entrepreneurs or e commerce founders,
doors of products, and I found some really great factories
that I connected with, and I ordered some samples and
then I was like, oh my god.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
This is amazing. I'm not going to have to pay
for derma planing for like five years.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
I've ordered a box of all these different types of blades.
And then I thought, well, surely if I'm loving doing
this at home, maybe other people would and it could
be a great opportunity to start a business. So I
started an Instagram page and started curating it. And you know,
I had no experience in that. I've worked in banking
for twenty years, so don't have a marketing degree. I
(04:09):
never used canbra or graphic design. I just started, you know,
testing and learning with creatives and it really took off
when I started documenting the journey on TikTok, because yeah,
I started shaving my face on there, and it was
I jumped on. I was an early adopter of TikTok,
so everything you post would go viral, you know, right
before lockdown, and then yeah, just it really took off.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
So that, yeah, that's how it all started.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
I love that you're an early adoptor of TikTok. I
remember when I first heard yet another platform was coming out.
I refused. I was like, nope, no, I've already got
so many platforms. I don't want to take it on.
And I think I left it a little bit too late.
But if you headed at that sweet spot, then you
made a really really smart move.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Absolutely, it was good to be an early adoptor. And
I really found that that platform was more something I
could adapt to because you can just jump on there
and your p armors and talk about something like you
don't have to be all glamorous in Instagram. It's the
total polar opposite and it just it.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Works so well, so much less pressure to make a
perfect like video and TikTok. So you said that you
were in banking. That must have been so beneficial to
building a business. But how long were you working in
banking and running Bonde Blades for? Was there a crossover between.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
The two About eighteen months?
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Oh, yeah, there's a I think there's a huge misconception
that when people start a business they dive straight in
head first. But I think most business owners I know.
I mean I worked in another business for I think
three years overlap until I went full time. So that
must have been super busy for you.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Yeah it was.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
But initially it was just I had this idea that
could be a hobby and something on the side, and
then when I was on maternity leave, it gave me
something to focus on and keep me busy. And yeah,
it just kind of I just had to, you know,
manage my time and become really efficient at things.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
So let's talk about that then, Because you had a
distributor in Australia approach you, So what was that process
like and how did you know that you were making
the right decision by going ahead with them?
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Oh? I didn't know. It was the right decision. To
be honest, I just thought, let's do it. You know,
this person wants to back the business. They obviously can.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
They they're experienced in this field, and they know they're
believe in the product, and they've already lined up X,
Y and Z.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
You know, let's take a punt and see what happens.
And it paid off.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Wow. So for those who don't know what a distribute
it is, can you let us know what their role
is in your business? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Absolutely so.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
A distributor is someone who will wholesale buy the stock
from you. You sell it to them in a discamp,
but then they take care of all the marketing, promotion
and organizing retailers to stock your product. So it's actually
a really good process, especially if you're a startup, where
you don't have to outlay all those costs, because if
you go to a retailer directly, for example, if you
(06:54):
went to Farmer's direct, you would be expected to be
not only providing them, you know, substantial discount on the product,
but also paying for advertising, promotion, all that sort of stuff.
So the distributor bears those costs. That's in build into
the margin that you sell it to them. For and
then they wear house the stock, they import the stock.
You don't have to have any worries about it. You
(07:15):
still have expected to do promotion outside of that yourself,
but there's not a lot of financial investment for you.
The distributors wearing more of the risk than you are.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Well, I actually didn't know that they take on that
much of the business. And do they ship out as well,
So you literally do not touch the product. It's all
on them. You just run your ecmom and your marketing
from your side.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Yeah, so as soon as the distributor gets purchase order
they will have the product will be shipped from either
my warehouse or their warehouse direct to whoever it needs
to go to. Like for example, our in New Zealand,
we work with an amazing distributor over their CS and Co.
And they wear house all our stock and they send
it out to all the stores. So they manage they're
(07:57):
like a brand manager.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
If you like.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Do they distribute for your e comm as well or
do you do your eCOM distribution yourself.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
So we have three pl for our e comm but
they have an e comm store that they sell our
products online over there as well.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Oh my Gosham and all of your processes. It all
sounds so well organized.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Yeah, it's all down to a fine art, but you
know it's it's a bit you know, clunky and challenging
at the beginning, but once you iron out all the creases,
it works seamlessly. It's just all about communication, regular communication
and keeping everyone informed on what's going on exactly.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
So what are some of the biggest stores that you've
landed in Australia first off, so that our listeners can
know where you're placed.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
So in Australia, the first stoor we actually went into
was Blooms Pharmacies. There's one hundred pharmacies across Australia. Wow,
kem pro and there's there was at the time, I
think there was ninety stores. I think they've got about
one hundred as well. But I never actually got to
see the product in store for about three months after
it went in store because.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Were still in lockdown at the time when that happens.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
So one of my beautiful friends, Colleena up on the
Gold Coast, went around to a couple of the pharmacies
and took me on FaceTime in there to see the product,
which was really cool. And then after the lockdown finished
in Melbourne, I finally got to go into one of
the Blooms stores and we had the displays and all
(09:19):
the blades hanging off and it was just so cool.
It was almost like is this really happening? Like did
I create that? It was just the most surreal.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Surreal Yeah, crazy, right. Do you look back at some
of the stuff you did at the beginning of your
business and crunch a little bit.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
It's all a.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Learning experience, you know, and your brand's forever evolving. So
the great thing is that once you get the product
in the store, you can start getting more ideas and creative.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Yeah, and I see, I was doing a little scope
over your website. I see that you guys are alive
in America on Amazon.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Yeah, so in America on Amazon and Walmart online, which
is really exciting and.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
That's such a big step. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
That came off the back of us going.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
To a trade show called cosmoprop in Italy, which was
really interesting. We met some really great distribution partners over
there that had some good connections and helped set that up.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
So, yeah, that's going really well.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
Tell me a bit more about this trade show, because
I've only ever been to trade shows in New Zealand
and Australia.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
So I was.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
Fortunate enough to have sponsorship from this trained government. There
was twenty brands. I think that they sponsored us to
have our own stands in the Australia pavilion. And it
was three days of it was exhausting, like by lunchtime,
you haven't eaten, You've been talking to people all day.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
It's just person after person.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
And for about three months before the trade show you
get access to a platform to be able to reach
out and arrange appointments with buyers and distributors. So for
every day for three months, I was just on the
Match platform connecting with buyers, retailers, distributors and it was
just back to back.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Meeting one after the other.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Plus people just randomly walking up that were at the
trade shows, so we were handing samples out, we were
talking about the brand.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
It was just it was incredible. It was just and
it was just a huge networking event. It was unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Those events are so fun and I always think those
who haven't gone to a trade show as someone who
was showing a product will never understand the whole body
consuming tiredness you feel after just three days. And I
think it's because you've got to put on this like
super happy persona for thirteen hours and you've always got
(11:34):
to be smiling and showing off your best like products.
