Turning an Everyday Problem into a Profitable Business.
Lori Rome is the perfect example of an entrepreneur who transformed a customer pain point into a business. She noticed that most lipstick tubes were disposed of with about one-third of the lipstick still in the tube due to fact that trying to remove the remaining lipstick was messy and damaged the remaining product. This meant that a third of the what customers paid for was thrown away.
Her product, Savour Last Kiss The Lipstick Extractor™, is a tool that extracts the leftover lipstick from the tube, which then becomes an instant applicator, saving that last third of your favorite lipstick shade. For the extractor, the company uses plastic-free, recyclable materials only and supports zero-waste makeup-use. So in addition to her product extending the usage of lipsticks (and saving consumers money), it’s also good for the environment.
Being a first time business owner, Lori was seeking support on how to navigate owning a small business and how to better market her product. By partnering with the Kutztown SBDC and the University of Pittsburgh SBDC Center of Excellence in Digital Services, Lori was able to find the guidance she needed. Through consulting meetings, an Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Analysis, a social media audit, and marketing strategy review, the Pitt SBDC came up with some new marketing ideas and corrections to the website. Since then, Lori has seen increased traffic to her website and much more engagement with her social media followers and blog readers.
When asked about how the SBDC has helped her, Lori said this: “The SBDC has been an invaluable asset in helping with our startup. Providing mentoring, assisting with financial’s and webinars. All at no cost. Anyone starting a business knows that keeping costs low is of the utmost importance. They are always there to assist with any questions and providing amazing tools such as SEO reports and the Growth Wheel. Aside from everything they are also sort of a ‘hand to hold’ when starting down the path to business ownership, and sometimes that’s all you need.”