Nothing is too crazy when you make beard oil
Je maakt nogal wat mee als baardolie producerende oliebaron. Ik blijf me telkens weer verbazen over de vragen of verzoeken die ik krijg. Over de mensen die ik onverwachts op mijn pad blijf tegenkomen. En bovenal hoe al deze mensen, vragen en verzoeken bij mij terecht komen. Natuurlijk, sommige zoek ik bewust danwel onbewust op, echter er blijven er meer dan genoeg over die ik nooit heb zien aankomen?
De afgelopen jaren heb ik nog wat rare vragen, verzoeken of contactmomenten gehad. En begrijp me niet verkeerd, hoe gek ze soms overkomen, we nemen ze allemaal serieus. Nou ja, bijna allemaal dan…
Research
We are regularly called by students, scientific researchers, PhD students and whatnot. With the request whether we want to cooperate in investigations. This ranges from business students who apparently continue to wonder how you can earn a living with beard oil. But we also get questions about the use of beard care products. And what the effects are. Or how we deal with the laws and regulations regarding cosmetics. But also students who think they have come up with smart questions for their thesis that really don't make sense at all.
No question is too crazy- We are investigating the use of beard oil by women under 25...
Partnerships
Iets wat in mijn ogen logischer overkomt zijn de verzoeken voor partnerships. Op zich natuurlijk niet raar als je een producent bent van een goed verkopend kwaliteitsproduct (iedereen wil een graantje meepikken). Echter als ze verwachten dat jij voor ?0,50 wel even een 30ml baardolie aan hun wilt slijten zodat zijn deze voor ?39,95 kunnen verkopen aan hun retailklanten dan vrees ik toch dat ik je niet serieus kan nemen.
What is of course much nicer is that I have also been approached more and more by celebrities in the last few years. I won't name names right away, but I've been talking to an internationally known rapper about a private label for a long time. In the end, corona threw a spanner in the works and the conversations broke down.
Sometimes something (for example corona) throws a spanner in the works- at such moments I just think "nothing really matters".
Sommige partnerships zijn wel heel erg vruchtbaar. Zo zijn we nu bezig met een gamer die in de top 3 staat van de Hollandse ranglijsten en deze samenwerking blijkt erg vruchtbaar. Vooral ook omdat het een erg ondernemende club is die veel goede ideeën heeft en daardoor erg succesvol is. Iets wat voor ons natuurlijk ook zijn vruchten afwerpt.
Sometimes I listen to a business plan from very ambitious entrepreneurs and then you already know because of their whole attitude and arrogance that this isn't going to be it. If you walk into my house because you can't do something and then tell me that you know better and I should just listen to you, then every sane fellow realizes that that won't work with this oilman.
I don't know how to produce this- but I'm going to tell you how to do it because you're doing it wrong...
But there are also customers with beautiful dreams and a solid plan who immediately place a sample order and never hear about it again. It can get weird sometimes.
Vernieuwende ideeën
Het allerleukste vind ik de mensen die binnenkomen met geniale ideeën. Helaas blijft het vaak alleen bij een idee maar sommige zou ik toch echt graag met hen verwezenlijken. Zo was er ooit een chefkok die wilde zijn kennis over kruiden en geuren uit de keuken gebruiken en verwerken in een baardolie. Helaas is dat uiteindelijk nooit doorgegaan.
I have an idea- I want to start selling beard oil in a bag...
Maar ook de eenvoudige ideeën, denk dan bijvoorbeeld aan afwijkende verpakkingen of labels zien we voorbij komen. Sommige succesvol en sommige ronduit belachelijk. Maar van alle ideeën leren wij weer dus altijd nuttig zulke gesprekjes.
Outside of the box
Sometimes something comes our way that we really didn't see coming. Of course we had our “48 hours of fame” after we gave King Willem Alexander a sample pack of beard oil had sent. And all the hilarity that followed with radio interviews, publications in the daily and weekly newspapers and screenings on national television.
