Snow is a beauty tech brand that started with oral care products with their flagship being their best-selling at-home teeth whitening kit but is now expanding to the general beauty space with products like lip balm, lip exfoliator and other beauty products. Having scaled the company to eight figures in just under 12 months, Josh Elizetxe stands at an excellent position to speak about building a brand for the long term.
Describing his business, Elizetxe says that Snow is “the place where Beauty meets Tech.” “Snow wants to inspire and deviate from the status quo using technology.” It is also noteworthy that Snow is putting up a fight within an industry dominated by oligopolistic giants.
I sat down with Elizetxe and had a conversation with him about how his company managed to make $40 Million in sales within its first year of operation. I came up with three ingenious tips that you can also apply to your business.
One of the most substantial aspects of Snow’s business strategy is becoming a self-existent, independent, and self-sustaining establishment. As much as some experts will tell you to outsource, Elizetxe believes that if you own and do everything from within, you are on your way to being at the top of the food chain in your industry. By putting this idea into practice, Elizetxe has been able to build Snow into something more than a business. Everything they need for their success happens from within.
Ever since Elizetxe developed the passion for becoming an entrepreneur, he has had a constant craving to learn every aspect required to run a business. He recounts how he had to self-teach himself SEO, automation technology, programming, design, sales, and marketing, as well as networking and communication. Elizetxe says, “Do away with the limits in your niche to build your business into a brand that is still going to be relevant in the next 50 years.” Snow has had to design their advertising creatives and software in addition to using influencer marketing.
When Snow broke headlines with the teeth whitening kit being used by celebrities all across the world, many expected it to be an expensive product. According to the company’s head, it was important for people to think that way so that they could use the whole perception to the company’s advantage. Elizetxe knew that he had the freedom to price the teeth whitening kit at a high price, and he could still get people to buy it, but he did not do that. Instead, he had his team operate around a price that was lower than expected. Now anyone could lay their hands on Snow and get the same satisfaction that their favorite celebrity using the same product was getting. It was a genius move that not only got Snow to go global in under a year but also outshined the competition a million times over.
Additionally, Snow placed a five-year warranty on its main product. This strategy worked as a way to communicate the authenticity and result-oriented nature of the company’s products and services. At the back of his mind, Elizetxe knew there was a downside to his company’s pricing strategy. There was a potential risk of having his main product counterfeited. So he went ahead and got global patents for Snow. Elizetxe’s company is now the new global monopoly in beauty tech.
If there is one beauty tech company that has leveraged influencer marketing, it has got to be Snow. Elizetxe says that since they decided to go global, they have had to look for all the famous people in every country they introduce their products in. Be it in China or South Africa, celebrities are willing and waiting to buy a Snow product just because they saw Floyd Mayweather or Miss Universe using it.
Even though Snow is a tech-savvy company, Elizetxe says they had to maximize on some aspects of traditional production, marketing, and selling. As more businesses shift towards print on demand, Snow produces in bulk. In an interview, Elizetxe talks about how they have had to manufacture a million products for a million people globally and to get them to feel special in a million unique ways. The company also invests heavily in television advertising. This is contrary to what you would expect from a rather new entry into the beauty tech industry, as other companies in the same sector are specializing only on internet marketing.
Knowing what works for you and your business is essential if you are going to dominate the market. That is why Josh Elizetxe stresses the importance of prioritizing your customers. He believes that the best customer is the one you already have, and if you do your best always to keep them coming back for more, then you are in business.
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