Oh my gosh, it's so tiring.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
It is. It's exhausting.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
You know, you've got to get up early in the
morning and do you hear in your makeups you're at
a beauty expo. You can't just rock up in your tracks.
You've got to be looking glam and you know, doing
touch ups during the day and zipping out the back
of the booth to try and snack or drink water
otherwise you'll, you know, you'll get dehydrated and pass out.
But yeah, they're full on those trade shows, but they're
really credible.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
So for those who are wanting to expand into different markets,
what are your top tips to them?
Speaker 3 (12:07):
So firstly, do you research, look at what products similar
to yours are already selling their what's doing well, what's not
And be prepared. Be prepared to understand that it takes time.
It doesn't just happen overnight. It's very rare that a
brand just starts one day.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
And is global the next.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
You've got to have a lot of money and investment
behind you, and if, like me, if you've been bootstrapping
your business from the start, it does take a lot
longer than if you're going out looking for investment to
grow the business rapidly.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
But it's all a journey and just yet.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Really knowing your customer, because there's no point trying to
launch a brand somewhere where the demographic is not correct, like,
for example, at the moment, we're doing some exploring at
launching in Columbia. We've got our website set up, we've
got a sales agent out there. Great demographic because you
know the ideal customer is there, but it comes down
(13:01):
to price point, and what your price point may be
in one country can be very different to another country
because I really love the economy in those regions and
things like that.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
So you've got to.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Do your numbers and make sure that at the end
of the day there's going to be some profit in
it for you.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Do you do that all yourself?
Speaker 3 (13:17):
No, I'm actually fortunate enough to have a team behind
the brand. My husband and I created an agency to
help brands and it's what Eyeblades has now become an
in house brand at our distribution agency, where we've got
a team that help do all that all the maths
behind it. I'm more the marketing and creative and my
husband and his team are the logistics numbers.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Guys.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
You mentioned that you bootstrapped your business, and for those
who don't know what bootstrapping is, it is when you're
using your own funds to reinvest into the business and
continue growing, as opposed to getting an investor in. So
why did you choose to bootstrap your business rather than
getting some investment.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Because ultimately I didn't want to give away equity in
the business.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
I think that once you know that you're onto.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
Something good, if you can hold onto it and just
go without and invest that money back in like people
you know, see, oh you know this business is doing well,
but you've got to understand that all that profit goes
back into the business. You just want to keep putting
money back in, and yes you can take some out,
you know, from time to time, but it's critical if
(14:29):
you're a boot shrapper that you just keep reinvesting in yourself,
backing yourself and it'll eventually pay off.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Exactly, I have the exact same idea about it, although
I never say never. I mean if someone came to
me with a great investment and some great coaching alongside it,
then who knows. But for now, bootstrapping is the way
to go, and I've seen some incredible bootstrapped businesses in
Australia and New Zealand, so it's definitely possible to get there,
and I guess you're kind of showing us the way
(14:57):
on how to grow.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Look, it does take.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
A lot longer, but it's more rewarding as well, knowing
that you have invested your own money back into that
and you've grown something from absolute scratch it. It's more
I think it feels more rewarding to have known that
you've gone without things for time being, to see your
picture in something and then know that one day that
will pay off.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
So how long has your business been running for? How
old is it now?
Speaker 3 (15:22):
So it's nearly in fifty year and by December will
be five years.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
We've discussed your wholesale side of the business. Let's get
into e commerce. What are some of the strategies you
use to market your online store and your products to
sell through i'd guess directly to consumers.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
Yeah, absolutely so Initially I was just doing everything myself,
and then I started to engage influencer marketing as I
grew the brand, and that, especially in Lockdown, had a
really huge impact, especially using a lot of people that
had been on reality shows recently, like Maths and Things,
and just the reach that they had was just incredible.
(16:00):
And the best one we did was we had Lizzie Sobnoff.
She was just beautiful and we worked with her a
couple of times and the first time she posted about
the brand, we actually sold out, Like it was just wild,
like yeah, we just had, you know, thousands of orders
coming through, and I think it was just right person,
right time, right product, and it just gave us so much,
(16:25):
you know, credibility. We got a Daily Mail story out
of it, like it was just you know, the knock
on effect of using the right influencer had such a
great impact on the brand credibility, and we would use
ugc's as well. UDC would be great for your product,
fantastic And one thing we did that was worked really
(16:47):
well was we adopted the TikTok ads really quickly. It's
still at the start of the business, couldn't afford to
pay someone to be running ads, so I tried to
figure out how to do it myself. And it was
funny because, not knowing anything about advertising, I started running
a conversion ad when I should have been running a
traffic ad or something because I need a TikTok coach
reached out and said, hey, we see this AD's doing
(17:09):
crazy what you've done, but we want to show you
how to set it up the right way.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Oh wow, yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
So and then I did a story about that to
share on TikTok with everyone, and everyone started doing it
and it just took off. But that those TikTok ads
when you were early adopting them, now they don't have
as much impact. Definitely, back when I adopted them early,
they would just they were incredible.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Like you might spend fifty bucks a day, but you'd
be just, you.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Know, quadrupling, and like the amount of reach you'd get
was insane.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
It was when I was at the Melbourne Trade Show.
So I was at the Life and Style trade Show
and I put up some TikTok ads in August and
it was the best August we've ever had and it
was because of my TikTok conversion ads. And since then
I have not been able to replicate the same conversions.
It's just not the same.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Because there's so many more users on the platform now,
you know, you've got to have a higher bid increase
and things like that, spend more to get it out there.
But yeah, whenever a new platform comes out, if you
can jump on it and be an early adopter, it's
happy days exactly.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
So with UGC and with you filming videos of you
using your razor, how do you educate people on how
to use it? Because I can imagine selling a razor
can be quite a dangerous tool, of course.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
Yeah, so we I always send the UGC creators like
the instructions on how to use the product and to
talk about how to use it, and we do spend
a lot of time getting content around educating people how
to use the product, because yes, you can cut your
skin if it's not used properly, and if you're not
using it with a serum or an Alovira gel or
something you should.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Never have I shave.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
So yeah, there's lots of education out there now.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
That we have to educate our customers.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
Oh my god, I can imagine your insurances as well.
