San Francisco 30-somethings clean up with Method dish soap
SF Chronicle, 10/08/06.
In 2000, two men in their then-twenties decided to transform the stodgy old household soaps and detergent business. Today, their business (Method Home) has been recognized as the seventh fastest growing private company in America by Inc. Magazine. Their current revenue is about $45 million a year.
What they did: they took a look at the detergent aisles in the grocery store and thought "yawn!". The bottles looked outdated, stodgy and just no fun. They then packaged a natural dish soap in a neat bottles and they spiced it up with new, cool scents.
When they started out, they went door-to-door, getting in the face of grocery store buyers as they came in to work in the wee hours of the morning. Once the product was on the shelves, they personally restocked and did in-store demos.
Their big break came in 2002 when they were signed on with Target. They partnered with one of the high end industrial designers to come up with new packaging and pitched the idea to Target.
Now that they are being knocked off more and more, they have lost a little of that which set them apart. So they are going back to their roots of also being a "green" and "good for you" product.
Check out their products at www.methodhome.com.
My take-away from this post: expect to have to reinvent yourself over and over. You may be fresh and unique at first, but competition will always run after your profits. Enjoy the race and enjoy the competition.
And, if you are looking for interesting new products for your own creative endeavor, be sure to let us know at www.tkbtrading.com.
Kaila Westerman
In 2000, two men in their then-twenties decided to transform the stodgy old household soaps and detergent business. Today, their business (Method Home) has been recognized as the seventh fastest growing private company in America by Inc. Magazine. Their current revenue is about $45 million a year.
What they did: they took a look at the detergent aisles in the grocery store and thought "yawn!". The bottles looked outdated, stodgy and just no fun. They then packaged a natural dish soap in a neat bottles and they spiced it up with new, cool scents.
When they started out, they went door-to-door, getting in the face of grocery store buyers as they came in to work in the wee hours of the morning. Once the product was on the shelves, they personally restocked and did in-store demos.
Their big break came in 2002 when they were signed on with Target. They partnered with one of the high end industrial designers to come up with new packaging and pitched the idea to Target.
Now that they are being knocked off more and more, they have lost a little of that which set them apart. So they are going back to their roots of also being a "green" and "good for you" product.
Check out their products at www.methodhome.com.
My take-away from this post: expect to have to reinvent yourself over and over. You may be fresh and unique at first, but competition will always run after your profits. Enjoy the race and enjoy the competition.
And, if you are looking for interesting new products for your own creative endeavor, be sure to let us know at www.tkbtrading.com.
Kaila Westerman
