The Aromaterre story began with a small lavender plantation, continued with additional care with the arrival of a child in the Simiciuc family, and culminated with a dose of courage to found a business. Now that the brand has already entered the market, the entrepreneurs are determined to give it even more time for development.
Vero Simiciuc and her husband, Ciprian, established a lavender plantation as a result of their passion for aromatic plants. From the very first year, they realized that products such as lavender oil or water cannot support the business until the full maturation and eventual expansion of the plantation, so they wanted to find products that would bring greater added value. “Even before our son was born, I had become interested in a more sustainable way of life and read the labels of the food products we bought. But after my son was born, I started reading the labels of personal care products. I then came to understand that some ingredients are not at all suitable for a baby’s skin”, says Vero.
Thus, the family’s desire to have products made from their plants suitable for a child’s sensitive skin materialized in the production of soaps made only with vegetable oils. They discovered Castile liquid soap, and at one of the local fairs they participated in, they also went with this product – the liquid soap they scented with lavender essential oil from their own culture.
The public received the composition very well and that was basically the moment when they decided to develop their business in the area of care products. “My husband, Ciprian, is more involved in the area of aromatic plant crops (lavender, sage, oregano). We distill the aromatic plants and produce essential oils and floral waters that we sell at Aromaterre, but also directly to other producers/distributors.”
None of them come from the field in which Aromaterre operates – Ciprian is an engineer at the base, still having a job in the field, and Vero worked in the hotel industry on the sales side. To get the business up and running, they invested in lavender plants, and the profit was reinvested in the production of natural cosmetics. “In 2023 we had a turnover of approximately 76,000 lei and a profit of 34,000 lei, that’s because we didn’t get to make some investments at the end of last year. Currently we have no employees, I am an administrator and I take care of production, sales, marketing, pretty much everything related to a business”, says Vero Simiciuc. Last year, Aromaterre’s founders invested in website optimization (SEO), and this year they started to see results.
The most important project in 2023, however, was the replacement of plastic deodorant and lip balm containers with cardboard ones, which are compostable. By replacing the containers, it was necessary to optimize the recipe from the point of view of texture to fit in the new container. The desire is to use as little plastic as possible in product packaging and to look for environmentally friendly solutions. But also with buyers. “The Aromaterre customer is an informed person, who has a sustainable lifestyle and has integrated into his daily life small habits that support a life with less plastic, with care for nature. There are people who read labels and for whom every ingredient is important, the packaging in which the product comes. Usually, our clients are people with at least medium incomes and with higher education. There are those who know the power of plants and how they work, who prefer a product with plant extracts that do not always work instantly, but whose benefits remain over time and are not addictive.”
The entire production process takes place in the town of Pişchia in Timiş county, and sales are made through the Aromaterre website and with the help of zero waste stores in Timişoara, Cluj-Napoca, Piatra Neamţ and natural pharmacies. The products are also found on the eMAG platform. The prices are, says Vero Simiciuc, higher than those of conventional products, but that’s because the ingredients are also different. For example, in Aromaterre shower gels, olive oil is an important ingredient, but also an ingredient known to be expensive. Such a shower gel, with a lot of olive oil, is intensely moisturizing and nourishing for the skin. It can be produced at a lower cost, but then it would not be as beneficial.
For Vero and her husband, the biggest challenge in managing the business is time, but the lack of fiscal predictability does not go without effects either. “I’m still learning that I need to find partners who can do some marketing or website optimization things better than me. If at first I let myself get carried away, I learned that a plan brings me closer to the results I want faster. When I started, I didn’t set out clearly thinking that it would become a business from which I could support an income.” Starting from 2024, Vero set out to get more involved in Aromaterre, increasing the number of hours worked to consolidate the business. And the effects are already visible, she says.
Before Aromaterre, Vero Simiciuc worked in the hotel industry on the sales side.
Five business ideas from scratch
The source of business ideas never dries up, and this is proven by both new and old generations of entrepreneurs. Ziarul Financiar started looking for fresh business ideas, in a project supported by Banca Transilvania, meant to highlight the entrepreneurial spirit of today’s Romania. Find below a selection of businesses started from scratch and more similar projects on the platform www.zf.ro/afaceri-de-la-zero.
Photo Video 360 – photo booths (Bucharest)
Founders: Roxana and Vasile Bănică
Investments: several tens of thousands of euros
ThoSay – gold jewelry brand (Bucharest)
Founder: Anamaria Chiorean
Initial investment: 10,000 euros
Presence: online, New York
The Boy with Eggs – farm of laying hens (Prahova county)
Founder: Alex Moraru
Initial investment: 15,000 euros
Presence: in Bucharest, Ploiesti and the surrounding towns
Online shop with olive oil
Founder: Alexandra Ghita
Initial investment: 20,000 euros
Turnover in 2023: 280,000 lei (56,000 euros)
Presence: online, in grocers and specialized stores
Anca Burlacu – graphic designer (Bucharest)
Presence: online
ZF and Banca Transilvania launched the ZERO BUSINESS PROJECT, a platform dedicated to small entrepreneurs, companies that have created over 1.7 million jobs. Every business from scratch is a story of ambition, courage and determination. The stories of small entrepreneurs will be published in ZF and on the zf.ro/afaceri-de-la-zero platform.
In Romania there are over 500,000 micro-enterprises and small companies, where 1.7 million employees work, companies with annual business of 70-80 billion euros.
Enter the platform www.zf.ro/afaceri-de-la-zero and discover the universe of companies created by small entrepreneurs.
Tags: story family Romania turned plant profitable business expansion plans
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