What does it really take to start a product business when you have no experience in the industry and no idea where to begin?
In this episode, I’m joined by Louie Watkins, founder of Clear for Men, a British skincare brand with a mission to encourage more conversations around male mental health. Louie didn’t have a background in skincare or business. In fact, before starting Clear for Men, he was working on the railway and thought that was where his career was heading.
We talk about how Louie took his idea and turned it into a real product, from finding a UK manufacturer and developing his cleanser to getting his first customers and gradually building trust in the brand.
Louie is also really open about how difficult those early stages were. His first year brought just 31 orders, and without a big advertising budget, he had to work out how to get people to discover and trust a completely new brand.
We also talk about building a brand around a genuine purpose, why community comes before product for Louie, and what he’s learnt about focusing on what works for your business rather than getting distracted by what everyone else is doing.
If you have a product idea but feel like you don't have the experience or knowledge to make it happen, I think you'll get a lot from Louie's story.
Find Louie here:
Website: https://clearformen.co.uk
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/louis-watkins-29637126a
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/weareclear_
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@weareclear_
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/weareclear1
Chapters
00:00 Meet Louie Watkins and Clear for Men
00:28 Where the idea for Clear for Men came from
05:17 Developing a skincare product from scratch
07:59 Finding the right UK manufacturer
13:46 Creating packaging and the customer experience
16:27 Putting community and mission before product
18:44 Conversations around male mental health and self care
25:40 Finding the first customers
28:30 Building an audience through live streaming
32:48 The reality of growing a product business
37:04 Where to spend your time as a solo founder
41:10 Focusing on what actually works
45:37 Business, purpose and wellbeing
47:11 Louie’s number one piece of advice for product founders
49:36 Why you don’t need to do what everyone else is doing
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