Highlight: TOA Waters Breaks Stereotypes Surrounding Bubble Baths

Bubble baths are normally seen as pretty female. However TOA Waters needs everybody to get the prospect to take pleasure in this type of self care. The corporate is breaking stereotypes with its distinctive mix of scents and merchandise. Be taught extra in regards to the model on this week’s Small Enterprise Highlight.

What the Enterprise Does

Gives premium bubble bathtub merchandise.

Proprietor Javier Folgar informed Small Enterprise Developments, “We offer a high-end, handcrafted, luxurious bubble bathtub, utilizing solely the |nest substances. Layered with irresistible scents
like candy tobacco, limewood, and agave.”

Enterprise Area of interest

Bucking gender stereotypes.

Folgar says, “Persons are bored with being positioned into packing containers. So many firms on the market solely provide bubble bathtub merchandise that scent like roses and sliced cucumbers. Girls are anticipated to scent like flowers, and males aren’t anticipated to take bubble baths in any respect, because it may affect their “picture.” Sufficient is sufficient. We’ve created a line of bubble baths that burst gender stereotypes, one bubble at a time.”

How the Enterprise Bought Began

To offer merchandise he wished existed.

Folgar provides, “I at all times beloved taking a bubble bathtub. I’m additionally an athlete (swimmer and triathlon participant) that depends on a heat bubble bathtub to assist in muscle restoration. Nonetheless, when trying to find bubble bathtub merchandise, every thing supplied available in the market smelled like roses and sliced cucumbers. Plus, there appeared to be a social stigma about males taking bubble baths. I needed one thing completely different. I had a imaginative and prescient of making an organization that may kick societal notions to the curb and reclaim folks’s bathtubs.”

Greatest Win

Partnering with a significant on-line retail outlet.

Folgar explains, “Our most up-to-date, largest accomplishment was securing a take care of “Contact of Trendy”. This firm is a members solely e-commerce web site and app targeted on promoting way of life merchandise, trend, and equipment to males. Our partnership has expose TOA Waters bubble bathtub to their giant community of members throughout the USA. It has dramatically enhance net traf|c, gross sales, and took the corporate to the following stage.”

Greatest Threat

Launching and working in the course of the pandemic.

Folgar says, “When COVID-19 hit, provide chains have been disrupted and the price of uncooked supplies sharply elevated. Consequently, we instantly applied some modifications to our operations and pricing technique. First, we made certain we had sufficient stock to deal with our buyer calls for over the following 3-6 months. We additionally researched, evaluated, and chosen a number of distributors that may present us with the identical uncooked supplies, simply in case one vendor was out of inventory (reminiscent of glass bottles).

“Secondly, we re-evaluated our pricing technique to ensure that we coated the elevated value of uncooked supplies whereas providing a good worth to our prospects. We ended up rising our costs from $28.99 a bottle of bubble bathtub to $32.99. We carefully monitored gross sales to verify the rise didn’t negatively affect the corporate. On condition that we offer a premium product, prospects weren’t negatively impacted by these modifications. If issues took a flip for the worst, we may have misplaced prospects primarily based on the worth enhance.

“We additionally invested our private funds (actually all of our financial savings) to buy provides upfront. If we didn’t promote our merchandise within the coming weeks, we’d have been in huge monetary hassle.”

Lesson Discovered

Embrace errors.

Folgar says, “An organization that doesn’t make errors isn’t rising or taking dangers to convey itself to the following stage. Actually, I’d not do over once more any of the previous errors I made (and I made lots). These errors have been a needed course of in an effort to be taught and have the corporate develop.

“My hope is to create an organization tradition the place errors are embraced and seen as a possibility to be taught and develop.”

How They’d Spend an Further $100,000

Increasing manufacturing capability.

Folgar explains, “As we proceed to succeed in wholesalers nationwide, we are going to want the required tools to extend our manufacturing. This would come with buying extra tools to bottle the bubble bathtub, combine substances, add a wax seal, label, and ship the merchandise out. We’d additionally broaden our product providing into extra merchandise reminiscent of bathtub bombs, shampoo, physique wash, and many others.”

Firm Namesake

Honoring the founder’s Cuban heritage.

Folgar provides, “The Toa River is taken into account the mightiest river in Cuba. The river is positioned within the Guantánamo Province of Cuba, which flows throughout the nation. The Toa River is well-known for its crystal-clear waters.”

Further Ardour

Bats.

Folgar is definitely a conservationist by day, working TOA Waters as a further undertaking. He has greater than a decade of expertise within the nonprofit world, together with working to finish bat extinction all over the world. He even introduced this ardour to the enterprise in a singular manner.

Folgar says, “TOA Waters’ bubble bathtub, Cara Cara, was impressed by the wonders of bats. This bubble bathtub highlights all of the fantastic issues that bats supplied for us. Many might not notice it, however bats are wonderful pollinators. They assist pollinate such fruits as guava and agave – fragrances impressed by this candy and refreshing bubble bathtub.”

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Picture: TOA Waters, Javier Folgar