Scares me. I want to get into some of the
biggest challenges that you're faced with starting Bonte Blades, some
of the biggest maybe mishaps that you've had throughout the
business that you've had to overcome. What are some of
the things that come to mind.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
I think the hardest thing initially for me was once
I started getting some momentum, I started to see people
replicating the business, even to the point of using some
of these images behind to create their own imagery on
their packaging.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
You know, these people are copying. Why are they copying
my product?
Speaker 3 (19:28):
And then I thought, no, hang on a second, this
is actually validation.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
They're not copycats. They were invalidators.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Because I was the first to market and they've seen
it doing well, they're going to try and replicate it.
I need to keep working to ensure I'm at the
front of this. But they will never have the branding.
They won't be me that the brand. Their brand doesn't
have me as the face of it, and they don't
have the name. Like the name just sells itself, like
especially for overseas, and everybody loves the word Bondai, so
(19:54):
any product that's got Bondai on it does really Yeah,
but that was challenging because every day people would be
sending me screenshots or links to other competitor type brands,
and you can either get bogged down in it and
start obsessing thinking, oh my god, I'm worrying about what
they're doing, or just think, no, hang on a minute.
(20:15):
This is a compliment. Someone's see what I'm doing. It's
validating what I'm doing. I just now need to go
ten times harder to make sure I'm still going to
be the front of the pack on this product.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
It's such a good way to look at it. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Eventually, in time, those brands, you know, they slowly drift
off into oblivion and you.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Forget about it, you know. But it was it was
quite you know, daunting and intimidating, to be honest.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Yeah, I think it's such a big learning for business owners.
I remember it was one of my biggest learnings was
I was always so worried with what my competitors were doing,
and I was always looking at their websites and socials
and I'd see an ad pop up and go, oh
my god, they're everywhere. But when I started to focus
on what was actually different about my company and my
brand and forget about what everyone else did, I think
that's when we really found our own feet and stepped
(21:01):
ahead of the crowd. And it probably took me way
too long to learn that. Listen, but I think it's
a lessen everybody needs to start working on, because, especially
when you're the face of the brand, you are your
usp and no one else can have that. So what
are some of the most rewarding things about owning your
(21:22):
own business?
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Probably the most rewarding thing I think is being able
to include you know, my husband in the business.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
We work together really well.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
And also we see it as we're setting out future
up for our daughter, So yeah, it's something that we
can pass down to her or even if this business
isn't still in existence when she's old enough, you know,
we can the tools and skills we've learned in this business.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
We can hand down to our daughter, which is really great.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
That's so nice, and I guess it's just.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
It's a nice feeling to know that you actually created
something that people are using and enjoy and.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Love to use and are saving people.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
You've solved, you know, and everyday problem you had that
so many other people.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Have as well.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
I know so many people who would use this. I'm
actually going to go and send the link to a
few girls who I know and get their face still
dermoplaned in the studio when you do it. This is
just me wanting to know. And you're gonna laugh at
this because I'm sure you get asked this all the time,
and I'm sure there's a very obvious answer. But when
you raising your hair off your face doesn't grow back thicker,
faster in any different way.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Absolutely not.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
This is the number one myth that I can bust
for you about demo plany.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Everyone's like, oh, my hair's going to grow back thick
and darkness.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
It's so nerve wreaking.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
It's so terrifying for people to think they're going to
have a beard afterwards. But the hair on your face
is actually different to your body hair. So the facial
hair is fine like peach fuzz called and it's called
vellus hair. So even if you shave it off, all
it could do is grow back the same. It doesn't
grow back thicker or dark If anything, I've found it
grows mine grows back.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Finer, and it does.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
You know, I don't have to do it every week now,
like it's just over time. You're exfoliating the skin as well,
so you're removing all the dead skin. It's like a
gentle exfoliation. So this skin is smothar and yeah, it
will not grow back thicker or darker. That's an absolute given.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Oh well, I love that you've busted that because I've
always wanted it. It's been a real trend on TikTok
and Instagram to see girls doing this. And this skin
does look glowy, but I've never bitten the bullet to
try it.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Well, I will send you some after this and you
can try it.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
I'm going to do it. I'm a little bit nervous now,
so I want one. I want to ask one more
question because I was doing some research on your website
and I learned that your razors have a environmental and
sustainable aspect to them. Can you tell me about that
because my business does too, and it really intrigues me.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
So this is the little raisers and the handle is
made from wheat straw, so it's biodegradable.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
So after three to four uses, you can remove the remove.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
The blade and stick this in your green bin or
the garden and it will degrade down.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
How long does it take to biodegrade?
Speaker 3 (24:02):
It takes about nine to twelve months. Wow, I did
test it in.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
A pot, but oh my god, I did the same
with my product.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
I was like, I can't just have a time I
can't use my phone on time delay for nine months.
But yeah, they eventually you can put them in the
recycle the green bin as well. And that's our main
point of difference because we are currently the only and
leading sustainable raiser in the personal care category.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
All the other big players in this space who are
our competitors, are all.
Speaker 3 (24:33):
Made of plastic, and the plastic raises are not only
quite flimsy, but they take over two hundred million years
to degrade down into the earth.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Two hundred million years for.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
A plastic rour. If you put your even your leg raiser,
you chuck it in the bin. Really bad for the environment.
So our product mind is blow.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
When we're pitching to retailers and distributors, our key point
of difference because they'll say, all, what about the Revlon raiser,
And we can say, well, it doesn't meet any of
the sustainability aspects of big retailers like for example, wool
Worst they have you know, they're big on sustainable packaging
and products. So pitching to places like that who sell
(25:13):
cheap plastic raises. Our main point of difference that why
they should stock our product is our sustainability aspect. That
also ticks off a lot of the boxes they have
in their annual reports.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
That's so cool. Well done for going down that route
as well, because there's a lot of people out there
who will just skip over it because of the cost.
And I know the cost for the product you're using
is probably quite a bit more than just regular plastic.
Yeah exactly, but it's also, you know, very appealing to
It's a very cute little little plastic or drill, so
it looks a lot more attractive than a pink plastic one. Definitely.
(25:45):
We actually use a product called cellulose acetate for our sunglasses,
so we started off. It's a plant based plastic. It's
still called plastic, but a plant based material, and I
think that's one of our main point of differences. But
not only that, but the product itself, the feeling, you're right,
is so much different to any other pair of sunglasses
out there. You can feel the quality, you can see,
(26:07):
the color is so much bolder. It's really the way
forward to have these. I think plant based materials.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Absolutely, it's for sure, it's the way to go.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
So what's next for Bondai. You obviously mentioned before that
you have a creative agency, So is that the newest
aspect of your businesses? Yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
So we've got a new product coming shortly for Bondie blades,
which is really exciting. Still just in the sampling phase,
just to get it one hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
Can you give us a little hint?
