Addressing All The Changes: Where Genie Supply is Headed
In recent days and months, you may have noticed some major changes around here…
We’d like to take the time to go through the different changes and explain our reasoning because we believe in transparency.
We have some exciting changes that have been well-received…
New Catalogs + Products
First, our team has introduced an entirely NEW set of products: our green and clean collection. This collection is cleaner than ever and meets all current “clean” standards as set by ALL Clean beauty retailers in the US. The new products have been extremely well-received. We’re obsessed, you’re obsessed, and we can’t wait to get these clean beauties into more people’s hands through your brands.
New Photos
If you’ve noticed our Instagram or site recently, you’ll realize that we’ve got full product and model photos to show off what our products can do and how they’re used. This is a big step for a team like ours, that mostly consists of brains and very little brawn. It’s nice to be able to show off our work - however modestly - at this point. We hope to bring more content like that in the future.
HOWEVER, we’ve also introduced a few other changes that have not been so well-received…
MOQ Increase
One such change was the MOQ raise.
We raised the MOQ from 100 to 500 pcs per SKU on January 1st for all products. The reduction to 100 pcs was a “pandemic special” if you will - We had been asked to help lower the barriers to entry even further by potential clients in a time of fear and uncertainty for the economy. More people than ever were at home (and still are, honestly) and had extra time to work on their side gig or passion gig. We thought it would be a great introduction during such uncertain times, and in many ways it was! It helped many of you start your companies and helped keep our team busy.
However, our team hustled just as hard for those 100 units as they did for 1000 units, so it wasn’t a very profitable option for our team - in general, we broke even or lost money. We’re really proud of the brands that took advantage of this temporary deal and we can’t wait to see what they can do.
Bidding “Lipgloss Starter Packs” Goodbye..
Another recent change that’s still not fully enacted (will be by this time next week, on February 15th) is the elimination of our famous “lipgloss starter packs”.
These starter packs have been at the core of our business, and have introduced us to hundreds - if not thousands - of amazing women and men over the course of the past 3 years. We introduced them in November 2017.
I want to dive deeper into why we decided to discontinue them (but please keep in mind that the new minimum is only 500 units, with a total min price of around $2000, so we’re not really drifting far away). Let’s take a step back and look at our WHY.
The entire goal of our lab at its inception was to:
Reduce barriers to entry into the cosmetics manufacturing market
Create a reliable, transparent local US lab to work with
Offer flexibility and creativity in our sourcing and manufacturing solutions, at low MOQs, and above all:
Serve the entrepreneurial market
I started this lab with a vision of equity for all. I started my own beauty brand out of my dorm room in college, with $1800 and a dream. I was able to scale my business (but not easily) to a six-figure (almost seven-figure brand) in less than 5 years. In 2018, after consulting on the side for entrepreneurs for 3 years, I sold my brand to work full time for Genie Supply.
The lipgloss starter packs were an easy way to market a turnkey lipgloss line so that a potential lipgloss entrepreneur could have everything they needed all in one package:
Lipgloss tubes
Logo screen printing
Lipgloss batching + filling in a lab
US manufacturing (US-based, not Chinese)
FDA compliant pigments + labeling
It was basic, but it was enough to meet the bare minimum. With a little money, you could get started.
However, as our team grew, we continued to observe these starter packs - the profit earned (if any), the return rate on orders, and more. We realized that for many, the lipgloss was only the beginning. What about a website? Incorporation? Insurance? Marketing?
There are so many other things that go into starting a brand. Manufacturing is just the first step.
When you start a brand, you need to have at least double or triple your manufacturing money in hand, in order to fully build out your business - even at the starter level - so that you have a chance of success.
To put it gently…
By raising the bar, we are also raising your chances of success.
As we take these next steps, please keep in mind that we still have all of our entrepreneurial and equitable dreams at our core. We still love beauty. We offer only clean beauty, and it’s all made here in our lab in the US. We’re a tiny team, maybe reminiscent of your own. We have everyone’s best interest at heart and truly believe we can all dream and grow and scale together.
These steps may have been difficult, but we are ready and willing to move forward and do what needs to be done to continue to create that beautiful, equitable market where barriers are lowered and more people can become independent business owners and beauty brand owners.
Thank you for your time, patience and patronage.
As for the future, please let us know what else you want to see. We have heard calls for help on marketing, design, and other topics. What else do you want to see? How can we help?
We can’t always guarantee results, but we can guarantee that we will process and truly consider every request.
We’re all in this together.
