HerbNet....for
everything herbal
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Founded: 1992 Employees: 1 + 2 part-timers Annual Sales (if you’re willing) $175,000.00 Q: How did you start (or become owner) of the business? I started by making an herbal cough syrup at home. This I sold to a handful of stores (health food stores, botanicas). Then I sublet 100 square feet of retail space in a J.J. Newberry (five and dime store), where I sold my syrup along with well known lines of herbs, vitamins, etc. Q: What made you choose this type of business? A Creole herbalist cured me from drug addiction, and then taught me old fashioned New Orleans’ herbalism (asafetida, allspice, bayberry, gumbo, golden seal, “reading” etc.). I wanted to share this knowledge. Since I was working in the medical field at the time, the idea of making herbal medicine, and selling it, just seemed right. Q: What is your background? I taught school for two years, worked at ABC Television for two years, and then worked in the medical field for nine years. I come from a medical family. My wife is a doctor (neurologist), I have three sisters-in-law and one brother-in-law whom are RN’s, and an uncle owns a medical supply company (oxygen tubes, masks). Q: What are your biggest challenges as an herb business? Surviving FDA scrutiny has been BY FAR my biggest challenge. In 2005, three of my top five bestsellers were banned by the FDA (lagundi, an asthma herb from the Philippines; sutherlandia frutescens, an antiviral herb from South Africa; and, a rejuvenating fulvic acid from South African). This experience decimated my spirit and bottom line ($); I’m only now beginning to recover. Q: What are the biggest rewards of being an herb business? Literally changing people’s lives. Q: What is your philosophy of customer service? Try to be like Neiman Marcus; that is, please the customer. Q: What makes you stand out from your competitors? Unique products, interesting stories, strange owner. Q: What plans do you have for your business? I plan to focus more on the big picture; that is, trying to effect cultural change as regards to eating and nutrition habits. I believe we have to start eating more leaves (and herbs), instead of throwing them away. Tons of okra, pepper, broccoli, papaya, strawberry, beet, grape and other leaves are being thrown away every day – all these are edible. In fact, leaves are usually more nutritious than the other parts of the plants we now eat. In the wake of this educational plan, which I call cycling (using something that’s here already, but we’re not using it), my products (which are mainly leaf-based) will naturally get a marketing boost. Q: Is your family supportive of your business? Yes, moderately, but they have helped me more on the plant consciousness side (they have green thumbs). Q: What do you wish you’d done differently with the business? I wish I had started out with a defined “what we stand for” type statement. I didn’t because I didn’t have one; now I do. Q: What do you think people starting out should know about getting into your type of business? First of all, it is a business. You can’t survive if you don’t have some business acumen/training. Remember: the herbs you want to sell may not be available, and that even if they are available, the FDA might not let you sell them. Q: How has the internet helped/hurt your business? The internet has helped my business in terms of research and communications with customers/suppliers. Since I’m not very adroit with a computer, I’ve never put much effort into internet marketing. My internet sales compose <5% of my business. Q: How long has it taken for your website to pay off? See answer above, my website accounts for <5% of my business. Q: What things have you done to promote your website? Nothing other than listing my website on labels, etc. Q: Is there anything else you’d like to tell people about your business, growth, or plans? Please spread the word about eating leaves and cycling (using the things that are already here but are being thrown away). The future of our planet is more important than the future of my business.
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The Herb Growing & Marketing Network |
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