By ANDREA McCANN
Indiana Correspondent ZIONSVILLE, Ind. — A solution for lactose intolerance and skin sensitivities led the Kelley family of Zionsville to goat’s milk. Its benefits have been a blessing they love to share with others – so much that Deirdre and Ragan Kelley, 16 and 14, now produce goat-milk soap, fizzy goat-milk bath bombs, bath salts, felted soaps, linen sprays and bird-shaped lavender sachets to sell online, at markets and through shops. "The soap is our main product, but we’ve added on some things," Deirdre said. Wildflower Farm was born a year ago and broke even its first year. Kickstarter funds recently allowed the young entrepreneurs to purchase a pasteurizer so they can expand to making lotions. They’re also looking at adding other products, such as liquid soap and shampoo. But they’re expanding cautiously. "I like the boutique aspect," Deirdre said, explaining the sisters don’t want to grow the business so big that they can’t make everything themselves by hand. "We want to keep it small, but we want to help as many people as we can to find a natural product." The girls’ dad, Sean, added they have to be careful for the sake of inventory management, as well. "These young ladies manage the business, including the product development, customer relations and selling, all themselves, and have had a great time working through ways to carefully grow their business," he said. "Their first year, they broke even and covered all of the cost of caring for their goat herd. "They’re off to a fast start in 2015, with clear opportunities for growth." One of those opportunities is from a Kickstarter backer who owns a large Aveda salon in Texas. She contacted the Kelley sisters about carrying their products. Wildflower Farm products already are sold at DL Lowry Hairspa & Boutique in Indianapolis. They also can be purchased online at www.wild flowerfarmgoats.com/shop.html where they have out-of-state customers from Illinois, Michigan, Arizona, Texas and New Mexico. But Deirdre and Ragan continue to look for other ways to market their products. While they have sold their soap at farmers’ markets, they said it is labor-intensive and not the ideal outlet, so they don’t plan to participate in a regular farmers’ market anymore; however, they do plan to set up a booth at various specialty markets throughout the year. Getting down to business The teen sisters don’t have a formal written business plan since the soap-making operation – and then the addition of other products – more or less crept up on them and just fell into place. Their marketing also has been somewhat informal, with word-of-mouth testimonials and news articles their main marketing methods so far. They do maintain a formal budget. Putting all their proceeds back into the business hasn’t left Ragan and Deirdre much discretionary income for expansion, and to add lotions required a pasteurizer. Enter Kickstarter, a Web-based fundraising platform for creative projects. Within two days of launching a Kickstarter campaign in February, a community of backers had fulfilled the girls’ goal of $600 for a pasteurizer. With the rest of the month to raise funds through the program, the Kelley sisters decided on their next business objective and bumped up their Kickstarter goal. Ultimately, 36 backers pledged $2,201 to give their business a boost. The additional funding allowed them to purchase used restaurant-quality stainless steel tables and a sink, as well as have the plumbing installed for the sink. Sean said the stainless steel surface enables his daughters to more easily keep their work area free from bacteria. The girls also have a refrigerator/freezer in the work area for storing extra milk. "We don’t have to share space in the living area, which is nice," Deirdre added. Wildflower Farm has dedicated space in the Kelley basement for the production process, storage of supplies and finished products, as well as packaging orders and other business-related tasks. Ragan and Deirdre do the lion’s share of the work themselves, putting time-management skills to work to set a schedule that allows for schoolwork in the morning – after milking the goats and freezing the product – and leaves the afternoon and evening free for the business. Deirdre said they can make 34 bars of soap in an afternoon, clean the work area and then wrap soaps, make bath bombs, check inventory or do other chores necessary for the operation. While they started out doing most tasks together – and still do sometimes – the process naturally progressed to a division of labor that plays on each girl’s strengths and interests. "Some things are easier to make with two people," Ragan said. But, she likes to do the computer-related tasks, such as maintaining the Wildflower Farm website, and Deirdre is more of a people person, dealing with their contacts. Deirdre also makes the soap now, and Ragan prepares orders for shipping. Still, even with the division of labor, the sisters do their work in the same space at the same time. "It’s fun to be in the work area together," Deirdre said. "We can get three or four things going at one time." They said their younger sisters, Alana and Vivian, help make Wildflower Farm lavender bird sachets. |
