Tadaaaam! The Day Has Come. Over the past two months, things have sped up around Lost Garden. The Lost Garden Biotechnology Ltd. has officially been established. We’ve received the necessary approvals from the relevant authorities, and our products are ready for sale. The packaging is complete.
Oh, the packaging!
Wow, that was a challenge 🙂 I hadn’t worked with print materials in years, and I’d never dealt with packaging before. Which material should we choose? Who should be the manufacturer? How can we check the quality in advance? What kind of sealing should we use (wait, what?), how do we make the logo shimmer with a metallic shine, or create an underlay that’s subtle yet visible in the right light? The list of questions goes on.
We jumped in: Google, offers, negotiations, personal factory visits, waiting nervously by the machines to see the output… Then 1.5 weeks later, everything was done, and the packaging materials were boxed up. Finally, we held them in our hands.
But do we like it?
We like it. No, we don’t. But why don’t we like it? I don’t know. It’s… everything. Okay, let’s sleep on it and show it to others.
“Wow, this is great!”
Alright, so it’s good. Let’s enter our first competition and send out the packages. Destination: London! We’ve entered all four products into the Nourish international competition. Judging for dietary supplements should be starting around now. We’ve already entered another competition, and the package is on its way to Italy.
We’re excited.
But it’s the good kind of excitement. Will it be good? So far, it seems promising. We’ve only posted a few times on Instagram and Facebook, but inquiries are already coming in. Friends are asking: “What is this? Where can I buy it?” That’s encouraging. And now, companies are reaching out!
Would we like to meet with the owner of a network in Budapest? Are we interested in working with a newly established private clinic? Would we like to collaborate with a pharmacy chain?
Wow, yes, of course!
We want to talk to everyone, to better understand what we’re doing and what value we might offer. But hold on a second—what exactly are we doing? Why are we doing it? What does this business mean to us?
We love our life. We want to create something good and valuable. We want what we do to be beneficial for our customers. Every product is handmade to avoid using additives—additives that are essential in machine-made products.
And the questions keep coming!
What do we want as business owners? How can we achieve it? What paths can lead us there? How do we envision our company in 1-2-3-5 years? What do we already have? What’s missing? How much money do we want to earn? How much are we willing to risk? Do we want employees? How big do we want to grow? What should we optimize for—time, money, or quality? What is the priority? What is the goal, and what is the means to achieve it?
Let’s take a step back and reflect.
Thoughts are maturing, and we talk a lot with Kata. The picture is slowly taking shape. But to answer all these questions, one thing is crucial: we need to believe in the product. And it helps to hear what our customers say—about everything. What they love, what they’re looking for, and what they desire. How can Lost Garden be as much about them as it is about us? Not in the same way, but just as much.
So, let the first customers come. We’re not advertising; we don’t even have a webshop yet (it’s coming in July). But we’re open, curious, and communicating. We’ve started conversations, and the people we talk to are curious, too. Some are already telling their friends, and now they’re curious as well. The first packages are being prepared. We’ve done everything ourselves, and we might even know exactly who will receive each one.
And somehow, this is a beautiful thing.
I love it.
The original article was published on the Vendler.hu blog.
