Irish entrepreneur Aimee Connolly is planning to launch her successful beauty brand, Sculpted by Aimee, into the United States in the fourth quarter of this year.
Speaking to Inside Business, a podcast by The Irish Times, Connolly said the company’s products are currently going through a regulatory process with the Food and Drug Administration in the US, which she said was “progressing well”.
“We have our logistics partner set up and we’ll start selling online from Q4 this year and we’re in different retailer discussions for future Sculpted launches,” she said.
“We’re proceeding with disciplined caution. Yes, we want global domination in make-up bags around the world, but we want to do so it is in a measured and considered way that we’re not just being haphazard with budget, where you might be putting other markets in jeopardy.”
READ MORE
“Back yourself”: Irish beauty entrepreneur Aimee Connolly shares her plans for growth to become a top 10 global brand within next decade
Connolly still owns 100 per cent of the business she founded in 2016 and says she has no immediate plans to take on external investment. But she admits that might have to change with entry into the vast but potentially lucrative US market.
“When you look at the US, I think it’s inevitable that investment is going to be a huge propeller for a market like that. I’m open minded to what our future might look like but, right now, no moves made there.”
Connolly is very clear on her goal for the next decade. “The goal is to be in the top 10 beauty brands globally in the next decade. It’s a huge goal and it’s a big mountain to climb but I have never felt more passionate to do so.
[ ‘Back yourself’: Aimee Connolly shares her story of 10 years in businessOpens in new window ]
How will she get there?
“You absolutely need the US for it, first and foremost. You need your product innovation, you need your team around you and you need capital.”
Connolly said the company is targeting 25 per cent revenue growth this year, which would lift its income to more than €50 million.
She said the current Middle East conflict has impacted on shipments of her goods manufactured in South Korea.
“I dread to think the longer it goes on, how much further than impact might be,” she said.
Every geopolitical conflict impacts on business in some way. “It’s unusual for freight not to be impacted, whether it’s by sea or by air and whether that’s costs going up or blockages on the Suez Canal or wherever.
“We would have regular updates to say that your three-month shipment is delayed to four months ... the only way to make peace with it is to say that if we’re experiencing this, so is everyone else who has products in transit.
“It doesn’t make it easier because you are constantly trying to find pivots but it’s just the nature of the world we’re living in, unfortunately.”
For now at least, the conflict hasn’t impacted on inventory and won’t hit its growth plans, she says. “But one thing you can’t control is what it does to consumer behaviour. I would like to keep my optimism hat on and say we’ll just keep trucking ahead as a scaling brand and we’ll find a fix regardless.”
