Any entrepreneur is going to face competition – it’s the nature of the game. All you can do is make your product the best it can be and hope that your consumers feel the same. But sometimes, your timing is unique, making that competition even fiercer than normal. 

Amy Weisman had her work cut out for her. After she had her first baby, she knew two things: she wanted to use her entrepreneurial prowess to carve out an idea of her own, and she hated the smell and feel of the hand sanitizer she was constantly pouring all over her hands. She had an idea for a sustainably-packaged, germ-killing line of hand care products that people liked using. The only catch? She was launching this business in the middle of a global pandemic “I was confident enough at the time… I knew that if people just tried the product, they’d come back for more. I knew I had a special formula that was different and that stood out.” 

She was right. Amy is the Founder & CEO of Paume, a global hand care brand that is taking the world by storm.

Main Takeaways:

• Learn as much as you can: The idea of starting your own business can be exciting and terrifying – but nothing will compare to actually getting out there and actually doing it. It is important to try, as much as you can, to understand the world you’re jumping into before you do it. In Amy’s case, she worked with a start-up for four years before she decided she wanted to try it for herself, so she knew what she was getting into when things got tough. 
• Keep your eye out for the good idea right in front of you: Always be looking for that next great idea… it might show up where you don’t necessarily expect. Some of the best businesses have come from small, everyday moments where someone was paying attention to how they could make the world a little better. 
• Prepare to stand out: If you’re going to join a crowded market, know what it is about your product that will make it stand apart from the crowd. You’ve got to know what it is your offering that your competitors aren’t, and be ready to talk about it.

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This season of the Journey is produced by Mission.org and brought to you by UPS. To learn how UPS can help your small business, go to UPS.com/pivot.