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Oh, it's something to help with the shaving.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Ah. Perfect exciting.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
But yeah, we actually, off the back of building Bondai Blades,
my husband came up with this amazing idea that we
should start an agency and a distribution business ourselves. Because
off the success of the TikTok and the pr and
everything I've had for Bondai, was constantly having especially female
founders reach out saying how do I get my product
(27:01):
into stores?
Speaker 2 (27:02):
Can you help me?
Speaker 3 (27:02):
And it was time consuming and my husband said, you're
taking time out of your business to help someone else
with theirs you need to be paid for that. So
with the network we've created, let's start something where we
can help businesses, whether it's a founder has an idea
and grows it from scratch, or we take existing brands
and get them retail ready and start presenting them to
(27:23):
our networks. So that's how we created the distribution agency,
and within that, we've got a team of five or
six of us working on several brands. And when we
take the brand on, we know initially do a review of.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
The packaging, the social media, if they've.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
Got any pr if they haven't, how to build a
really viral brand is what we help them with because
that's what buyers and retailers are looking for, something that's
going to jump off the shelf, and we, you know,
coach and educate them how to create that content. We
can start pitching that to our network, which is really
exciting because we've got about four hundred plus partners and
(28:02):
distributors and retailers that we have networked with and have
great relationships with.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
Even if maybe they couldn't.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
Help us at the time with our brand, you still
keep that relationship going because they're always looking for brands
and they're always saying, oh, have you got any busie
brands or your product? Mont is not really our category,
but if you know any products in this category, you know,
reach out to us and.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
We'd love to help.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
So by a networking and my husband is a really
great networker and relationship builder. Yeah, between the two of us,
we've made this massive network.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
To be able to work with, which is really exciting.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
Networking is everything it can get you so far.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
Absolutely, Yeah, and going to the trade shows and meeting
people and building those in person relationships is huge.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
I love that you've started something off the back. You
must be so busy. I can't even imagine.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
Yeah, we are quite busy at the moment, but we've
got sort of subcontractors that work for us as well
to share the workloads, so it's great.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
What advice would you give to someone who's looking to
start a product based business in the beauty industry, that's.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
A great question.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
My advice would be, do you research, make sure you
get plenty of samples from at least three to five factories,
test and test the product, and just have a look
at what similar prices doing. Get your pricing sharp, and
really the key to it really comes down to how
you market the brand. You can have a great idea,
(29:29):
but if your marketing and pr isn't there, it's just
going to get lost in.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
All the thousands of other brands.
Speaker 3 (29:34):
So having you know a really great color palette, something
that pops that ideally, if your end goal is to
get into retail, pops and jumps off the shelf, because
why should a retailer take one product off the shelf
to put yours there?
Speaker 2 (29:47):
It's got to really.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
Pop and have you know a lot of presents behind
it exactly.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
So I wanted to ask you, and this is a
bit of a personal one, but are you proud of
what you've achieved to date?
Speaker 3 (29:59):
I am proud, but it's quite quite a funny question
to answer for me because I used to be so
caught up in the Oh my god, I'm in the
daily mail. I've got this article and would share it.
But lately I've started to become a recluse. Like, I
am proud, but I don't tend to share it or
vocalize it.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
As much as I used to.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Oh yeah, why, I guess you get.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
Caught up in all that hype of self promotion, and yes,
you should self promote, But now I guess I'm moving
into that space where I'm focusing on helping others, so
I'm not really promoting myself. And like I still share
about my business achievements when there's something exciting, but not
to the level that I was previously. But I am
very proud, yeah, especially considering I never dreamed of the
(30:44):
business would get this far. It was just going to
be a hobby something I did on the side to
really learn how to do e commerce.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
So yeah, yeah, I am proud.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
It's a pretty cool story. I'm really impressed and it's
something to look up to. So I'm going to leave
it there. So I want to say thank you so
much for taking some time to come in and speak
with us. I honestly have taken so much away from
this conversation, so I hope that everybody else out there
has two. So thanks Ellie, thank you for having me.
It was a closure and I can't wait to use
(31:13):
your races that will be in the mail soon. Thanks
for listening. Boord DeVos is a z M podcast for
iHeartRadio with Me Georgia Patton. This episode was produced by
Pixie Copperrell, engineered by Me Cutt and Call It with
production help from Sam Harvey. If you liked it, hit
subscribe to get notified whenever we release a new episode.
(31:34):
Listen every Tuesday on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.
And make your business idea a reality.
From ZM and iHeartRadio. It's bored to Boss. Real stories
of how to navigate starting your own business with me
Georgia Patton, Welcome to another episode of bor to Boss.
I've been so looking forward to having today's kiss on
as I followed her business journey for a while and
(00:22):
I am in absolute awe of the business that she
has built in just a few short years. So today
we have Ellie clark On from Bonde Blades. Welcome Ellie,
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
For having me. I'm so excited to be here today.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
How's your week been.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
It's been quite busy already. It really doesn't stop. We
work seven days on this business, so wow, lots going
on crazy.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
And you said you've taken a little bit of break
and escaped out of the city at the moment.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
Yeah, just up in the country for a little bit,
just having a little bit of a relax. But yeah,
we come back and forward from the country, which is nice.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
Oh that sounds so nice. It's always good to have
a little bit of an escape to get started. I'm
going to start you off with a scenario to get
a quick overview of your business and what you do.
Are you ready?
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Absolutely cool?
Speaker 1 (01:08):
Okay. Scenario We're on our way to a concert, which
I recently learned. You haven't been to the Era's tour,
but we're going to see one of your favorite artists.
We don't know each other and we're sitting next to
each other on the tram. We get talking and I
ask you what you do for work? How are you
going to reply?
Speaker 3 (01:24):
So I would say, Hi, my name's Ali Clark. I'm
the founder of Bondai Blades Australias. First at Home, derma
raise a company, and I've actually got some of.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
My bag here.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
I would love you to have a try of them.
Here's some blades for you to try.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Oh my gosh, you're so prepared.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Because I carry them everywhere.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
You should always have them in your handbag because you
never know who you're going to meet.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
You are so prepared. It's one thing that I always
knock myself for is I forget my sunglasses all the time.
I probably shouldn't admit it, but for someone who owns
five thousand pairs of sunglasses, I often leave them in
my car or my handbag. So I want to start
from the very beginning because raisers are such a niche
product to get into. So how did this come about
(02:05):
and how did the idea kind of start?
