I’m a change magnet. For real. I’ll briefly explain why that is and what I mean. I have this tendency to study trends, especially if those trends may affect my business. And more specifically if the trend happens to capture an aspect of my business or make up an aspect of my business. I believe that what has helped me most in my current business is my flexibility, my willingness to change and my resolve to find the right method of doing so.
The latest change—phasing out my deodorant sprays—is something I’ve been contemplating for some time. As I ramp up my efforts to get my deodorants placed on the shelves of health and herb shops around the nation, I realize that the spray variant cannot come for the ride. I will miss them. Like the pets some people have, my products are my babies. I grow attached to them, even if they’re a little dysfunctional.
Unlike the Pit Sticks (my original solid deodorant line), I don’t have to throw out an entire deodorant formula because there’s nothing wrong with the formula. It works beautifully in the roll-on variant. Hundreds of underarms around the globe can speak to that. What’s puzzling to me is that my first tests of the deodorant was in a spray bottle. A cheap, plastic spray bottle I purchased at Walmart. AND those cheap sprayers in the bottles from Walmart worked better than the supposed higher-quality sprayers I’ve purchased from various suppliers.
Backstory on the roll-on variant. Adding the roll-on version came to me after testing had completed on formula effectiveness using the cheap, plastic spray bottles. The roll-on variant, however, has proven to be much easier to dispense and go than the spray. This is also seen in my sales report, where I’m selling way more roll-on units than spray. Despite changes to sprayers capable of larger particle dispensing, that variant still fell short.
Even in my own tests, I ended up either having to pull up the pump by hand to get more deodorant through the fine-mist sprayer or having too much dispensed when I used the higher-output sprayer. At one point, I even pulled out my old cheap, plastic sprayer, and it worked! Totally worked! But, see, I don’t want to use cheap, plastic sprayers. I want to use the pretty bottles I was using. But I can’t do that, because YOU can’t do that. I can’t expect you to have to pull up the pump by hand to get a second or third spray out of the nozzle, because I am was willing to do that. That’s entirely too much work.
It finally came to me. Who wants to go through all that just to use deodorant? My answer to myself was, nobody, Nandi. Nobody wants to go through all that. What confirmed what I already knew to be the case, were a few comments from health and wellness buyers at stores I’ve been visiting, who sampled the sprays and roll-ons. Unequivocally, they suggested letting the spray versions die a fast death.
So, what are my plans? Glad you asked. As of now, bottling of my formula into sprayers has ceased. From now on, ONLY roll-ons will ROLL OUT. I do have some deodorants already bottled in sprayers. Those will be deeply discounted until sold out. Once they’re gone, that version is gone. For anyone who purchases the remaining inventory of spray formula, I will continue to drop in the higher-output sprayer. Here’s a tip: when the sprayer pump gets stuck, if you pull the pump up manually, you’ll be back in business. *sigh* The things you do when you want something to work badly enough. Right? The good that comes from this, though, is that once again, I’ve noticed something that wasn’t working well, and I’ve made adjustments. Doing business means we’re never short on challenges faced and lessons learned. Right? ;-)
Note: Did you grow tired of wrestling with your bottle of deodorant spray and stopped using it? If so, I’d like to apologize for that. Your satisfaction is important to me, and it goes without saying, what’s the point of having a great deodorant if you can’t get it out of the bottle? Contact me and I’ll be happy to gift you with a replacement roll-on. Be sure to provide your e-mail address, if this was an online order, so I can retrieve your account information.
