So picture this: It’s 2015, and Moiz Ali is just your average guy out running errands, grabbing some deodorant like any other person. But as he’s checking out the label on an Axe can, he realizes he doesn’t have a clue what any of those ingredients actually mean. That’s when the lightbulb moment strikes – why not create his own non-toxic deodorant brand? And that’s exactly what he did! Fast forward a few years, and he’s sitting pretty with a cool $100 million from selling his brand, Native. Not too shabby for a casual stroll down the deodorant aisle, huh?
But, how’d he do it?
Moiz took a different approach when starting his company, skipping the months-long process of perfecting branding and formulas. Instead, he got things up and running in just 12 days with a $1,000 investment. To test the waters, he launched on Product Hunt and only ordered from his supplier once he saw demand. This helped him avoid wasting money before he knew if the product would be successful.
Rather than working with a large manufacturer, Moiz opted to white label the deodorant from an Etsy seller. There were a few reasons for this decision. First, the manufacturers he spoke to required a minimum order of 5,000-10,000 sticks, but the Etsy seller agreed to start with just 100. Second, conventional suppliers would have taken 4-6 months to make the products due to their busy schedules, but on Etsy, it only took a week. Finally, back in 2015, many manufacturers didn’t want to work with Moiz because his company was still small. By going with the Etsy seller, Moiz was able to build credibility and get his business off the ground.
When Native first hit the market, the product was so-so, and although people were willing to give it a go, only 20-22% of customers reordered it. Moiz spent the entire first year tweaking the formula, determined to make it better. Whenever someone purchased a stick, he’d send them a quick message saying something like, “Hey, you just picked up a Native deodorant! We’d love to hear your thoughts. If you love it, please leave us a review on our site. If not, just hit reply and let us know what you don’t like, and we’ll do our best to make it better.”
After lots of trial and error, Moiz finally landed on the perfect formula and launched it in the summer of 2016. And wouldn’t you know it, the reorder rate started to skyrocket, eventually reaching an impressive 50%! By the time Native was acquired, it was raking in a cool $1 million in net profit every month. Not too shabby!
Lessons from Moiz Ali
How do you handle perfectionism?
- Perfection is the enemy of done. Stop thinking that way. It will literally cause you to fail.
How do you transition from buying from an Etsy seller to manufacturing thousands of deodorant sticks a day?
- Moved from Etsy seller to mom/pop shops. It was the best decision. They had to increase size of their shop three times to keep up.
Did you have any other business experience?
- He worked at a grocery store for 12 years which helped him manage inventory and negotiate with suppliers.
Did you have any guidance or mentors?
- His dad and brother were his most important mentors.
Do you need to collect emails, take preorders, build a website, video, what marketing did you need?
- Take order and take money. Everything else is marketing not revenue.
What are notable lessons from your deodorant journey?
- Be grateful for the little things: inside jokes, time with friends, warm showers.
- Don’t be an a** just because you made it.
- Enjoy the journey. Don’t lose sight of the why.
- Be fierce with your business and gentle with your loved ones.
Was customer service important for you?
- He would send a personal email to every customer that bought a unit, for years, in order to understand what they didn’t like about it so that they could make it better.
Were you working full-time while running this?
- No, Native (the company he started) was his full-time job.
Did you do a lot of research before you started the company?
- Nope, he asked some friends what they used for deodorant. That’s. He feels that conviction is underrated.
Those companies must be using the inorganic ingredients on purpose, is there a reason? Why couldn’t they figure out what you did?
- They aren’t entrepreneurs; their CEO wouldn’t be able to start and scale a new venture. Similarly Moiz wouldn’t be able to run a conglomerate like P&G.