All natural goodness
MELANIE MAGNO-RAMOS loves to create things. The former development worker and now mompreneur enjoys writing, poetry and baking. This inclination to the “arts” has led her to do many experiments. One of which is establishing her own organic bath and body line called Jarful of Goodness.
In an interview with BusinessWorld, Ms. Ramos shared that her bouts of rashes and the skin irritation of her daughter’s bug bites became big factors for her to decide to create natural bath and body products.
Ms. Ramos shared that the first batch of soaps, using lye, that she created was a “failure.” But after persevering through countless trial and error, she was able to produce a batch of products that were great enough to be given away to her family and friends. This generated some encouraging words from her friends who inspired her to start her own soap business. So in 2014, Ms. Ramos created a Facebook page for Jarful of Goodness and began her journey of being an entrepreneur.
Before Jarful of Goodness, Ms. Ramos admitted that she’s not keen on reading labels that stated the ingredients used to create skin products. But that all changed when she became pregnant with her daughter. She had PUPPP or Pruritic Urticarial Papules, a skin condition experienced by women that causes irritation, itchiness and other complications.
Her daughter’s birth has also pushed her to take notice of their skin regimen. Apart from frequent mosquito and bug bites, her daughter had severe eczema, which lasted for two months.
This prompted Ms. Ramos to research on organic products. She found out that 60% of what we used on our skin is absorbed by the body. This made her think that if she used chemical laden products, she was putting herself at risk.
At present, Jarful of Goodness has 30 stock keeping units. These vary from body scrubs, lotion bars, handmade soaps and kid and mommy friendly products.
Ms. Ramos recalled the problems that her online- based business encountered. The first obstacle was finding a good distributor. But since then, she found a passionate distributor in her daughter’s former teacher. Jarful of Goodness has also partnered with BeautyMNL. com, a Web site that features beauty products.
Another challenge that Ms. Ramos faced is knowing their customers and being active in social media.
Obtaining ingredients was also a problem because although some of their products’ ingredients are sourced from the Philippines, others are sourced abroad. Ms. Ramos shared that she orders in bulk and has to wait to receive her ingredients on time.
The last obstacle is research and development that takes months. Ms. Ramos dedicates 3- 4 hours to research trends and recipes on the Internet, and testing if the recipes that she found actually work.
When asked how she dea ls with adversities, Ms. Ramos shared that she finds both emotional and business support from her husband. She also gains support from a group of entrepreneurs called the Network for Enterprising Women. She also digs deep to redirect her focus. “It’s really important that you really love your job. It can be disheartening at times so it’s important that you have a vision where you really want to be,” she said.
Ms. Ramos shared an advice to aspiring entrepreneurs in the same industry. “Do your research and make sure that you try your best to source quality materials. Personally, I don’t want my buyers to feel short changed every time they buy our products because I don’t really consider our price point super affordable.”
She added the importance of connecting with friends and family for feedback but warned to consider whether what they are saying is reasonable and doable. Making use of marketing and social media to promote your brand and to minimize cost is also very helpful, she said.
For more information, e- mail to: jarfulofgoodness@gmail.com or visit www.jarfulofgoodness.com.