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Well, it started back when I was pregnant with my
daughter and I was going to a salon and having
dermo planing done.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
I'd heard about this like really amazing treatment that you
could have for facial hair.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
And from my background, I'm very hairy all over and
I have been a fan of removing every part of
my body hair for as long as I can remember.
And once I found out you could get your basically
face shaved in a salon, I.
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Thought, Wow, how great is this.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
I went and tried dermo planing in a salon, but
I was shocked that it was one hundred and fifty
dollars and when I realized she.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Was just chattered and fifty.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
Yeah, I was like, I love this, but I'm about
to have a baby. I can't afford the time or
the money to come and keep doing this done, so
I need to find a way.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Well often did you have to go get it done?
Speaker 2 (02:52):
I was going like every two weeks. Wow, And I thought, you.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Know, I need to be able to do this at home.
Surely I can do this myself. It's just shaving my
face with a little razor. It can't be that hard.
And I started looking online and at that time, it
wasn't really a thing or a trend, especially in Australia,
and so I thought, let me go and have a
look online for where I might be able to order
some of these products. And I kind of had a
(03:19):
light bulb moment because I previously tried e commerce.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
I'd always wanted to have my own business.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
And I thought, from the experience I had with I
did drop shipping of Fast Fashion, oh yeah. I obviously
went to Ali Barber, like most entrepreneurs or e commerce founders,
doors of products, and I found some really great factories
that I connected with, and I ordered some samples and
then I was like, oh my god.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
This is amazing. I'm not going to have to pay
for derma planing for like five years.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
I've ordered a box of all these different types of blades.
And then I thought, well, surely if I'm loving doing
this at home, maybe other people would and it could
be a great opportunity to start a business. So I
started an Instagram page and started curating it. And you know,
I had no experience in that. I've worked in banking
for twenty years, so don't have a marketing degree. I
(04:09):
never used canbra or graphic design. I just started, you know,
testing and learning with creatives and it really took off
when I started documenting the journey on TikTok, because yeah,
I started shaving my face on there, and it was
I jumped on. I was an early adopter of TikTok,
so everything you post would go viral, you know, right
before lockdown, and then yeah, just it really took off.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
So that, yeah, that's how it all started.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
I love that you're an early adoptor of TikTok. I
remember when I first heard yet another platform was coming out.
I refused. I was like, nope, no, I've already got
so many platforms. I don't want to take it on.
And I think I left it a little bit too late.
But if you headed at that sweet spot, then you
made a really really smart move.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Absolutely, it was good to be an early adoptor. And
I really found that that platform was more something I
could adapt to because you can just jump on there
and your p armors and talk about something like you
don't have to be all glamorous in Instagram. It's the
total polar opposite and it just it.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Works so well, so much less pressure to make a
perfect like video and TikTok. So you said that you
were in banking. That must have been so beneficial to
building a business. But how long were you working in
banking and running Bonde Blades for? Was there a crossover between.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
The two About eighteen months?
Speaker 1 (05:24):
Oh, yeah, there's a I think there's a huge misconception
that when people start a business they dive straight in
head first. But I think most business owners I know.
I mean I worked in another business for I think
three years overlap until I went full time. So that
must have been super busy for you.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Yeah it was.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
But initially it was just I had this idea that
could be a hobby and something on the side, and
then when I was on maternity leave, it gave me
something to focus on and keep me busy. And yeah,
it just kind of I just had to, you know,
manage my time and become really efficient at things.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
So let's talk about that then, Because you had a
distributor in Australia approach you, So what was that process
like and how did you know that you were making
the right decision by going ahead with them?
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Oh? I didn't know. It was the right decision. To
be honest, I just thought, let's do it. You know,
this person wants to back the business. They obviously can.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
They they're experienced in this field, and they know they're
believe in the product, and they've already lined up X,
Y and Z.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
You know, let's take a punt and see what happens.
And it paid off.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
Wow. So for those who don't know what a distribute
it is, can you let us know what their role
is in your business? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Absolutely so.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
A distributor is someone who will wholesale buy the stock
from you. You sell it to them in a discamp,
but then they take care of all the marketing, promotion
and organizing retailers to stock your product. So it's actually
a really good process, especially if you're a startup, where
you don't have to outlay all those costs, because if
you go to a retailer directly, for example, if you
(06:54):
went to Farmer's direct, you would be expected to be
not only providing them, you know, substantial discount on the product,
but also paying for advertising, promotion, all that sort of stuff.
So the distributor bears those costs. That's in build into
the margin that you sell it to them. For and
then they wear house the stock, they import the stock.
You don't have to have any worries about it. You
(07:15):
still have expected to do promotion outside of that yourself,
but there's not a lot of financial investment for you.
The distributors wearing more of the risk than you are.
Speaker 1 (07:25):
Well, I actually didn't know that they take on that
much of the business. And do they ship out as well,
So you literally do not touch the product. It's all
on them. You just run your ecmom and your marketing
from your side.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Yeah, so as soon as the distributor gets purchase order
they will have the product will be shipped from either
my warehouse or their warehouse direct to whoever it needs
to go to. Like for example, our in New Zealand,
we work with an amazing distributor over their CS and Co.
And they wear house all our stock and they send
it out to all the stores. So they manage they're
(07:57):
like a brand manager.
Speaker 2 (07:59):
If you like.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Do they distribute for your e comm as well or
do you do your eCOM distribution yourself.
Speaker 3 (08:04):
So we have three pl for our e comm but
they have an e comm store that they sell our
products online over there as well.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Oh my Gosham and all of your processes. It all
sounds so well organized.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Yeah, it's all down to a fine art, but you
know it's it's a bit you know, clunky and challenging
at the beginning, but once you iron out all the creases,
it works seamlessly. It's just all about communication, regular communication
and keeping everyone informed on what's going on exactly.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
So what are some of the biggest stores that you've
landed in Australia first off, so that our listeners can
know where you're placed.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
So in Australia, the first stoor we actually went into
was Blooms Pharmacies. There's one hundred pharmacies across Australia. Wow,
kem pro and there's there was at the time, I
think there was ninety stores. I think they've got about
one hundred as well. But I never actually got to
see the product in store for about three months after
it went in store because.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Were still in lockdown at the time when that happens.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
So one of my beautiful friends, Colleena up on the
Gold Coast, went around to a couple of the pharmacies
and took me on FaceTime in there to see the product,
which was really cool. And then after the lockdown finished
in Melbourne, I finally got to go into one of
the Blooms stores and we had the displays and all
(09:19):
the blades hanging off and it was just so cool.
