Name of your website?Ka Nani Essentials-Home To All Your Bath and Body Needs
Your name?
Laura Jordan
Your Location (city, etc)
Alameda - East Bay Area
Please give us a short summary of your website?
Ka Nani Essentials is an e-commerce site for handmade bath and body products. Ka Nani Essentials uses quality all natural products that meets or exceeds Vegan Guidelines for purity. Hand made customized: Soaps both bars and liquid, Lotion, Body Scrubs, Facial Scrubs, Body Butters, Gift Baskets, Gift Sets, Jewelry With Bath products, Gift Certificates. All products are made with Natural Ingredients and customized to customer's choice of Essential Oils, Colors and Shapes. All requests taken. Small inventory as everything is made upon receiving the order.
What inspired you to launch your own website?
I was originally selling my products in conjunction with another company. Through company re-organization processes there was not room for my products anymore. Because my products sold so well it was just a natural decision to start my own company.
How did you decide on a name for your website?
I wanted something that sounded exotic but common. I liked 'Essentials' because I mostly use essential oils in all my products to scent them. One of my friends studied Hawaiian Hula Dancing and suggested trying to find a word in Hawaiian that described my products. After alot of brainstorming - Ka Nani Essentials was born. Ka Nani in Hawaiian means: Beauty or Beautiful. Hence Beauty Essentials Naturally!!
What makes it different from other, similar offerings?
What makes Ka Nani Essentials different is that all of our products are made at the time of the customer's order according to their choices. This ensures that the customer is getting the freshest product when their order arrives. What makes it We do not carry an inventory of products. Sometimes after a craft show or other special occasion we will have left over products, most of the time these are given away. Our products are located in Chiropractor Offices, OT and PT therapists, and individuals across the USA.
What is your eventual goal? (To sell it, keep it for income, secure a book or other mainstream media deal?)
My eventual goal for Ka Nani Essentials is for it to provide a viable business model for my daughter until the time she can decide whether she wants to continue the business or sell it.
How does your investment of time and money balance against your success?
Evenly. I am throughly enjoying my journey in building my business. I know that my products are good products and once they are in people's hands they continue to come back for more. So it is just a matter of building upon what I already have.
If your site got really big, really quickly, would you be able to keep up with the demand?
YES! I have back-ups ready to help! The recipes are tried and true and not hard to mess up. Plus some of our products coming have been mistakes that with a little tweaking became customer winners!
What unexpected costs and headaches have you had to deal with?
Being solely responsible for the website and making sure it is running and processing correctly.
What has been your biggest challenge?
Being a mom to a 2 yr. old and keeping entertained while I get things going business wise!
What method has been most successful for promoting your website?
Links, Links and directories!
How has running your website differed from your expectations?
I have had take a crash course in marketing psychology! It is a bit disconcerting to see big numbers of visitors but minimal sales. So it is a matter of advertising tweaking to get it just right.
How long have you run the site already, and how long will you continue to keep it up if you don't enjoy big gains in traffic, income or popularity?
I am not too worried about not gaining income or traffic because I had success selling my products both locally and nationally. So even though I have had my website for 3 months I will continue to do so as long as needed.
What is my favorite creation?
Bee Scrub. This is a recipe that I came up with one my own and continues to be very popular with great Customer satisfaction and GREAT success stories.
What is your website address?
Ka Nani Essentials-Home To All Your Bath and Body Needs
