As one of the co-founders of a locally owned tea company, ONO Tea, I’ve often been asked how I came up with the niche of targeting teas by lifestyle. My answer has always been the same: “It’s all about your perspective,” which has become both my mantra for business and life in general over the past year. For being such a young company (one year and counting) and owner, I have learned a lot about the techniques to penetrate a saturated market.
One of the biggest challenges we faced was the little amount of start-up capital to invest into the company. However, our change in perspective led us to a more cost-effective route and also created a very strong niche of our own.
Many companies have found their niche along the way, as we did, by falling into their own “demand pocket.” Our brand evolved from teas strictly targeted towards Yoga enthusiasts to teas targeted towards whatever your lifestyle may be. This was a direction that was not planned, but came to fruition after our teas were popular amongst a smaller yoga crowd in the Detroit area. Today we have ten tea collections, including teas for Athletes, Tots (children), Beauties, and even Real Men!
Initially when CEO Phuong Le and I started the idea of opening a tea company, we looked at other business models and almost followed a “standard path.” However, we quickly realized that this cookie-cutter approach would have made us just like every other tea company and that we needed to play off of our personalities.
Innovation was the key, and by using our knowledge of technology, online media and social networking, we were able to spread the word faster. It’s the whole viral nature of social media that attracts consumers to our products initially. We wanted our friends in our social channels to become a part of our journey and success story. This is why we will be showcasing all interested customers on our website, which is due to launch in the next few weeks.
Whatever it may be in business, fighting the economic recession or coming across a personal roadblock, it is all a matter of finding the right perspective on the situation at hand. There is always another way of looking at things and almost always another way to approach things.