It was almost like is this really happening? Like did
I create that? It was just the most surreal.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Surreal Yeah, crazy, right. Do you look back at some
of the stuff you did at the beginning of your
business and crunch a little bit.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
It's all a.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Learning experience, you know, and your brand's forever evolving. So
the great thing is that once you get the product
in the store, you can start getting more ideas and creative.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Yeah, and I see, I was doing a little scope
over your website. I see that you guys are alive
in America on Amazon.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Yeah, so in America on Amazon and Walmart online, which
is really exciting and.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
That's such a big step. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:00):
That came off the back of us going.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
To a trade show called cosmoprop in Italy, which was
really interesting. We met some really great distribution partners over
there that had some good connections and helped set that up.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
So, yeah, that's going really well.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
Tell me a bit more about this trade show, because
I've only ever been to trade shows in New Zealand
and Australia.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
So I was.
Speaker 3 (10:20):
Fortunate enough to have sponsorship from this trained government. There
was twenty brands. I think that they sponsored us to
have our own stands in the Australia pavilion. And it
was three days of it was exhausting, like by lunchtime,
you haven't eaten, You've been talking to people all day.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
It's just person after person.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
And for about three months before the trade show you
get access to a platform to be able to reach
out and arrange appointments with buyers and distributors. So for
every day for three months, I was just on the
Match platform connecting with buyers, retailers, distributors and it was
just back to back.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Meeting one after the other.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Plus people just randomly walking up that were at the
trade shows, so we were handing samples out, we were
talking about the brand.
Speaker 2 (11:07):
It was just it was incredible. It was just and
it was just a huge networking event. It was unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Those events are so fun and I always think those
who haven't gone to a trade show as someone who
was showing a product will never understand the whole body
consuming tiredness you feel after just three days. And I
think it's because you've got to put on this like
super happy persona for thirteen hours and you've always got
(11:34):
to be smiling and showing off your best like products.
Oh my gosh, it's so tiring.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
It is. It's exhausting.
Speaker 3 (11:40):
You know, you've got to get up early in the
morning and do you hear in your makeups you're at
a beauty expo. You can't just rock up in your tracks.
You've got to be looking glam and you know, doing
touch ups during the day and zipping out the back
of the booth to try and snack or drink water
otherwise you'll, you know, you'll get dehydrated and pass out.
But yeah, they're full on those trade shows, but they're
really credible.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
So for those who are wanting to expand into different markets,
what are your top tips to them?
Speaker 3 (12:07):
So firstly, do you research, look at what products similar
to yours are already selling their what's doing well, what's not
And be prepared. Be prepared to understand that it takes time.
It doesn't just happen overnight. It's very rare that a
brand just starts one day.
Speaker 2 (12:24):
And is global the next.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
You've got to have a lot of money and investment
behind you, and if, like me, if you've been bootstrapping
your business from the start, it does take a lot
longer than if you're going out looking for investment to
grow the business rapidly.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
But it's all a journey and just yet.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
Really knowing your customer, because there's no point trying to
launch a brand somewhere where the demographic is not correct, like,
for example, at the moment, we're doing some exploring at
launching in Columbia. We've got our website set up, we've
got a sales agent out there. Great demographic because you
know the ideal customer is there, but it comes down
(13:01):
to price point, and what your price point may be
in one country can be very different to another country
because I really love the economy in those regions and
things like that.
Speaker 2 (13:10):
So you've got to.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Do your numbers and make sure that at the end
of the day there's going to be some profit in
it for you.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Do you do that all yourself?
Speaker 3 (13:17):
No, I'm actually fortunate enough to have a team behind
the brand. My husband and I created an agency to
help brands and it's what Eyeblades has now become an
in house brand at our distribution agency, where we've got
a team that help do all that all the maths
behind it. I'm more the marketing and creative and my
husband and his team are the logistics numbers.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Guys.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
You mentioned that you bootstrapped your business, and for those
who don't know what bootstrapping is, it is when you're
using your own funds to reinvest into the business and
continue growing, as opposed to getting an investor in. So
why did you choose to bootstrap your business rather than
getting some investment.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
Because ultimately I didn't want to give away equity in
the business.
Speaker 2 (14:03):
I think that once you know that you're onto.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
Something good, if you can hold onto it and just
go without and invest that money back in like people
you know, see, oh you know this business is doing well,
but you've got to understand that all that profit goes
back into the business. You just want to keep putting
money back in, and yes you can take some out,
you know, from time to time, but it's critical if
(14:29):
you're a boot shrapper that you just keep reinvesting in yourself,
backing yourself and it'll eventually pay off.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Exactly, I have the exact same idea about it, although
I never say never. I mean if someone came to
me with a great investment and some great coaching alongside it,
then who knows. But for now, bootstrapping is the way
to go, and I've seen some incredible bootstrapped businesses in
Australia and New Zealand, so it's definitely possible to get there,
and I guess you're kind of showing us the way
(14:57):
on how to grow.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Look, it does take.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
A lot longer, but it's more rewarding as well, knowing
that you have invested your own money back into that
and you've grown something from absolute scratch it. It's more
I think it feels more rewarding to have known that
you've gone without things for time being, to see your
picture in something and then know that one day that
will pay off.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
So how long has your business been running for? How
old is it now?
Speaker 3 (15:22):
So it's nearly in fifty year and by December will
be five years.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
We've discussed your wholesale side of the business. Let's get
into e commerce. What are some of the strategies you
use to market your online store and your products to
sell through i'd guess directly to consumers.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
Yeah, absolutely so Initially I was just doing everything myself,
and then I started to engage influencer marketing as I
grew the brand, and that, especially in Lockdown, had a
really huge impact, especially using a lot of people that
had been on reality shows recently, like Maths and Things,
and just the reach that they had was just incredible.
(16:00):
And the best one we did was we had Lizzie Sobnoff.
She was just beautiful and we worked with her a
couple of times and the first time she posted about
the brand, we actually sold out, Like it was just wild,
like yeah, we just had, you know, thousands of orders
coming through, and I think it was just right person,
right time, right product, and it just gave us so much,
(16:25):
you know, credibility. We got a Daily Mail story out
of it, like it was just you know, the knock
on effect of using the right influencer had such a
great impact on the brand credibility, and we would use
ugc's as well. UDC would be great for your product,
fantastic And one thing we did that was worked really
(16:47):
well was we adopted the TikTok ads really quickly. It's
still at the start of the business, couldn't afford to
pay someone to be running ads, so I tried to
figure out how to do it myself. And it was
funny because, not knowing anything about advertising, I started running
a conversion ad when I should have been running a
traffic ad or something because I need a TikTok coach
reached out and said, hey, we see this AD's doing
(17:09):
crazy what you've done, but we want to show you
how to set it up the right way.
