Supporting Sustainable Skincare – Skin Elixir
Skin Elixir is a Nottingham-based skincare brand founded by Shona Munro in 2016. The business specialises in natural and organic skincare products, with a strong commitment to sustainability, ethical sourcing, and clean beauty. Shona manages the business single-handedly while also working another job, making her time and resources particularly valuable. Her goal is to grow Skin Elixir into a thriving online business with consistent monthly revenue and an expanding presence across the East Midlands.
The Challenge
Shona was introduced to Nottingham Business School at a local networking event, where she discovered the potential for support in growing her business. Although Skin Elixir had built a loyal customer base through word-of-mouth and repeat purchases, Shona recognised the need to diversify her lead generation strategy. She aimed to grow her email distribution list, enhance her digital marketing efforts, and explore new routes to market—all while staying true to the brand’s tone of voice and visual identity. With limited time and budget, she turned to the Business School for guidance in developing a forward-looking strategy for sustainable growth.
The Projects
Two student consultancy teams worked with Skin Elixir across two project cycles:
- MSc Management (May–July 2024): Focused on strategic business development, including SWOT and PESTLE analysis, competitor benchmarking, and evaluating sustainable business models such as scarcity-based production.
- MSc Marketing (October–December 2024): Concentrated on digital marketing strategy, exploring email marketing trends, social media engagement, customer review generation, and website optimisation.
The students presented their findings through a professional presentation and a comprehensive written report. Their work included a mock-up website, product bundle analysis, and a detailed action plan for achieving growth targets.
Key Recommendations
The student teams provided a range of actionable recommendations, including:
- Brand Positioning: Emphasise black seed oil as a unique selling point across all marketing and packaging.
- Email Marketing: Use lead magnets, segmentation, and automation to grow and engage the email list.
- Website Optimisation: Redesign the homepage with clear calls to action, improve navigation, and enhance product pages with detailed descriptions and customer reviews.
- Product Bundles: Realign bundles with customer buying behaviour to increase sales.
- Loyalty & Subscription Models: Introduce loyalty rewards and explore a future subscription model as demand grows.
- Social Media Strategy: Collaborate with local influencers, create age-specific content, and promote community engagement.
- Local Partnerships: Strengthen collaborations with local retailers and spas to increase visibility and in-store presence.
The Outcome
Shona was highly impressed with the students’ professionalism, depth of research, and actionable insights:
“The group exceeded my expectations – they went above and beyond with their analysis of the business, costs, profit margins, SWOT, PEST, mock-up website, and product bundles. They even calculated how long it would take to grow the business to my financial goals.”
She praised the clarity of the action plan and the evidence-based approach the students took in their recommendations:
“The team were all invested and treated the consultation with professionalism. They had obviously put a lot of work in.”
Client Reflections
Shona found the communication with both the academic team and the students to be smooth and effective. She appreciated the leadership shown by the student project lead and felt the level of contact was just right for her needs. She described the experience as invaluable for a micro business like hers:
“As a micro business with a distinct lack of human resource and access to market research, this service has been invaluable.”
She is very likely to implement the students’ recommendations and expects them to have a significant impact on business growth, customer acquisition, and sales.
Student Reflections
One student reflected on the value of the experience:
“The opportunity and experience of being a real-life consultant to an existing business was the most enjoyable part. It was an invaluable experience that bridged the gap between theory and practice.”
They also noted the challenge of working in a diverse team but found the project highly relevant to their degree and future career.
To find out more about Skin Elixir, please visit the Skin Elixir webpage.