Busy Beauty, the startup simplifying personal maintenance, has cleaned up with $500,000 from several high-profile investors.
The investors backing the emerging brand include former Burt’s Bees and Seventh Generation CEO John Replogle, partner at One Better Ventures, Carl Sparks, former president and CEO of Travelocity, Courtney Reum, co-founder of M13, and Melissa Fensterstock, CEO of Landsdowne Labs. Busy Beauty kicked off in May last year with Showerless Shave Gel, a no-rinse-required hair removal aid, and recently added Showerless Shampoo, Showerless Conditioner and Showerless Body Wipes to its product range priced from $6.99 to $9.99.
“There are so many brands that are starting right now with another coconut moisturizer or more makeup that don’t have any foundational differentiation. What a lot of investors really like about us is that everything we are building is new and different for a very specific purpose,” says Michael Leahy, co-founder and CEO of Busy Beauty. “What this investment does is it turns something that was a test into something that’s a brand and a business. It allows us to launch our full line, have money for suppliers, build a proper website, and start building content on Instagram to engage with customers.”
If there’s a nascent beauty brand test, Busy Beauty has scored a high grade so far. As of November, the brand generated $140,000 in revenue on a single product, Showerless Shave Gel. Its sales trended upward 300% this year, and Leahy projects they could surge 500% to 600% next year. Busy Beauty’s distribution network has quickly grown to retailers and e-tailers such as Free People, Beauty Brands, Ricky’s NYC, Bed Bath & Beyond and Amazon.
“There are so many brands that are starting right now with another coconut moisturizer or more makeup that don’t have any foundational differentiation. What a lot of investors really like about us is that everything we are building is new and different for a very specific purpose.”
“We are in a very unique position with the brand. We are seeing a lot of retail demand, so we can pick and choose our retail partners. The ones we want to work with are the ones giving us prime placement,” says Elena Goldstein, director of business development at Busy Beauty. “We want to make sure our brand is displayed cohesively. When we talk to mass market retailers, they say, ‘Your products are all in different categories. One product will go on this shelf and another on that shelf.’ We aren’t interested in that.”
The concept for Busy Beauty was born when Leahy and Jamie Steenbakkers were classmates at Babson College, which they graduated from six months ago. Between school, sports, part-time jobs and friends, they found squeezing in showers tough. “Personal hygiene fell by the wayside,” admits Steenbakkers. Leahy expounds, “As two 19-year-olds, we pulled together the idea into something that resembled a business.” Leahy and Steenbakkers, now 23- and 22-years-old, respectively, spent a year perfecting the prototype for the Showerless Shave Gel before it premiered.
On a tight budget, Leahy and Steenbakkers relied on Amazon to prove Busy Beauty had legs. Leahy believed the brand could accumulate positive reviews on the massive e-commerce platform and convince customers its Showerless Shave Gel was worth taking a chance on. The product nabbed four stars and, to date, about 35% of Busy Beauty’s sales have come from Amazon. Leahy shares the aim is for the brand’s website to drive half of its business with the remainder split between Amazon and retailers. Charming Charlie will join Busy Beauty’s retail roster in the spring.
“All I really think about is the customer, what her challenges are during the day, and how I can make her day easier.”
“A lot of discovery will happen on the retail shelves and on Amazon, but, every time we have someone who tries one product, whether it’s the shampoo, conditioner, body wipes or shave gel, when they buy it a second time or want to try other products, that’s when they come to our website,” says Leahy. “Early on, we will see a lot of Amazon and retail traffic, but, in the long run, we want to build a community and a line of products people can connect with.”
Busy Beauty’s products promise to help women get ready in five minutes or less. Its core customers are young professionals on the rise and mothers without the luxury of excess hours to pamper themselves. Steenbakkers, CMO of Busy Beauty and the brand’s product development expert, says, “All I really think about is the customer, what her challenges are during the day, and how I can make her day easier.”
Beauty Busy will continue to swell its arsenal of personal care staples, and the brand is developing products tailored to the needs of its partners. For example, Leahy envisions small sizes of the Showerless Shave Gel as fits for fitness chains. Busy Beauty is available at Core Power Yoga. Travel and college destinations could be future distribution targets for the brand. “You will see variations of our products at different outlets,” says Leahy. “We want to move faster than the giants. That’s the whole plus of having a small team.” John Schoenith, director of digital strategy, rounds out Busy Beauty’s management team.
In roughly a year, Busy Beauty plans to fundraise again. For a second round, Leahy figures the brand’s objective will be to attain $2 million to $3 million. At the moment, though, its goal is to flourish with existing partners. Goldstein says, “We want to really understand where our customer is shopping and be present in those channels, and support the retailers as much as possible whether that’s with displays or events.”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.