Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal care but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Steve Haymes, owner of Biotin Xtreme Hair Care, located in Atlanta, GA, USA.

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

Biotin X Treme Hair Care is an e-commerce based natural hair care product manufacturer making biotin-based shampoo. Biotin and Keratin conditioner and biotin hair restoration spray and follicle stimulator for men's and women's hair loss and thinning hair issues. Our customers are adults who have fine, thinning hair and hair loss. Over 50% of adult men and women will experience hair loss and thinning by their mid-thirties. Most would rather have a plant-based alternative to medicinal hair loss solutions for a healthy and effective solution to their problem.

Tell us about yourself

My wife and I have been in the salon and hair loss industry for over three decades and have seen the frustration of our tens of thousands of clients with hair loss issues. After selling all of them the counter products available for years, we knew there had to be a better solution without the damaging hormones, medicines, and frankly the harsh ingredients in most hair care products in the hair loss industry.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Developing our own premium hair care product line to our specifications using the experience that we have acquired over the years has been the most fulfilling aspect of starting Biotin XTreme. The natural plant-based aspect of the product line truly is the crowning achievement of our team's many years of hard work. Owning several businesses over the years, the first thing we wanted in achieve in our two-year-old business was to focus on e-commerce and enlist contractors to focus on what they do best in the marketing, manufacturing, and distribution of our products, so we could focus on the brand and product development, and not on the employee and retail issues related to brick and mortar business.

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

The employee management aspects of any business, although fulfilling, take a lot of the time away from the business aspects of any business model. Owning hair salons has been a good learning experience for us, making us realize the next chapter of our business careers and what we want to experience over the next decades in our business life.

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

  1. The business environment is changing daily. Twenty years ago, most businesses did not know how to utilize the internet, and social marketing today is imperative to almost any business. As a retailer, we saw our new client contact go to over 90% from google and social media. So it is not important it is critical for retailers to have a good presence online.
  2. The same rules apply even more to an e-commerce business. There is competition in every aspect of online sales, but if you have a great product (good may not be good enough). You market it honestly and can create and identify a customer while supplying a solution to their problem; you can succeed.
  3. Never spend your way to success. You have to take the time to develop the product and the marketing strategy (especially e-commerce) as there are no shortcuts or easy answers when growing a business. The cash on hand and the cash flow are not a luxury. They are the most important thing to success, after the product. Without a good fiscal strategy, there will be no success no matter how good a product or the business model is.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Don't be afraid to succeed but be realistic, find the correct niche for your business, and know that you will have to compete to get your customers. Do your research and, above all, find a customer's problem and offer them the best solution available.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.biotinxtremehaircare.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BiotinXtreme/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biotinxtreme/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bxthaircare
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/biotin-xtreme-hair-care-llc/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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