Sonja & Polly staff the Bum Boosa booth at a recent local Wellness Day event at Cape Cod Community College

With the current state of the economy, people are often surprised when we tell them that we launched a new, quickly-growing business in 2009. We often end up talking about how Bum Boosa™ came into being almost as much as we talk about our specific products. So, we thought that we would launch our new blog with the answer to that very question!

When her boys were colicky infants, Sonja Sheasley began to explore new means of relaxation and discovered aromatherapy and herbalism which she studied while developing her own line of skincare products. While scrutinizing ingredients lists and material information she discovered that many products aren’t as “green” as they might seem.  She realized that she could make a bigger impact on natural baby products by making truly environmentally-friendly baby wipes. After studying a variety of ingredients and materials, she decided on bamboo-fiber biodegradable wipes with a natural solution.

In February 2009, Sonja invited soon-to-be partners Bob Wilds and Polly Goddard to discuss the idea of launching the environmentally-friendly baby wipes business. The three came together with complementary skills and the partnership was formed. Investors were brought on-board and the business officially came together.

Sonja had already done all of the research to establish relationships in China to begin the production and she put her researching skills to further use to set up shipping to the US, a relationship with Trees for the Future, and more. Polly got busy making contacts with retailers and individuals to educate them about the new natural baby care business on the horizon and exploring marketing options. Bob engaged his vast network of relationships to help open the door to various opportunities.

Despite a lack of experience in the field, they developed plans and forged ahead. When the first shipment arrived in June 2009, retailers were already waiting to place orders and several hundred samples were distributed throughout New England and across the country. A growing online presence brought new people to Bum Boosa™ daily and individual sales started quickly. With boosts from a variety of trade shows and natural living expos, interest in the baby wipes was growing rapidly so the second product developed naturally – Bum Boosa™ Bamboo Diaper Rash Ointment – and was released in September 2009.

With their reputation spreading for having high-quality natural baby wipes and diaper rash ointment as well as being a model green business, Bum Boosa™ was presented with some tremendous opportunities to kick off the business. They participated in their first Green Festival in Washington, DC which brought the baby wipes and diaper rash ointment to thousands of new people. The Sundance Film Festival also contacted them to be a sponsor of the upcoming events. Big Y Markets opened their doors quickly and Select Nutrition, a division of United Natural Foods, Inc. shepherded the partners through the process of getting started with a national distributor. Soon Silly Pants, a natural baby product distributor in Canada, came knocking and opened the international market for the fledgling business. These, among other wonderful opportunities, have kept the partners busy getting educated and moving forward within the field.

With the momentum growing for Bum Boosa™ Products, Sonja dove back into research-mode and the world’s first bamboo toilet paper was developed. It will hit shelves in the US in early spring 2010.

When asked how we had the gumption to start a business in the current financial climate, we often answer, “We didn’t really give the economy much thought” and that is true! We knew that we had a great product in the wipes and we just put our noses to the grindstone to get it out on the market. Watching children and parents alike at shows pick up our products and smile at the smell, softness, and environmentally-conscious efforts is what keeps us going.

However, we DO keep the economy in mind when it comes to making fiscal decisions! With so many people rooting for us and our investors showing their confidence with their check books, we take great care with every financial decision we make.

We are also often asked how we manage all of the new tasks that are presented to us almost daily. The answer to this is: 1) When we launched the business, we really had no idea just how much work it would be and that is probably a good thing! And 2) We just put our heads down, work together, ask questions of the “pros” who have been very helpful, and get it all done.

This is just the beginning for our growing company and if we can pay forward anything, we’d like to tell folks that if you have an idea that you are passionate about, take the first step. The second step will come, followed by the third. Don’t sit back and wait for the time to be “right”.