Entrepreneur.com.ph

Beach Hut comes in two sizes: 75 ml, which retails for P220, and 180 ml, which retails at P390. "We wanted something in the current market range-not too low because we didn't want a price war or to be perceived as cheap, Beach Hut being an image product," Balajadia explains. "But we gave Beach Hut its distinctive packaging so the public will see that local brands are competitive with imported ones. And to promote the product, we put up the usual booths and events, but that was all. I don't go for too much marketing tactics because I believe that the product should sell itself."

But the product initially found it difficult to get distributors. "I couldn't even arrange a meeting with the older companies," Balajadia recalls. "A lot of people were telling me to just go with virgin coconut oil or things that were trendy at the time, but I ignored their suggestions because what I wanted was to create new niche products. Anyway, after being turned down by one distributor after another, I was finally able to sign up a younger distributor. I didn't even earn much in that deal but I really had no choice. You see, it was already February in 2006 and I needed to get my products in stores for the summer."

Anywhere between 40,000 to 60,000 units of Beach Hut were produced in the first manufacturing run, and these were distributed to 100 to 140 outlets, including Mercury Drug, 7-Eleven, Watson's, Shoemart, Robinsons, Rustan's, and other major establishments. Balajadia says he really didn't keep track of the exact volumes sold, but by April 2006, the supplies began to run out and another batch had to be produced.

It soon became apparent that the public had immediately taken a liking to the first locally manufactured spray sunblock. In fact, Beach Hut grossed a total of P10 million that summer of 2006, the profits from which Balajadia plowed right back into the company to fund additional product research and development.

Balajadia then hired three more employees to work as brand managers of Beach Hut-youthful people who really love the beach and actually use sunblock, and who are capable of bringing stand-out ideas to the table. Each of the brand managers heads a product group staffed by three people. "We now have 22 employees and I'm spending about P500,000 to P700,000 a month for operations, with most of the money going into product development for now," he says.

In addition to Beach Hut, Naturale has since launched three other products: UrgenCee, an effervescent Vitamin C drink mix; Cycles, a mild laundry detergent; and Bliss, a line of lubricants. "I'm constantly looking for pioneering products that can challenge the monopolies," Balajadia says. "Of course, I realize that in time, some of my brands will probably need to be phased out, while others will grow. I also know that not everyone will like our products, but that's good because our products are actually not for everybody."

Balajadia keeps a casual environment in his office floor, which he rents in a building owned by his family. Employees are free to wear comfortable clothes of their choice, to express their ideas, and to be as mobile as they want. But Balajadia does impose his own set of rules. In particular, he requires each employee to read each month at least two of the over 150 business know-how books that he keeps in the office library. He also holds regular "stoning sessions," wherein each brand group makes a presentation to the others at the risk of being "stoned" if any loophole is found in the plan being presented.

Since Beach Hut is a seasonal brand, Balajadia thought of also marketing the product abroad, with beach-lovers in other Asian countries as target customers. For this purpose, the company sent abroad two international business developers-the company calls them "Beach Hut Backpackers"- one to Bali, Indonesia, and the other to Phuket, Thailand. With just a backpack, flip-flops, and a supply of products, they went on a mission to land Beach Hut on foreign soil.

Within two months, the international business developer sent to Bali was able to get Beach Hut into 40 outlets of the Circle K convenient stores and in various surf shops in the resort-island. "It was the first time for our Bali backpacker to go abroad, but she got the job done through really good networking and street smarts," Balajadia says.

The company is now working to also distribute Beach Hut in Malaysia and Singapore, and plans to make future marketing forays into Dubai, Shanghai, South Korea, and Vietnam-markets that Balajadia had chosen for their strong economies.

"It's quite easy to get to these foreign markets now, what with all the budget airline fares and telecommunication facilities available to us today," says Balajadia. "We're starting out with Asia and we will just expand from there. As for the Philippines, we have two more products coming up-an SPF 75, the highest in the Philippines, and a sunblock that protects the hair. We're going to market them in beach resorts, setting up umbrellas and hammocks as promotional materials. We plan to go even bigger this time so we can at least double last year's sales."


Contact details:

NATURALE LABORATORIES
73 Scout Fernandez Street
Barangay Laging Handa, Quezon City 1103
Telephone: 3762283
Websites: www.lotionsucks.com , http://bizispersonal.blogspot.com