THE ENTREPRENEUR


‘WE FOCUS ON CREATING VERY UNUSUAL PRODUCTS, AS THERE ARE TOO MANY COSMETIC PRODUCTS AVAILABLE INTERNATIONALLY THAT ARE THE SAME. NOBODY IN THEWORLD DOES A SEAWEED BATH LIKE US’


MarkWalton, founder of organic cosmetics company Voya, describes setting up and running a business as “running in front of a bullet. It’s alright as long as you don’t trip.” So far, he seems to have the stamina of a marathon runner


because, in a fewshort years, theVoya range has been sought after by prestigious clients in locations as far flung as Dubai, Los Angeles,New York and theQueenMary II cruise liner. Most recently Voya struck deals with Harrods and Necker


Island,an island resort owned byRichardBranson,whichWalton estimates will be worth around €500,000 to the business. Nowexporting to over 13 overseasmarkets, the business,which


grewout of the family-run seaweed baths in Strandhill,Co Sligo, has 60 unique products in its range. Mark’s brotherNeil set upWalton’s Seaweed Baths in the late


Nineties and as their popularity grew patrons wondered if there was away they could replicate the experience in their own homes. MarkWalton had studied law and spent some time working


for the financial-services corporation Rothschild.However, he became “disenfranchised” with that environment and felt he wasn’t seeing the return he wanted working for other people. Jaded with city life,he returned to Sligo in 2002 and started to


carry out research in order to build on the seaweed baths’success. “We found that therewere seaweed brands thatweren’t organic,


and organic products thatweren’t seaweed based.We picked prod- ucts off the shelf, listed every ingredient, found their functional- ity and tried to reverse-engineer them.Our aimwas to formulate an effective but organic range of products based on seaweed.” Walton became a member of the International Society of


Cosmetic Scientists to learn the necessary methodologies and describes himself now as a “quasi cosmetic scientist”. “Our first product was a home bath kit, using dried seaweed,


which was very simple.Wemade sure we got the science behind the drying process right so the chemical structure of the seaweed didn’t change,”he says. “We focus on creating very unusual products, as there are too


many cosmetic products available internationally that are the same.Nobody in the world does a seaweed bath like us.” Alot ofVoya’s success to date has come down to branding,Wal-


ton contends. “There were Irish brands that were good,but didn’t compete well with international brands.We looked around the world and established therewas a need for an Irish organic brand thatwas also contemporary.We’ve done a good job on that front. Customers tell us the reason they buy our products, apart from the formulation, is that they love the branding and packaging.”


REMARKABLE INTERNATIONAL RECORD


One of themost remarkable things about Voya’s story ever since is howmuch it has attracted and retained international business. “Fromour inception our ambition was only ever to supply our own facility in Strandhill, but over the years our products have


received interest in Ireland and internationally, so the business has grown considerably. “There are very few customers we have petitioned: about 60–


70pc of themhave come to us.Whenwe see opportunities,we go after them aggressively; we hop on a plane to make it happen. I would go to the other end of the world to close a deal. One strength we have is how we’ve gone around the world slapping someone’s hand and saying, ‘how can I sell you some product?’” This yearVoya has started to attend trade shows.“Our strategy


is to go after an ‘ambassador’clientwith high-revenue potential – a well established and mature client in a given market – and use them to leverage other opportunities.An example would be the Grand Hyatt Hotel inMacau, which led to a trickle effect into Vietnam,Thailand,Malaysia and Singapore.Winning theQueen Mary II business led to six other contracts. People watch such sites and business flows out of that,”Walton explains. WhileWalton says what drives himand his wifeCiara is con-


stantly striving to improve and seeking newopportunities,he says all opportunitiesmustmake sense financially. “A prudent businessperson might say you should concentrate


on Ireland, the UK, the continent and then the US.But if there was a market to be had I got on a plane there and was lucky to secure business in those places.Maybe in hindsight Imight have done things differently.But amarket shouldn’t just be a badge of honour; you have tomakemoney there. “Nowwith knowledge and experience I knowwe need to focus


on markets with the highest profit margin, not turnover.We entered the US early and didn’t focus huge energies there – we discovered afterwards that highermargins can be achieved in the Middle East and Far East.” Voya secured two large clients in theUS andWalton says there’s


one or twomore coming down the line.“At the startwe underes- timated the amount of capital needed ifwewanted tomake a sig- nificant go of things in theUS.Therewere two approaches to that market:minimal investment for aminimal return, or a large inv- estment for a potentially large return.There was no in-between. “However, the two clients we secured did involve a minimal


investment with a good return.As the company grows and we’ve a larger turnover, we’ll go back to the US market properly. You need a dedicated distributor or to put people on the ground. “Whilewe have diversified customers all around theworld and


a good cash flow,we’re still not in a situationwherewe can throw money around without a thought.” Voya has gone fromhaving no employees in 2008 to employ-


ing eight this year. “Our cost of manufacturing is about 10pc of the total.The real investment has been in research and develop- ment and packaging – themore technical aspects – and these are the areas where staff have come on board.We intend to buy a factory in Sligo this year and be in before 2011.This will be the first phase of bringing everything under one roof,” saysWalton.


VOL 3 ISSUE 4 2010 OWNER MANAGER 25


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