Four Important Actions an Indie Brand Can Take To Develop a Retail Ready Product

Novi Connect knows what smaller beauty brands need to go to market faster and has the platform to build the clean and transparent products they want

Building a beauty brand takes bandwidth, wearing many hats, and lots of decisions. Novi Connect is an innovative, data-driven technology solution to consumer product development. Novi empowers brands with the data, tools, and education they need to build the clean and transparent products that their customers are demanding. By connecting brands to formulators, manufacturers, and suppliers best equipped to bring their sustainable product and packaging visions to life, Novi is revolutionizing consumer product development— for the betterment of people and the planet. Novi knows that indie brands, in particular, need to focus on four essential steps to get their planet-friendly products built.

“We have a special affinity for working with smaller beauty brands to help accelerate their growth. It often starts with navigating the complex set of retailer and regulatory requirements, as well as understanding the supply chain ecosystem,”  says Kimberly Shenk, Novi Co-founder & CEO. “Then ultimately helping them build their product, linking them to manufacturers and suppliers that work for their vision and budget.”

Indie brands should focus on these four things to develop unique products that will meet their sustainability and business goals:

1. Focus on the formulation. Get to know ingredients. Consumers demand it, and clean beauty is better for people and the planet. “Clean beauty” is a loaded term, often associated with products made without ingredients known to cause harm. But it’s more than that—it’s also essential to look past empty greenwashing claims and evaluate every ingredient for its environmental impact. Novi allows brands to dig into the elements and look beyond what the manufacturer implies to confirm it is a sustainable choice.
2. A key to a sustainable product is the packaging. With a focus on sustainable ingredients, brands often overlook the packaging. Novi packaging experts will help a company source, sample, and order verified components– whether they are looking for something compostable, curbside recyclable, 75% PCR, or more. Re-utilize refillable components to reduce reliance on plastic as much as possible. Brands of any size can get on board with turning around the packaging waste crisis; less than 10% of plastic packaging is recycled, and far too much of it ends up as pollution.
3. Keep an open mind to sustainability even when watching the budget. It’s often affordable. There’s still the belief that cleaner, greener ingredients and packaging must cost a lot more. Novi offers access to unit prices and payment terms usually reserved for large CPGs, so that brands can make the best use of their cash flow.
4. Find the partners you can trust. It’s essential to work with trusted partners along the entire production process, especially with the current supply chain ecosystem. Novi’s product development consultants act as an extension of a brand’s team, helping them manage their entire project from ideation, to operations, to production. Novi also pairs you with pre-vetted formulators and manufacturers that are not only excited to prioritize indie brands, but also committed to innovation and transparency.

Today’s largest and fastest-growing clean beauty retailer – and Novi partner, Credo Beauty,   knows firsthand how Novi streamlines ingredient and packaging sourcing for their brands.

“Most of our 135+ brand partners are indie with small teams, so navigating clean standards and requirements is challenging. Novi has been invaluable in helping our brands find the solutions they need to get to market with a product they believe in,” says Mia Davis, VP of Sustainability & Impact at Credo.

Visit Noviconnect.com to learn more about building every part of your product: Set your standards, build custom formulas, find alternative ingredients, and source sustainable packaging. Create an account at https://www.noviconnect.com/sign-up to see how Novi can simplify your transparent product development.