Success in the natural tick repellent business comes with a catch: the bigger you grow, the more money you need upfront, months before spring sales begin. The pressure mounted for 3 Moms Organics founder Lisa-Jae Eggert as sales doubled year over year and her growth tracked at 70 percent through January.
In mid-winter, she had to buy all the components her contract manufacturer needed long before the busy season began.
“I have to pay for my product before my product’s even selling. I have to order all my bottles, all my tops, all my labels, everything has to be ordered before it even goes to the contract manufacturer,” she explained, highlighting the capital squeeze that can trap small business owners between opportunity and obligation.
Eggert’s business follows a strict seasonal cycle. Once the contract manufacturer has every component on hand, six to eight weeks of production must happen in the dead of winter, while revenue only flows when the first warm days arrive.
Faced with that crunch, Eggert turned to Amazon. Through her Seller Central dashboard, she discovered Amazon Pay’s Express Payout feature that lets her access funds within 24 hours, even on weekends, for free.
“I was able to go on to Amazon, go into my payments and take that pay five days early” she said. “Anybody who has a small business knows cashflow is the hardest thing to control.”
That financial runway enabled 3 Moms Organics to place its winter production order on time and retain the momentum of what promises to be its busiest season yet. With the cash flow hurdle cleared, Eggert has her sights set on a new milestone: revenue hitting the seven-figure mark.
“We’re projecting close to a million this year,” she said, up from roughly $640,000 last year, a 50 percent gain over the year before.
Eggert credits her success to Amazon’s support of small businesses, through tools, programs and even product safety enforcement. Amazon requires EPA registration and efficacy testing for all repellent products sold in their store. “Amazon making sure that there’s no illegal repellents on the site has definitely helped our growth exponentially,” Eggert said. Amazon’s requirements have helped her connect with customers nationwide who want natural alternatives they can trust.
“I know that Amazon was really consumer-centric for a long time, and you can see over the years since I’ve been selling on Amazon that it has become more about the small businesses as well,” Eggert said. “It makes sense,” she said, explaining strong small businesses create better experiences for customers, and satisfied customers help small businesses grow. “It’s a relationship where everyone wins.”
Looking ahead, 3 Moms Organics remains in its early stages, but with a clear path for growth. While Eggert refers to it as “a baby business,” she emphasizes it’s a viable one. Today, she runs operations out of her East Hampton home, packing up cases of repellent in her garage with four part-time employees.
“I have a feeling I’m going to have to spend more money on a bigger place next year,” she said with a wink and a smile.