Gold-medal Olympian Louise Dobson, 36, often complained to her friend Sue Smethurst, 35, a former magazine editor, that she could never find the right suncare product for her face.
As a sportswoman, Louise says she desperately needed something that had an SPF30+, but had the perfect texture and colour and could double as a foundation. Louise shares her business advice with us below.
“I just couldn’t find anything that did all of those things, so I used to resort to mixing sunscreen with my regular foundation to get the coverage and colour I needed,” she explains.
Sue agreed she had the same difficulty and found it so annoying she suggested they create their own product to deal with all their concerns. As Louise was literally packing her bags to head to the Athens Olympics in 2004, she didn’t give her friend’s proposition too much thought, but on her return to Melbourne after the Games, Sue suggested it was time to give the project some serious consideration.
After much trial and error, Louise and Sue were finally thrilled to see their high-end boutique range of suncare come to fruition. “The hero product Saving Face, is a 3-in-1 moisturising tined sunscreen offering flawless foundation coverage, SPF30+ sunscreen and is infused with anti-ageing botanical extracts,” says Louise.
“To that we added Body Double, a luxurious body moisturiser with SPF30+, Handy Work a rich anti-ageing hand cream with SPF 30+ and Lip Service a lip balm with SPF30+.”
Always believe in yourself and never be afraid to go after a dream. My partner Sue Smethurst and I knew there was such a gap in the market, which is why we persisted in bringing Hissyfit to the fruition.
Get to know your market as quickly as you can.
You need to be patient particularly if you are developing product. Don’t launch the product until you are 100 per cent happy with everything about it, from its composition right through to the look of the brand.
Try to have people in your business that bring different strengths to the table so you can form a strong team.
Get to know your consumers whenever you can, through online feedback or in-store as their feedback is invaluable.
Invest in a good website so that consumers can always find out about your brand online.
Starting up a company brings with it a lot of costs, particularly through research and development, If you are going into a business that entails consumable products, the wider your range, the higher costs can escalate. Keep your range right and consise and focus on key volume lines and invest wisely through your suppliers.
Be fooled into thinking that having your own business is a walk in the park! There are so many challenges along the way, and there is so much time and effort that goes into every part of the business before it even hits the floor. But there is nothing more satisfying than when you finally see your products on the shelf.
Your Say: Have you tried Hissyfit prodcucts before? Tell us your thoughts below…
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