@larasupplychain Hey Lara - would love to check it out. We’re building a lot of tools to help our supply chain and NPD flows at Wild. Would love a chat if you have time. Cheers
I just read about a biz doing $40M a year:
• Startup costs: $120k
• Product: reusable deodorant packaging
• Market opp: reducing packaging & waste
They've absolutely taken over the UK.
Here’s the breakdown of Wild:
The company was built by childhood friends Freddy Ward and Charlie Bowes-Lyon.
They were marketing directors at big brands when they'd spotted a trend:
Changing consumer sentiment towards packaging/waste.
And they set out to build a relevant biz.
They settled on natural deodorant for 2 reasons:
• Consumers' only option is typically single-use plastic or metal containers
• The bathroom is a notoriously difficult place for sustainability
From there, they envisioned their product...
• Deodorant.
• In a refillable aluminum case.
• with highly-compostable bamboo pulp packaging.
• Free from the parabens/harsh chemicals sprays typically include
How did they get started?
Take notes - this is how you minimize risk when starting a biz:
• Launched MVP (on a basic Shopify site)
• Built a Facebook community to validate demand (despite not having a product)
• Iterated initial product A LOT with customer feedback
What they learned?
Building natural products is HARD.
Most feedback they received was:
“If your product actually worked, it'd be great. But you need to spend more time on it.”
So they knew there was a market.
They product just needed to not suck...
So, they iterated 30+ times over 12 months to create a natural deodorant that actually provided 24-hour protection.
Oh, remember that Facebook community they made?
Because they'd already collected a roster of interested customers, they sold $250k in the first MONTH after launch.
Knowing they had a product with significant demand & that could scale fast, they raised ~$3m throughout 2020.
So in 2020, they had:
• 4000% growth from the prior year
• ~$7million sales & 150,000 customers
Which channels promoted such rapid growth?
A lot of Wild's customer acquisition was through typical social media channels: FB ads, TikTok, Google search... etc.
But, crucially, they focused on differentiating their brand image.
For example: sustainable products are always shown in dark greens & boring branding.
Wild's creative aims to position them as a product for everyone – not just eco-warriors.
They're known for creating scents you wouldn't expect:
• Toffee apple
• Mint & aloe vera
• Cotton & sea salt
Giving their brand a moat of quirkiness.
Today:
• Wild employs 50 people
• They've raised more than $9M
• 750k customers to date have tried Wild
And their growth is showing no signs of slowing down.
I like how this story starts:
Uncovering changing consumer behavior is always a great place to find ideas...
Some quick ways you can unearth consumer trends & find biz ideas:
• Industry reports
• Keyword search volumes on Google
• Emerging subreddits by user growth
This is where million-dollar ideas are born.