We recently connected with Precious Jones-Ward and have shared our conversation below.

Precious, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear your thoughts about family businesses.

Having a family business can be very rewarding but also a headache at times lol. Elite Natural Essence is a family business consisting of myself, husband and son. We decided to make our business a family business because its something that we can build together and reap the rewards as well and create a family legacy. I didn’t want my son [only] thinking that being an employee is his only option and that having his own business is something he can achieve.

When starting a family business everyone have to be on the same page. Having a full understanding of what is required of each member and the work that need to be put into starting a business. You definitely need to have position titles, job descriptions and responsibilities written so that everyone knows exactly what is required of them. Depending on how many family members are involved and what role they are in, having an understanding on how to resolve disputes, conflicts and making decisions for the business will need to be discussed as well. In our case I would be the majority owner in our business so if we ever at odds I will make the final decision but only after taking everyone’s point of view in consideration.

With Elite Natural Essence, I wear many hats like research and development, manufacturing, distribution, etc.. as well as being the face of the company. My husband assist with finances, any physical work as well as assists with research and development to name a few. Our son plays important roles but are limited due to school. He assists with website design as well as product label development, shipping and product manufacturing.

Having a family business can help with keeping costs low, being able to trust the people around you as well as knowing that everyone will do their very best because they are invested.

The downside of having a family business would be members not doing their part, being lazy or thinking that they don’t have to work hard or show up when needed. That becomes the headache lol. But those dilemmas can be resolved with good communication and listening skills.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

I got into this industry/my business due to me suffering for years from health issues that are contributed by conventional hygiene products that I was using. I agonized for years with pain, discomfort, minor surgeries, and tons of medication not knowing that the products I used were causing and even exacerbating the issues I was going through. I decided to find natural alternatives to treat and fix my health conditions. Upon researching, I discovered the types of toxic chemicals that are used in personal care products that are linked to several health conditions like cancer, thyroid, kidney, and even respiratory issues. From that point on I knew I had to change the products I and my family used on our hair and skin. I tried numerous expensive “natural” products but realized that they weren’t truly natural or organic and was a waste of time. I then did more research and decided to formulate my own essentials that i “knew” was truly natural and organic that would be safe to use. I started with our growth and nourishment hair oils then went into our body butters, natural deodorants etc… It took years to research, test and create the best formulas that creates my essentials.

My beauty, health and wellness line consists of all natural organic herbal and fruit teas, skin, hair and body-care essentials like aluminum-free deodorant paste, talc-free body powders, natural body washes, sulfate-free shampoo and moisturizing conditioner, antioxidant face wash, exfoliating clay masks and so much more.

If you are suffering from skin, hair or health issues and are looking for an alternative solution then our essentials are the perfect choice. There is a good reason so many people are getting away from products filled with chemicals, fillers and toxins which cause so many of our health issues. Trying a different approach by going natural, improving health issues, and still having great quality that you need in a product, is what Elite Natural Essence offers. Our essentials are made up of organic raw ingredients formulated to target and resolve specific issues. We pride ourselves on the transparency and quality of our essentials and created this brand to help others.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

The most effective strategy for growing our customer base is trust and transparency. Since I’ve started this business, I made it very important that we stick to being open and honest with our customers. It takes a lot for a person to ingest or use a product on their body without knowing anything about it especially being from a small business. I want our customers and potential customers to know that they can trust our brand and essentials. From the organic raw ingredients that we use, benefits of those ingredients and why they are created. So, because we offer that trust and transparency our customers appreciates and understand what our brand and mission is about. They really support us as a brand and refer our essentials to others as well as send us messages all the time about their wonderful results, kind words and reviews.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

We, of course have a website, www.elitenaturalessence.com but we are also on other platforms i.e. Amazon and Walmart.com. We made a decision to be apart of these particular platform because of the notoriety and reputation, These platforms are widely used, have great reputations and accessible around the world so it would definitely help our brand awareness. These amazing platforms give us the opportunity to offer our essentials to potential customers who otherwise would not have known that our brand exists. It helps build our brand reputation as well.

As for the cons of being on these platforms, I would say understanding how they really work being a (new) seller. Marketing, advertising and being seen by potential customers are big concerns. There are so many companies and sellers on these platforms that its hard to be seen and pushed to the front (first few pages). But researching and getting a better understanding of these things will help move you into the the right direction to being successful on these platforms. It also takes times to build your brand on these platforms its almost as if you’re starting over again to build your brand.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.elitenaturalessence.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elitenaturalessence/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EliteNaturalEssence/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UC-B1sF76UnbjhjNZaBwDr5w
• Other: Pinterest: https://pin.it/6eT5m7q Linktree: https://linktr.ee/elitenaturalessence Walamrt: https://www.walmart.com/search?q=elite+natural+essence Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/shops/elitenaturalessence

Image Credits
(Personal Picture) – Photography by JL (Marketing Pictures) – LoveSwag Co.