Rachel Lane, Barcelona Bath & Body
Barcelona Bath & Body of Grapevine, Texas, launched in 2002, creates and sells aromachology-based home fragrance and personal care products.
‘Ah ha’ moment that led to launching the business: I caught the midnight re-run of Oprah and saw a woman who had started a bath and body business in her kitchen on a $50 investment. I immediately started my own business.
Ideal customer: Women in the prime of life who want to set a mood of balance for their lives.
First customer: My hairdresser at the time owned a beautiful salon in Dallas and was my first wholesale customer. I’ll never forget seeing my soaps and candles on a retail shelf for the very first time.
Measuring success: The joy along my journey and the lessons learned along the way. When I began networking, I was blessed to see myself through other’s eyes. Women began to tell me that I’m an inspiration to them. I’ve learned not to wait to feel successful until I reach a certain number in sales or some other mythical goal, but to appreciate all the progress that makes up the journey itself.
Biggest struggle: My typical wholesale customer tends to be a new spa, gift shop or boutique looking for unique products not represented by other stores in their area.
When the economy shifted in 2008 and fewer new businesses were being started, that created an opportunity for me to focus more strategically on finding my wholesale customers rather than relying on them to come to me through my website as had previously been the case. It’s a huge opportunity to learn a new skill set.
Surprise!: I’ve found entrepreneurship to be a great big magnifying mirror showing me my strengths and weaknesses. I feel I’ve put as much effort into personal development as business development and I’m a better, stronger woman for it.
What you wish you would have known: I wish I had understood networking which I’d never learned to do in my former career as well as the concept of “fake it till you make it.” I tend to over-research and over-prepare and have observed others benefiting from judicious use of “fake it till you make it” prowess.
What keeps you up at night (business wise!)?: Creating formulas for new products; sometimes when I’m super excited about a project, it’s hard to turn it off and I “work” in my sleep.
Pricing: Evaluate your product or service in the marketplace and see where it fits. Be sure to price for the future when you’ll have labor costs and overhead even though you may not right now. Don’t try to compete solely on price; find your niche and differentiate.
A few good tips: Invest in a great logo design. A great logo will make a cheap print job look like a million bucks but a poorly designed logo will make an expensive print job look cheap.
The absolute best part of owning my own business is: having the freedom to do what I love and set my own priorities.
If I had to start all over again, I would have: spend less energy worrying about things that have never happened.
I never imagined: selling my own products would be so difficult. It feels different from selling for someone else. But I think it will be the most rewarding thing I’ll ever master.
If standing on a rooftop facing crowds of aspiring or struggling small business owners, I would shout: “Just Do It. Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