Maar soms zijn het ook eenvoudigere dingen die voor de aanvrager volkomen logisch zijn. Zoals een universiteit die een tentoonstelling aan het organiseren is over baardkralen. Dat zijn initiatieven waar wij graag aan bijdragen en voor mij persoonlijk is dat ook een mooie gelegenheid om mijn privé collectie van authentieke viking baard ringen te tentoonstellen.
You sell beard beads?- We are going to organize an exhibition about beard beads...
We have also been asked every year for the past few years whether we want to participate in a television program for entrepreneurs. That sounds fun and exciting in itself, but we don't really feel the need to squander a percentage of our company on some investor.
I never would have thought 6 years ago that this would all come into play. And as weird as some requests are, I still enjoy them.
Good causes and charity
We regularly receive requests whether we want to contribute to a good cause or charity. Now we are very picky about that. (read: we like to choose ourselves instead of being asked) However, there are always exceptions. A single beard club has found our hearts and there are a lot of their initiatives that we are happy to participate in. For years we have supported the Lion Foundation on our own initiative.
If you just buy it for me- Of nog beter geef me maar gewoon ?500,- dan kopen we het zelf wel.
But as mentioned before, we regularly get requests if we want to contribute and these requests are not always friendly I can tell you. Sometimes individuals are even asked for help for an initiative, and if we make a proposal and it turns out to be something other than money, it is often no longer necessary.
But very occasionally there is something beautiful in between. For example, we are currently working with an international organization that has approached us with a request for cooperation. As it looks now, we are going to make a beard oil for them which we will sell and the profit of which will go to their organization. It's really cool to see that we are even found for these kinds of initiatives at an international level. The first talks have already taken place with one of the directors from Portugal and the next steps have already been taken.
If the oceans die, we die- some initiatives we don't even have to think about.
know-it-alls
I already described it at the beginning that we sometimes get partner requests and that these so-called partners quickly show that they know better. However, there is still a group of people who also think they know better. Several times a week we receive phone calls or e-mails from parties who tell us that we are doing it all wrong. That they will lead us to beard oil paradise as long as we do exactly what they say and as long as we pay them (in some cases) thousands of euros. It's really amazing how much energy some parties put into this. In any case, not for us and often seen by us as annoying marketing.
If you change the background color of your website from white to Sahara white you will become a millionaire- En dat kost je slechts ?2999,- ex BTW, koopje toch?.
customer questions
We can write a separate blog post about the questions we sometimes get from customers, but I'll post a few here.
“I would like to return the beard oil”
“That is fine sir, no problem as long as it is not opened”
(Two weeks later I receive the oil, open, half empty… So I call the customer. )
“Well you can just glue that cap back on, don't be so difficult man!”
“I have ordered all your fragrances (25 pieces) and there is one that my husband likes best. Can I return the other 24?”
“Are they open?”
“No”
“Then how does your husband know he didn't like them?”
“He could have a sniff anyway , it's like trying on shoes”
“Madam, we are not Zalando…”
“If you just send my order, I will pay it in two weeks”
(Customer who had never ordered from us…)
“If you just send my order, I will pay it in two weeks”
(Customer who had never ordered from us…)
“Wat zijn de verzendkosten naar (land xyz) hoog! Kan jij niet ff regelen met de verzender dat ik minder moet betalen?”
"Don't you sell 500ml bottles?"
(And yes he really meant 500ml and not 50ml)
“My wife uses my beard oil for her hair. Aren't you looking to get her to stop doing this?"
(I felt so sorry for this customer that I sent him and his wife a bottle of Satan's Bluff)
And so I can go on and on.
As you can read, we are going through quite a bit. And that is also what makes this profession so much fun. I hope you enjoyed the peek into our kitchen. And do leave a comment if you liked it.
Who is the oil baron?
Bas, built in 1971. As a producer of beard oil and other beard care products, I am constantly developing new products and looking for the edges of my creativity. I do this with great passion and above all with great pleasure. Pushing your boundaries every time, navigating between the possibilities and impossibilities of the cosmetics legislation and guidelines of the EU. Continue to innovate and amaze. This demands a lot of your creativity and sometimes causes my brain to be quite wrinkled. This made me decide to share this with you from time to time through my blog. So that you have a look behind the scenes and understand where all the nonsense comes from.
EN 
NL