January 31, 2022 0 comments

A Year in Entrepreneurship: The Balance Sheet

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This article is always difficult to write for several reasons. Firstly, because of my feelings (which I share with Sara), and most importantly, it's hard not to link our personal lives to our lives as business owners for Peau-Ethique.

The Good

To be completely honest, professionally, it was a very enriching year. Cathy (my mother, who founded Peau-Ethique) really supported us during this transition. She is always there to give advice and reassure us. We know we are fully capable of managing and growing Peau-Ethique.

And while we're patting ourselves on the back, we increased our revenue. Still without investors, still independently. We are very proud to see that we succeeded in this challenge. However, in full transparency, things have been a bit more complicated since October/November. We see brands created in 2019/2020 starting to close. It's a particular year, we're going to weather the storm and see what we can improve/offer to come back even stronger in 2022. Rest assured, we continue to receive our salaries and we also have an intern (who handles all communication/marketing). This gives us more time to work on other things.

Another positive point: our menstrual underwear. Already €700 donated to Endomind (for endometriosis research). Menstrual underwear is a market that has exploded! We are happy to offer you this product, but as we regularly say, it's not our core business. We continue to offer you organic lingerie at an affordable price.

Another point where we're getting a big head is the multiplication of our points of sale. This is a point we will work on even more. Being in local businesses (small bulk grocery stores, organic shops, lingerie stores) is a very important point for us. We are delighted to see shops opening and offering an alternative to fast fashion. In our department (La Loire), we are truly very well established and it's a pleasure to act as a local player.

The Bad

Here comes the truly negative point of this year: I completely failed to separate my professional and personal life. Sara and I get along very well, and it's a real blessing to have someone I can count on both professionally and personally. Working with family isn't easy for everyone, but for us, and since the company's creation, it's truly essential for the smooth running of Peau-Ethique.

Where this year (especially the last quarter) it was difficult was separating things. To quickly summarize, my father is sick, and I know this has impacted our work because we have to manage a company, but we are still human. I tell myself that we also need to work on that, but the very essence of Peau-Ethique is to be a small, family-run, transparent brand. The human element will always have its place in our company. Perhaps that's why every day we try to offer you the best products!

Shall we say see you next year?