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Michelle Reza is the founder of Camina Bienestar together with her partner and best friend Armando. This team has embarked on the adventure of producing beds for our dogs and pets. A trending product that, in addition to being a more than deserved affection for our furry friends who share our lives, is something extremely necessary from a health point of view for our animal companions.
Today we talked to her to learn how they decided to create this venture, why they bet from the beginning on ecommerce, how and when they set out to produce 100% and Mexico and why are they allied with Cubbo to leave, in your hands, the logistics for delivering the well-being and rest of our puppies.
Frank: How was Camita Bienestar born?
Michelle: Ever since I was a child I always wanted to start and have my own business. And it turns out that my best friend Armando, who is also my partner, already had experience in stores in ecommerce so one day we were talking we decided to start something together. And we tried to find something that we would be passionate about, especially me, because I was going to want to spend a lot more time.
And that's where the idea came up pet beds, because I have a little dog and she had a problem when she was little, she was bitten by a dog and left with anxiety every time she sees puppies and just as we were looking for a business idea, we saw that the little beds help to make the puppies more comfortable, calmer and with a better quality of life and that they were also in trend. And that's where the idea of creating came from Wellness Walk.
Frank: When does Camita Bienestar start?
Michelle: It was born at the end of 2019, a little before the pandemic. We are literally children of the pandemic.
Frank: Do they start as ecommerce or as a physical store?
Michelle: From the beginning it was a ecommerce. We chose this channel because back then I had what is said in Mexico a godin job - an office job - and I had a certain time limit. That's why from the beginning what we thought was to start as ecommerce because the business with a physical store requires much more time and I couldn't be dedicated to it that long.
Frank: And how long did it take for them to be operational?
Michelle: It took us about a month. That's how long it took us to prepare the material, the tent and get the beds. Because the first phase was to import the ready-made product and commercialize it.
This helped us bring the product quickly to the Mexican market, test it and see if it really worked. And when we saw that it was working and that we were selling, we went to a second phase, which was to move to Mexico at the production level. That's why our beds are 100% Mexican, because they are produced here with Mexican materials and worked by Mexicans. We do absolutely everything locally.
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Frank: If in fact we were going to consult you about that because the website says “Proudly Made in Mexico” in a big way, tell us a little bit about why you made that decision and what it represents for you.
Michelle: We made that decision because importing the products was too expensive and did not allow us to be competitive. But, thanks to that situation, we decided to take a risk for Mexico. And I say taking risks because at the time we decided to produce locally it was a risk, since the pandemic was still full, it was April-May 2020 and well, no one really knew what could happen.
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National production
All Camita Bienestar products are produced in Mexico. And the brand opted for this in the midst of the Covid crisis, as a way to provide employment during the pandemic, to be more competitive and also to improve quality
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That's when we made the decision to say “we're going to do everything at home” and it represents that love and that effort that we have put into the business, into our project. And the desire we had to give employment to people in Mexico who also needed it a lot at that time. During the pandemic, many people lost their jobs and we are proud that we were able to help alleviate that burden a little, providing employment to families who needed it.
In addition to this, there is an undeniable improvement in quality that is also a consequence of producing in Mexico. Here we can fully review and control the type of material being used, improve it, and adapt it. Whereas when we were buying abroad we were a little tied to what was there.
In fact, we only lasted two months, we imported the product and then we decided everything was up to us: Material, filling, sewing that it had to have, etc. That's what it means to do in Mexico.
Frank: How do you know how to design a bed for a pet?
Michelle: The design is not ours, but we can say what material it will have, what shapes, some minimal changes and the brand of the product and the values we want the brand to have. As part of this design process that we can do, we seek to greatly improve the components and facilitate hygiene and cleaning.
For example, many pet bed brands on the market have a single piece. We want our beds to have two pieces, so that you can remove the donut and put it in the washing machine and it fits you perfectly. This is vital for the pet's hygiene and quality of life.
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100% well-being
One of the keys for dogs and pets to rest well is that their joints don't rest on hard surfaces. This is the reason why Camita Bienestar increased the quantity and quality of fillers in its products, following veterinary advice
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Another thing we do is consult with the veterinarians to really know what types of designs and what things can help a puppy to rest well. Part of what we have done in this regard is, for example, to increase the filling volume of our beds, so that their joints do not suffer, and also to increase the height of the donut, because puppies need their heads to be a little higher than the rest of their body to rest well. Our beds are designed so that the puppy can adopt an anatomically more suitable position that allows him to rest better.
These kinds of details are part of our dedication to offering a quality product that is also supervised by veterinarians who can guarantee that they are decisions and bed designs that are really good for our pets.
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Frank: In addition to beds, they sell other products. How and why do they decide to expand?
Michelle: As the name Camita Bienestar says, from the beginning we wanted to give our pets the best possible rest. In this search for alternatives for pet welfare, we investigated what other areas are normally ignored by pet owners and discovered that we often don't notice that their noses or bearings are drying out. And that hurts them.
That's why we wanted to add a product to help them with this. A product that is also healthy for them. And it removes odors, an idea to improve the owner's quality of life. Because puppies sometimes smell strong, because of the puppy's own breed, and you can put the odor remover on the bed, in your living room or anywhere where your puppy usually is.
Camita Bienestar and Cubbo, ready to bring rest to all of Mexico
Camita Bienestar currently distributes throughout Mexico with the dream of growing to encompass Latin America and the United States. Your ally for this is Cubbo, and the way in which this alliance was produced is yet another example of that noble and honest code of values that Michelle and her partner Armando have engraved in the DNA of Camita Bienestar.
Frank: How do they get to Cubbo?
Michelle: Cubbo really was the one who came to us. Josu found us at a stage where we were really looking to improve the product, rather than improve distribution. And in the first approach we really liked it and we were very interested but we felt that we didn't have the size to consider Cubbo as an option at that point.
Time went by and luckily, and also because of all the work we put into it, Cubbo then became an option because our logistics needs grew to a level where we felt comfortable looking for partners to carry them. And we went straight to Cubbo because we knew what they were doing and how they were doing it and also as a way of thanking Josu for that gesture of having approached us first. That's how we closed the deal with Cubbo.
Frank: Is there anything in particular that you asked Cubbo to be a mandatory condition for working together?
Michelle: Yes, and besides, he did it. The only thing we continue to have problems with is the larger beds, because due to the size of the bed and the type of packaging we have, we can't get there with Cubbo yet. But from then on, we have done everything else and they have fulfilled what we asked of them. Everything we have discussed or batted ideas with Cubbo has been able to be done. So far, everything is perfect.
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Teamwork
For Michelle, one of the great keys to her alliance with Cubbo has been to be able to talk, discuss and think about teams, ideas and logistics solutions that will help her to grow her project
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Frank: In the near future, let's say next year, what are your plans?
Michelle: We would like to continue increasing sales volume first and we also have a product innovation plan, which goes beyond soothing or odour remover. We are looking to develop a type of bed that follows this concept of causing well-being for our puppies and that are a little more technical. That's what we're doing: increasing sales volume and bringing new products to the table.
Frank: Michelle, to close. What advice would you give to a Mexican entrepreneur who is reading you right now?
Michelle: The main piece of advice I would give him is that you have to start a business. You can't start the business 100%. You can't wait to start a business when you think that your product is 100% ready, that you have the perfect packaging, the perfect branding, the perfect product. Because then you're never going to start.
If you have to have a product that you think is going to sell but you have to risk starting. You have to launch a product and take a certain risk, a calculated risk, but you have to do it. Because if you wait for the product to be a star product from day one, that's not going to happen and you're never going to start.
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