The Basics, but Better - Basic Maintenance Lab

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal care but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Andrew Lucas, Co-Founder of Basic Maintenance Lab, located in Toronto, ON, Canada.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

A full-spectrum, luxury self-care brand with a range of products that span from skin to hair to grooming to supplements and candles. We turn multi-step, multi-product routines into single, powerhouse formulas that do it all, so you don't have to. Our customers are people looking for a more efficient product option in self-care. Professional people with practical pursuits who settle for nothing less than exceptional.

Tell us about yourself

Prior to this, I'd worked in apparel—private label suiting. Then covid hit. Needless to say, I wasn't selling a lot of suits. So that downtime really accelerated putting together the collection and the brand. I was introduced to a team of chemists who, funny enough, were tired of making hand sanitizer during the pandemic and were intrigued by both the vision for basic maintenance as a brand and the challenge of formulating the types of products we'd wanted.

What motivates me each day is simply the act of doing. Motivation doesn't come from thin air. It comes from that incremental progress, no matter how slow or small it might be. Every step forward is something to be celebrated and built on. Momentum and motivation go hand in hand.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Launching our first pop-up retail concept in the heart of Downtown Toronto.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Patience. Everyone wants immediate sales, immediate success, and immediate recognition. That takes a lot of time. Try not to let it get you down. Unless you've got VC-backed marketing budgets - chances are you're not the loudest in the room and, as such, have to rely on product quality and customer service. That takes longer to take hold.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

1. Just start. Like I said above, motivation comes from doing. Not the other way around. You can plan for every detail and every contingency - which probably won't unfold the way you imagine anyways - but if you never get started, none of it matters.
2. Be flexible and be ready to pivot every day. Follow the market, don't force it.
3. Be prepared to fail at something new every single day. Learn on the go, and don't be afraid to break sh*t. It's all a part of the process.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.basic-maintenance.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BasicMaintenanceWellness
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/basicmaintenance/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-lucas-9207b621/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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