Well Hiya!
It has been a long time since I last wrote and I apologize for not keeping in contact with you. There has been a lot going on in SweetSavours’ world and I think it’s time for me to catch you up! This year has been a whirlwind of sorts. I’ve learned a lot and set the bar a little higher for, my business, SweetSavours Natural Body Care.
When I posted the last blog, I was gearing up and very excited about Small Business Saturday. I can’t complain at all. Though the market in Phoenix never responded to my request to be a vendor, my friend Kim and I had a great Open House! After that I held the first SweetSavours, home party in Tucson, AZ and that too, was successful. I was happy and blessed to have gotten so much accomplished in such a short amount of time. It wasn’t just the sales that mattered but it was the people I met and the relationships that we began.
Despite the success of the Holidays, I felt there was more I could do with my business. As I rested from the week long celebration of my mother’s 75 birthday, I took time and a few steps back to get a better vision of SweetSavours’ future and where I wanted my business to go. The result was realizing that I no longer want SweetSavours to be a “holiday” shopping experience but I want it to be a business that has natural body care products available all year round. I thought of what I needed to do, I established a 3-part plan of getting things done and I got busy doing.
Way back when, I began my business with an online shop with Etsy. The sales have been OK and Etsy served my “start-up” phase well. As SweetSavours has grown over the years, it has outgrown Etsy. I also see that the Etsy typical customer is looking for the lower cost products. SweetSavours has grown up and the products are not the average lotion and cream. Because of this, I knew I needed to have a website where people can shop comfortably and really understand what SweetSavours is and the differences of the products. I want the website to be a reflection of SweetSavours and me, casual and inviting and offering all the products that are available. I’m excited to tell you that I’m working earnestly to have www.sweetsavoursbodycare.com launch by the end of the month! Yes, a new website that will have all of the SweetSavours products made available all year round. If you would like a “sneak peak” and the opportunity to let ME know what YOU think before the site launches, please let me know. I will send you the link and let you take a look.
There is a lot or work that goes into have a successful business and for one like SweetSavours, it really can’t be done by only one person. I am so thankful for the family and friends who have helped me along the way. I’m especially thankful right now for the two people who are helping me with the website. One of these awesome people is the “Builder.” He came in and offered to help me get the website up and running. Along the way he has also taught me how to do some parts of the site build and also taught me things to be aware of on the site and with the public. I’ve also been blessed with a master “Photographer.” She is quick on the snap and brings SweetSavours products to life. You will see her outstanding work on the website.
Part 2 of the new SweetSavours, in addition to having the website, are the products. I’m proud to say I’ve never gotten a complaint about the products I make. Maybe once or twice I’ve been told to add a little more “savour” to a lotion, but the foundation I began the business with has been successful. I began with working out my personal skin problems. My skin needed healing and I formulated the coconut oil and cocoa butter products. Moisturization was the second issue for me to resolve so the Red Tea combo, loaded with Shea butter and Rooibos “Red” Tea was brought to the product line. Over the past few months the formulas of the products in these lines have been updated.
From the beginning, taking care of my own skin, I knew that healing and moisturization weren’t the only parts of good skin care. Just like our bodies do, our skin needs healing and nourishment but it also needs a little rejuvenation too. I spent time researching ingredients to find the ones that would help revitalize and rejuvenate our skin. Green Tea has gotten a lot of hype lately not only about helping people lose weight but also being a good source of healthy caffeine for energy. The caffeine in green tea provides the same energizing effect to our skin. I used green tea and healing hemp seed oil as the base of SweetSavours’ new Green Tea line of products.
I’ve had some encouragement and decided to take the next step and add a few more products to the line. At SweetSavours’ product base are the CoCo, Red Tea and Green tea SkinSavours products, the lotions and crèmes. The HandSavours and FootSavours products will also remain in the line. Before, the MangoMango and Peaceful LipBalms were extra products however, now, the additions to the SweetSavours product line will be LipSavours lip scrubs and balms. Of those, there are 3 to enjoy. There is the Shea Butter set with a nice Butter Cream flavor, the MangoMango set with a juicy Mango flavor and the Green Tea & Hemp seed oil set with a delightful green tea flavor.
Quite often I’ve been asked about soap and body washes and until this year I’ve been hesitant. During the last open house I held, the “Sweets” (my guests) who attended were pretty pleased with the soap samples the received. So, I’ve decided to make Savours’Sudz part of the line. The soap I will offer is a detergent free melt and pour soap. It’s a soap that has been already made by one of my suppliers. Savours’ job is to blend combinations of the bases, melt them, add a fragrance oil and pour it into it’s mold. Of course the soaps will follow the course of the other products in the line. For CoCo there will be a coconut milk and cocoa butter soap. Red Tea will include a Shea butter, goat’s milk and honey soap. Green Tea's addition will be a hemp seed and olive oil soap.
Well, that’s all I’m sharing about the product line. You’ll have to check it all out when www.sweetsavoursbodycare.com launches. The third part of the new plan is effective marketing. This has not been a long suit of mine and I knew that to take SweetSavours to the next level, I had to strengthen this part of my business. This year I committed to and completed 12 weeks of business marketing and social media training. I will become more consistent as I put what I’ve learned into action. Of course I’d love to have more new customers, and that's part of the plan, but the faithful customers I have now, “Savours'Sweets,” are important to SweetSavours and me. To keep people in the SweetSavours' loop, I will get back to blogging at least once a week. The blog will be brief notes about what’s going on with SweetSavours, upcoming sales and things that might encourage people to visit the website. Once a month I will send out “SavoursNews” to those who have requested to receive the newsletter. This will give the recipients more inside information from SweetSavours. I’ll welcome opinions and suggestions. I’ll offer recipients “SweetRewards” and also give advanced notices and first buy opportunities of what’s coming. As always, it is your choice of how you would like to stay informed.
Thank you for spending some time and reading along. I won’t take any more of your time and I hope I’ve gotten you caught up with SweetSavours and me. I’m looking forward to the next phase of this business journey and I’m believing you will come along with me. If you have any questions or comments, please, don’t hesitate to touch base. Don’t forget to let me know if you want to take a sneak peak and share your thoughts of sweetsavoursbodycare.com before it launches. Your input will be valuable to me!
Savour your day! Hugs,
Sherri McNeill
SweetSavours Natural Body Care Apothecary
