We were lucky to catch up with Kountry Scentz recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kountry, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?

My wife and I began our journey to become business ownersin October of 2020 with aspirations of becoming debt-free. We researched different opportunities but none were the proper fit for us. We didn’t simply want copycat other avenues. Instead we looked into what we could do. Ally had been making body butters and hair products for herself for over 10 years; so there was our answer. We began blending fragrances and creating names and concepts to match. Our next move was to learn how to make soap. There were MANY failures yet we pushed through. So now we could get you clean and moisturized. Ok. So now momentum is building. On to the next move….a beard line encompassing four charismatic fragrances with oils, balm, wash, and conditioner. Candles had been a idea from the beginning but they’re much more difficult to manufacture than we could have ever thought. This was indeed craft to learn. We began with simple waxes and fragrances before building a premium line of high-end pure soy candles to become the centerpiece of the perfect aromatic getaway.
During the past five years Imy favorite pasttime was cycling. After using various anti-chafing creams on the market that didn;t work; I decided to make my own. We the created Betta Butaa, our own all-natural anti-chafing cream. This product works with any activity that creates friction. It upholds in water making it an excellent choice for swimmers. This product is ideal for triathletes who transition from swimming to biking to running. KOuntry Scentz has matured and grown into a full fledged business and we’re incredibly thankful for it. Our customer base has grown substantially and we’re extremely blessed to have an increasing number of followers..
We now aim to increase our online presence as we prepare to launch our website which will further expand our brand. We’ve become a great teamus two; constantly seeking ways to improve. We challenge each other to strive for optimal quality control and consistency amongst our product line.

Kountry, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

We believe that sets us apart from other vendors and businesses is the love that we put into our products. We put thought into the concepts and themes behind our products. We strive to create custom fragrance blends that can appeal to different audiences. We hold business meeting together to brainstorm ideas and ensure that we utilize feedback from our customers..

Interaction with our customers is key to our business. We believe that each person that we encounter deserves a warm welcome and a huge smile. We embrace customer service with high intention.

Being in business with your spouse takes incredible discipline. We are both strong minded individuals with strong work ethic but we come together to collaborate on our vision. We love bouncing ideas off each other and always take our customer reactions into consideration as well. We believe that this helps to solve customer problems because it allows them ro let us know what they desire from a fragrance and quality standpoint.

Wea re most proud of the fact that we are business with each other. We are building something from the ground up to create something special four children and grandchildren..

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

We funded our business purely from our own pockets. We both worked full and part-time jobs. We did/do our own researching of supplies. We have uilt relationships from different manufacturers. We order business supplies. We create our budget, We desing logos and branding. We then meet monthly to evaluate what we’ve done wrong and what it takes to make us better.

In this our second year of business we’ve learned to become more efficient with our prep time for events. We’ve learned to space out our time between events so we don;t overextend ourselves. We’ve learned that we beed breaks from time to time. We’ve also learned how to say no to events that may not best suit our needs for the business. These lessons were not at all easy to attain. They were arguments along the way’ but by meeting monthly we have found that our best work is done when we listen to one another.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

There actually were actually two different times in which we had to pivot in business. The first came in our beard line. While doing research of which oils work best; we chose sweet almond oil as one ouf our main ingredients. It provides excellent moisturizing properties that help to prevent flaking and dryness. What we didn’t consider is that some people have nut allergies preventing them from being able to use our product. The beard line had to be scrapped and then redone with a replacement oil. Lesson learned.

We also had to pivot with our candle line. We initially began utilizing a parasoy wax which gives an excellent fragrance throw. Unfortunately; we had customers who had pets with allergies to this wax. Who would have known? This pushed us to improve our line with pure soy candles that offer a cleaner burn than parasoy. With research and a ton of trial and error; we found fragrance combinations that performed up to our standards and were pleasing to our customers. We now have a premium line of candles that can be used as centerpieces that look as wonderful as they smell!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/KountryScentz
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kountryscentz/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kountry.scentz/