Ritology

Name: Daegan Coyne
Position: Co-founder
Website: www.ritology.co
Location: Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

In a world full of plastic, Ritology offers premium sustainable personal care disposing of disposables for good. Simplifying life’s daily rituals with quality products and absolutely NO PLASTIC, designed to last a lifetime making personal care better for you and our planet. Not to mention the razor, with one high quality blade, offers the smoothest shave with no redness.

What products/services do you offer?

Premium sustainable safety razors & travel kits along with a subscription service to have our quality blades delivered to your door on your schedule.

Why did you start your business and how long have you been running it?

Colleagues and friends, myself, a Canadian lawyer and Renee, an Australian Event and Logistics specialist bonded over our love of minimalism, wellness, and wine. Nerds at heart, we became overwhelmed by the conflicting advice and clever marketing surrounding various personal care and beauty products. Working in the industry we wanted to do better, be the change and therefore we sought better options for our body and the environment. Two years later, in 2019 came Ritology.

What struggles do you think most businesses face in your industry and what would you say they need to do to overcome them?

We are perfectionists. It’s been both a blessing and a curse for us. With some experience behind us, we have come to the realisation that sometimes you just have to put yourself out there and stop second guessing. Stop fearing that what you are doing isn’t good enough, it’s not perfect, what will others think?  It’s okay if things don’t work out perfectly, that’s life. Simply do your best and learn along the way.

What has been your greatest accomplishment?

We launched a new business, our passion project, all while raising a 2 year old, pregnant with my second child and making the big move to Shanghai with a 7 week old.

Our business itself, regardless of sales is a huge accomplishment as we did it all with our ethos at the forefront of every decision.

What has been your biggest ‘fail’ so far?

We’ve had a few mishaps along the way, however they always led us to a really significant idea or a new way of doing something. For example, we had a couple of failed sample runs of our packaging where the razor didn’t fit in the cork holder which meant a whole new mold fee and extension of the launch date. Failure is a really important part of the process. You’re not going to get everything right all of the time but it’s a lesson, and an obstacle rather than failure.

What do you love most about your business?

Working with my good friend, doing something for us that we are so passionate about and knowing it’s having a positive impact on our future is really exhilarating. We genuinely love what we are doing, and in that sense we can’t ever really ‘fail’. Every extra person that ditches their plastic razor for a lifelong Ritology razor the better!

What do you find most challenging?

Being just the 2 of us, it’s hard not to spread ourselves too thin. Limited time with two kiddos at home, skillset and money of course are common challenges small businesses face. We are most definitely looking to outsource some tasks when the time is right for us.

How do you promote your business (please include as many details as you can)?

Social media is our major source of marketing. It’s also where we have valuable connections, skills and experience. We have worked with some incredible influential powerhouses who have assisted in promoting our brand simply because they believe in us and our mission. This ranges from influencers, brand collaborations, competitions, advertising. The opportunities to promote a business are endless, it’s about choosing the right option for your brand that will propel you forward in terms of awareness, credibility or sales, without breaking the bank. There is a very intricate balance to get it right, especially for start-ups. You need to know where you can offer value and partner with like-minded brands and individuals.

What business skills do you have (eg. graphic design, customer service)?

I, ( Daegan), came from a legal background working in litigation for a number of years before opening up my own digital marketing agency when Instagram initially started taking off. This directed me into a new field of branding, in house legals and marketing. This is also how I met Renee who is an events, marketing and logistics expert. At the time she was aligning from beginning to end, world wide fitness events attended by thousands. She also founded one of Australia’s leading holistic wellness festivals! Combined, we have a great skillset and network.

What software did you/your designer use to create your website (eg. WordPress, Wix)?

In the very beginning we had a basic free Wix website collecting email addresses. When our product was almost finished we switched over to Shopify to set up for ecommerce.

What are some of your favourite business tools and apps?

• Asana for project management,
• Later for social scheduling,
• Canva for basic digital design and
• MetaFuro for internal communication!

What do you like about your website and what’s not working for you?

We love the capability of offering a subscription service so that our customers have the option of conveniently having blades delivered as and when they need them. It’s frustrating running out of blades and having to go to the shop. This way customers can adjust the timing of their delivery to their shaving habits themselves by logging into their account. We would love to get a copy writer and a UX/UI designer to help the customer flow and create a really engaging and fun experience. When we have our exciting new products we’ll invest in this!

What lessons have you learnt during your time as an entrepreneur?

There are so many lessons we could share.

For those with an idea, just start. Take the first step, whether it’s creating content based around your business, sharing knowledge on a blog, simply curating an Instagram account and sharing interesting information based around the product or service you dream of creating.

Every step will lead to a new finding or path. One foot in front of the other, your idea may change, go with it.

Lastly, it will always take more time and money than you originally planned, so keep that in mind but never give up.

What key tips for success in business would you like to share with others?

The same as above but also spend time with other entrepreneurs, if you don’t have a co-founder find others in a similar situation as you or event better, more advanced stage (look on Facebook groups, co-working spaces or networking events) and learn how to ask good questions. The better your questions are, the better the answers will be at moving you forward. In saying that, there are no silly questions so always ask. You will just learn as you go. Keep analysing your systems and processes and continuously improve. Efficiency comes from repetitiveness.

What is the one thing that you want everyone to take away from this post?

What is the one thing you can do now that will help you reach your goals? What’s the most impactful next step? Set a 30 minute timer and get it done (or at least start it). ps. I need to come back and read our own advice as procrastination and distractions get the best of us all sometimes.