But this low-key environment sat perfectly with our vision for Trilogy. We wanted to spend our meager budget on quality product, design, sales service and innovative ways to market and grow our brand.
We had no intention of splurging on advertising, big salaries or high-tech offices. Although we were grateful when one day, our father arrived chainsaw in hand to carve a great hole in the wall between our two offices! Trilogy headquarters had become 'open-plan'.
Catherine and I began to take on the cosmetics industry in the spirit of our father's renovations. We had no experience and little concept of what it would actually take to get our product out there. Somehow this made us fearless. After all, you only fail when you stop trying right?
With a tiny launch budget, we optimistically figured we could just cover the cost of our first production run and its packaging. So we set about finding the people we'd need to help us.
We divvied up the jobs; I would use my finance, sales and accounting experience to concentrate on developing the business plan and establish channels to market via distributors and retailers; Catherine would put her efforts into product development and branding.
With grand ambitions and absolutely no contacts we started picking up the phone. Hundreds of conversations and meetings later we'd assembled a great team including the cosmetic chemists, a fragrance expert, designers, packaging experts and a sales team we work with to this day to get our products to market around the world.
That first year was an absolute rollercoaster. We'd paid ourselves a pittance but by the end of it our first range of products had rolled off the production line, several hundred stores were stocking our range, we'd made a profit and had great fun working together.
Sarah Gibbs.
Straight up and simple
Formulated by nature
