517: We Made $400K In 6 Months Selling Sunscreen | Ava Chandler-Matthews and Bec Jefferd

The Foundr Podcast with Nathan Chan

Nathan Chan

Marketing, Business, Entrepreneurship

4.8 • 662 Ratings

🗓️ 21 June 2024

⏱️ 80 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ava Chandler-Matthews and Bec Jefferd spent their entire careers building an unfair advantage before starting Ultra Violette. The former product development colleagues at Mecca spent two and a half years creating their “skinscreen” formula before launching. In 2019, when they launched, the market was ready. In the first six months, they sold 40,000 units and disrupted the medicinal sunscreen category with their sexy and fun branding. Ultra Violette now sells its skincare-infused SPF products in 28 countries, and it recently raised $15M. In this episode, Nathan Chan chats with Chandler-Matthews and Jefferd about developing a regulated beauty product, standout branding advice, and knowing what good looks like. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why they spent two and a half years in the ideation phase How they accidentally overordered their first product batch The origins of their fictional marketing character “Vi” The marketing challenges around a regulated product Why having a global mindset is critical for beauty brands The pros and cons of owning your formula What you need to pitch mass retailers like Sephora or Mecca How to test formulations with real people Product development and formulation timing tips And much more beauty brand advice… Click here to start your business for $1. You’ll get all-access foundr+, where you’ll find more in-depth, proven strategies from founders like our guest today and support and advice from our global community of 30,000 founders. If you loved this conversation and learned something new, rate and review this episode. Stay in touch with us, follow foundr on your favorite platform: Foundr.com Instagram YouTube Facebook X LinkedIn Magazine

Transcript

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0:00.0	I think we had 40,000 units in total for our first buy. That was with no customer, no website.
0:07.0	We had no distribution. And sunscreen has an expiry date. If you don't sell it within two or three
0:12.1	years, you have to throw it out. So there was a ticking time bomb of how long that stock could be
0:17.6	around. Know what problem you're solving. Don't just put shit into market because you want to make some money.
0:23.8	And again, look at the competitive landscape.
0:25.5	If there's 10 other brands solving the exact same problem as you, it's pretty telling.
0:29.2	You don't just push hard enough once at the start.
0:31.5	You have to do it multiple every day.
0:34.0	Is that the right retailer?
0:35.1	Is that where we should be going?
0:36.3	Our first international expansion is that right? Is that where should we go? We're still doing that now.
0:43.8	Before we dive in, I want to extend a warm invitation to join our thriving founder community.
0:49.1	It's the perfect place to discover more insightful interviews aimed at helping you build, grow and
0:53.8	scale your business.
0:55.1	So don't forget to hit subscribe.
0:57.4	Your support means the absolute world to us.
1:00.0	Thank you so much for subscribing.
1:02.1	Let's get stuck in today's discussion.
1:05.0	Hear the stories.
1:06.6	Learn the proven methods and accelerate your growth and future through entrepreneurship.
1:12.5	Welcome to the founder podcast with Nathan Chan.
1:18.6	All right.
	...

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