Speaker 1 (17:13):
Oh wow, yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:14):
So and then I did a story about that to
share on TikTok with everyone, and everyone started doing it
and it just took off. But that those TikTok ads
when you were early adopting them, now they don't have
as much impact. Definitely, back when I adopted them early,
they would just they were incredible.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Like you might spend fifty bucks a day, but you'd
be just, you.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Know, quadrupling, and like the amount of reach you'd get
was insane.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
It was when I was at the Melbourne Trade Show.
So I was at the Life and Style trade Show
and I put up some TikTok ads in August and
it was the best August we've ever had and it
was because of my TikTok conversion ads. And since then
I have not been able to replicate the same conversions.
It's just not the same.
Speaker 3 (17:58):
Because there's so many more users on the platform now,
you know, you've got to have a higher bid increase
and things like that, spend more to get it out there.
But yeah, whenever a new platform comes out, if you
can jump on it and be an early adopter, it's
happy days exactly.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
So with UGC and with you filming videos of you
using your razor, how do you educate people on how
to use it? Because I can imagine selling a razor
can be quite a dangerous tool, of course.
Speaker 3 (18:25):
Yeah, so we I always send the UGC creators like
the instructions on how to use the product and to
talk about how to use it, and we do spend
a lot of time getting content around educating people how
to use the product, because yes, you can cut your
skin if it's not used properly, and if you're not
using it with a serum or an Alovira gel or
something you should.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Never have I shave.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
So yeah, there's lots of education out there now.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
That we have to educate our customers.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
Oh my god, I can imagine your insurances as well.
Scares me. I want to get into some of the
biggest challenges that you're faced with starting Bonte Blades, some
of the biggest maybe mishaps that you've had throughout the
business that you've had to overcome. What are some of
the things that come to mind.
Speaker 3 (19:08):
I think the hardest thing initially for me was once
I started getting some momentum, I started to see people
replicating the business, even to the point of using some
of these images behind to create their own imagery on
their packaging.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
You know, these people are copying. Why are they copying
my product?
Speaker 3 (19:28):
And then I thought, no, hang on a second, this
is actually validation.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
They're not copycats. They were invalidators.
Speaker 3 (19:33):
Because I was the first to market and they've seen
it doing well, they're going to try and replicate it.
I need to keep working to ensure I'm at the
front of this. But they will never have the branding.
They won't be me that the brand. Their brand doesn't
have me as the face of it, and they don't
have the name. Like the name just sells itself, like
especially for overseas, and everybody loves the word Bondai, so
(19:54):
any product that's got Bondai on it does really Yeah,
but that was challenging because every day people would be
sending me screenshots or links to other competitor type brands,
and you can either get bogged down in it and
start obsessing thinking, oh my god, I'm worrying about what
they're doing, or just think, no, hang on a minute.
(20:15):
This is a compliment. Someone's see what I'm doing. It's
validating what I'm doing. I just now need to go
ten times harder to make sure I'm still going to
be the front of the pack on this product.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
It's such a good way to look at it. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Eventually, in time, those brands, you know, they slowly drift
off into oblivion and you.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
Forget about it, you know. But it was it was
quite you know, daunting and intimidating, to be honest.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Yeah, I think it's such a big learning for business owners.
I remember it was one of my biggest learnings was
I was always so worried with what my competitors were doing,
and I was always looking at their websites and socials
and I'd see an ad pop up and go, oh
my god, they're everywhere. But when I started to focus
on what was actually different about my company and my
brand and forget about what everyone else did, I think
that's when we really found our own feet and stepped
(21:01):
ahead of the crowd. And it probably took me way
too long to learn that. Listen, but I think it's
a lessen everybody needs to start working on, because, especially
when you're the face of the brand, you are your
usp and no one else can have that. So what
are some of the most rewarding things about owning your
(21:22):
own business?
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Probably the most rewarding thing I think is being able
to include you know, my husband in the business.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
We work together really well.
Speaker 3 (21:32):
And also we see it as we're setting out future
up for our daughter, So yeah, it's something that we
can pass down to her or even if this business
isn't still in existence when she's old enough, you know,
we can the tools and skills we've learned in this business.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
We can hand down to our daughter, which is really great.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
That's so nice, and I guess it's just.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
It's a nice feeling to know that you actually created
something that people are using and enjoy and.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Love to use and are saving people.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
You've solved, you know, and everyday problem you had that
so many other people.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Have as well.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
I know so many people who would use this. I'm
actually going to go and send the link to a
few girls who I know and get their face still
dermoplaned in the studio when you do it. This is
just me wanting to know. And you're gonna laugh at
this because I'm sure you get asked this all the time,
and I'm sure there's a very obvious answer. But when
you raising your hair off your face doesn't grow back thicker,
faster in any different way.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Absolutely not.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
This is the number one myth that I can bust
for you about demo plany.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Everyone's like, oh, my hair's going to grow back thick
and darkness.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
It's so nerve wreaking.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
It's so terrifying for people to think they're going to
have a beard afterwards. But the hair on your face
is actually different to your body hair. So the facial
hair is fine like peach fuzz called and it's called
vellus hair. So even if you shave it off, all
it could do is grow back the same. It doesn't
grow back thicker or dark If anything, I've found it
grows mine grows back.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Finer, and it does.
Speaker 3 (22:58):
You know, I don't have to do it every week now,
like it's just over time. You're exfoliating the skin as well,
so you're removing all the dead skin. It's like a
gentle exfoliation. So this skin is smothar and yeah, it
will not grow back thicker or darker. That's an absolute given.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Oh well, I love that you've busted that because I've
always wanted it. It's been a real trend on TikTok
and Instagram to see girls doing this. And this skin
does look glowy, but I've never bitten the bullet to
try it.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Well, I will send you some after this and you
can try it.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
I'm going to do it. I'm a little bit nervous now,
so I want one. I want to ask one more
question because I was doing some research on your website
and I learned that your razors have a environmental and
sustainable aspect to them. Can you tell me about that
because my business does too, and it really intrigues me.
Speaker 3 (23:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (23:44):
So this is the little raisers and the handle is
made from wheat straw, so it's biodegradable.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
So after three to four uses, you can remove the remove.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
The blade and stick this in your green bin or
the garden and it will degrade down.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
How long does it take to biodegrade?
Speaker 3 (24:02):
It takes about nine to twelve months. Wow, I did
test it in.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
A pot, but oh my god, I did the same
with my product.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
I was like, I can't just have a time I
can't use my phone on time delay for nine months.
