Help us save Better Basics!
Our business is in a very challenging time, and we are struggling to keep it alive.
We need your help.
Watch the video to share, like, comment and learn more:
Why bother saving it? It’s a good question that I ask myself everyday.
I started Better Basics because I was looking for everyday home and self care products that lived up to my high standards, were safe to use, and didn’t leave plastic waste.
After losing both of my parents to cancer, I spent years cleaning my beauty and home routine, researching ingredients and materials, and learned that there are many common ingredients in our personal care, cleaning and home products that are not safe for cancer patients (or the rest of us). As I started digging into it, the list just kept getting longer. I'm talking about parabens, phalates, chloride and ammonium, petrochemicals, synthetic colours and fragrance, SLS, PFAs and microplastics.
Better Basics is very much an ode to my parents’ legacy. I grew up with entrepreneurial parents who taught me to work hard, create the reality that you want, and to do so while taking care of people and respecting our precious resources. Fun fact, my family was one of the first to compost and eat organic which instilled an interest regenerative and high quality products at a young age. I lost both of my parents to cancer before they had a chance to live out all of their dreams, and Better Basics is very much inspired by them.
I launched Better Basics with a focus on biodegradable materials (organic cotton, recycled paper and FSC certified bamboo), refillable and infinitely recyclable steel, aluminium and tin containers, and soaps and cleaning products made cruelty-free, vegan and non-toxic with plants like coconut oil, olive oil, aloe, essential oils.
Our vision with Better Basics was to fulfill the need for high quality, safe and environmentally friendly products. We launched a diverse range of products, from reusable kitchen items, to soap and cleaning refills and a self care line. We set it up with a subscription system to keep it easy for you busy folks.
We launched in 2020 amidst the pandemic with social media and online advertising was a great way to introduce a new brand. By 2022 the world was different and we knew our customers were looking for products like ours in their local natural grocery and gift stores, so we pivoted into wholesale. Our higher standards means lower margins. and less to run our business with. As we've been fighting to reach new customers, open new doors, and expand our product line, we have also been squeezed with supply chain costs increasing, shipping challenges and marketing costs rising. I have tried everything from Meta, Google, Amazon, distributors, brokers and tradeshows. I even gave up many weekends and evenings at home with my young kids to work pop up shops and markets.
In the past 3 years, tides have changed again and again making it nearly impossible for a small, sustainable brand to compete. We are up against expensive products that we are not willing to compromise on, mass distribution channels who don’t want to bet on a small brand, and not enough cash flow to fund our demand. The world shifted through a pandemic and now into a new world where people are financially pinched and don’t have the extra funds to buy better.
These changes have had an effect on our business, and our ability to stock our bestselling products, and bring out new products that are catered to the needs of our customers. Our future is bright with a focus on our hand soap refill, and some sleek and fun dispensers (we’re talking colours, patterns, collabs, baby!). But we can’t get there without selling through everything that we have today so we can refocus our efforts.
We have 30 days to sell 4761 products and then refocus our energy on bringing the refills back.
We need your help! Shop our products or like, share and comment on this video. Follow along @betterbasicsco to see if we can do it!
Thanks so much for your support, and for helping me save Better Basics.
Sam Rayner