But yeah, they eventually you can put them in the
recycle the green bin as well. And that's our main
point of difference because we are currently the only and
leading sustainable raiser in the personal care category.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
All the other big players in this space who are
our competitors, are all.
Speaker 3 (24:33):
Made of plastic, and the plastic raises are not only
quite flimsy, but they take over two hundred million years
to degrade down into the earth.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
Two hundred million years for.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
A plastic rour. If you put your even your leg raiser,
you chuck it in the bin. Really bad for the environment.
So our product mind is blow.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
When we're pitching to retailers and distributors, our key point
of difference because they'll say, all, what about the Revlon raiser,
And we can say, well, it doesn't meet any of
the sustainability aspects of big retailers like for example, wool
Worst they have you know, they're big on sustainable packaging
and products. So pitching to places like that who sell
(25:13):
cheap plastic raises. Our main point of difference that why
they should stock our product is our sustainability aspect. That
also ticks off a lot of the boxes they have
in their annual reports.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
That's so cool. Well done for going down that route
as well, because there's a lot of people out there
who will just skip over it because of the cost.
And I know the cost for the product you're using
is probably quite a bit more than just regular plastic.
Yeah exactly, but it's also, you know, very appealing to
It's a very cute little little plastic or drill, so
it looks a lot more attractive than a pink plastic one. Definitely.
(25:45):
We actually use a product called cellulose acetate for our sunglasses,
so we started off. It's a plant based plastic. It's
still called plastic, but a plant based material, and I
think that's one of our main point of differences. But
not only that, but the product itself, the feeling, you're right,
is so much different to any other pair of sunglasses
out there. You can feel the quality, you can see,
(26:07):
the color is so much bolder. It's really the way
forward to have these. I think plant based materials.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Absolutely, it's for sure, it's the way to go.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
So what's next for Bondai. You obviously mentioned before that
you have a creative agency, So is that the newest
aspect of your businesses? Yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:27):
So we've got a new product coming shortly for Bondie blades,
which is really exciting. Still just in the sampling phase,
just to get it one hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (26:35):
Can you give us a little hint?
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Oh, it's something to help with the shaving.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Ah. Perfect exciting.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
But yeah, we actually, off the back of building Bondai Blades,
my husband came up with this amazing idea that we
should start an agency and a distribution business ourselves. Because
off the success of the TikTok and the pr and
everything I've had for Bondai, was constantly having especially female
founders reach out saying how do I get my product
(27:01):
into stores?
Speaker 2 (27:02):
Can you help me?
Speaker 3 (27:02):
And it was time consuming and my husband said, you're
taking time out of your business to help someone else
with theirs you need to be paid for that. So
with the network we've created, let's start something where we
can help businesses, whether it's a founder has an idea
and grows it from scratch, or we take existing brands
and get them retail ready and start presenting them to
(27:23):
our networks. So that's how we created the distribution agency,
and within that, we've got a team of five or
six of us working on several brands. And when we
take the brand on, we know initially do a review of.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
The packaging, the social media, if they've.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
Got any pr if they haven't, how to build a
really viral brand is what we help them with because
that's what buyers and retailers are looking for, something that's
going to jump off the shelf, and we, you know,
coach and educate them how to create that content. We
can start pitching that to our network, which is really
exciting because we've got about four hundred plus partners and
(28:02):
distributors and retailers that we have networked with and have
great relationships with.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
Even if maybe they couldn't.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
Help us at the time with our brand, you still
keep that relationship going because they're always looking for brands
and they're always saying, oh, have you got any busie
brands or your product? Mont is not really our category,
but if you know any products in this category, you know,
reach out to us and.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
We'd love to help.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
So by a networking and my husband is a really
great networker and relationship builder. Yeah, between the two of us,
we've made this massive network.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
To be able to work with, which is really exciting.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
Networking is everything it can get you so far.
Speaker 3 (28:39):
Absolutely, Yeah, and going to the trade shows and meeting
people and building those in person relationships is huge.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
I love that you've started something off the back. You
must be so busy. I can't even imagine.
Speaker 3 (28:51):
Yeah, we are quite busy at the moment, but we've
got sort of subcontractors that work for us as well
to share the workloads, so it's great.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
What advice would you give to someone who's looking to
start a product based business in the beauty industry, that's.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
A great question.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
My advice would be, do you research, make sure you
get plenty of samples from at least three to five factories,
test and test the product, and just have a look
at what similar prices doing. Get your pricing sharp, and
really the key to it really comes down to how
you market the brand. You can have a great idea,
(29:29):
but if your marketing and pr isn't there, it's just
going to get lost in.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
All the thousands of other brands.
Speaker 3 (29:34):
So having you know a really great color palette, something
that pops that ideally, if your end goal is to
get into retail, pops and jumps off the shelf, because
why should a retailer take one product off the shelf
to put yours there?
Speaker 2 (29:47):
It's got to really.
Speaker 3 (29:48):
Pop and have you know a lot of presents behind
it exactly.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
So I wanted to ask you, and this is a
bit of a personal one, but are you proud of
what you've achieved to date?
Speaker 3 (29:59):
I am proud, but it's quite quite a funny question
to answer for me because I used to be so
caught up in the Oh my god, I'm in the
daily mail. I've got this article and would share it.
But lately I've started to become a recluse. Like, I
am proud, but I don't tend to share it or
vocalize it.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
As much as I used to.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
Oh yeah, why, I guess you get.
Speaker 3 (30:21):
Caught up in all that hype of self promotion, and yes,
you should self promote, But now I guess I'm moving
into that space where I'm focusing on helping others, so
I'm not really promoting myself. And like I still share
about my business achievements when there's something exciting, but not
to the level that I was previously. But I am
very proud, yeah, especially considering I never dreamed of the
(30:44):
business would get this far. It was just going to
be a hobby something I did on the side to
really learn how to do e commerce.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
So yeah, yeah, I am proud.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
It's a pretty cool story. I'm really impressed and it's
something to look up to. So I'm going to leave
it there. So I want to say thank you so
much for taking some time to come in and speak
with us. I honestly have taken so much away from
this conversation, so I hope that everybody else out there
has two. So thanks Ellie, thank you for having me.
It was a closure and I can't wait to use
(31:13):
your races that will be in the mail soon. Thanks
for listening. Boord DeVos is a z M podcast for
iHeartRadio with Me Georgia Patton. This episode was produced by
Pixie Copperrell, engineered by Me Cutt and Call It with
production help from Sam Harvey. If you liked it, hit
subscribe to get notified whenever we release a new episode.
(31:34):
Listen every Tuesday on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.
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