Business Opportunity

perfect for a Sole Trader working from home

Moon Pads (the business) is FOR SALE

Exactly what is for sale?

• My business, currently operated by me as a Sole Trader
• My business name, "Moon Pads", currently registered in Tasmania
• My Trademark, "Moon Pads", registered in Australia for use in connection with "menstrual and incontinence pads" and related items.
• Two URLs <moonpads.com.au> and <moonpads.com>
• The <moonpads.com.au> website as is (you arrange for hosting from date of sale)
• My designs for all my cloth menstrual and incontinence pads
• Master copies for logo and all business brochures, labels, etc as currently used
• Enough ready-to-sell pads to supply about one month of orders
• All my already-cut-out-but-not-yet-sewn fabric (currently over $5,000 in fabric value)
• Details of all my business systems, eg suppliers, timelines for planning production
• Database of established customers, wholesale and retail
• If the business is sold to a Tasmanian, transfer of my status in the 'Casual Priority Pool' at Salamanca Market (subject to your approval by Hobart City Council)
• Heaps of 'Good Will' and 'Product Recognition' in the 'market place'
• My undertaking to not make more cloth pads for at least 4 years, so long as you are able to supply me as a wholesale customer with pads equal to or better in quality and in the same designs as I have been making (I want to continue to offer cloth Moon Pads through my <greenfamilies.com.au> website)

Business Facts

Turnover has exceeded $30,000 for a number of years now, based solely on sales of Moon Pads (63% of income), The Keeper (31%) and Natural Fertility Management Kits.

I manufacture the Moon Pads myself, and purchase the other products wholesale. The opportunity exists to extend the range of products to increase business turnover.

Some sales are in person at Salamanca Market in Hobart and occasionally at other markets (eg The Sustainable Living Festival held each February at Federation Square in Melbourne). I have a small number of regular wholesale customers (mostly health food co-ops). The balance of sales are mail order. Less than half the mail orders originate from brochures distributed at the markets, and the balance from customers who find my website in an online search for cloth menstrual pads. In the latter group of potential customers, I know I lose some due to not having an online-shopping-basket style of website (growth opportunity for you there!).

The recent rush for people to find "eco-products" gives this business in a wonderful opportunity for expansion!

What has guided the development of the business to date?

Here are some quotes from my brochure and Business Plan:

The creator of Moon Pads is a trained nurse who suffered from Toxic Shock Syndrome and ongoing problems with allergic irritation when using disposable menstrual products. To satisfy her needs for a healthier and less toxic option she created Moon Pads.
"I suddenly realised that there was absolutely no reason, except unthinking habit, for me to continue to use disposable pads"
In May 1998, after years of successfully using her designs, she began small-scale, home-based manufacture and now other women can share the advantages of a washable, reusable pad.

Moon Pads is a win/win proposition. The sole trader can sell practical, reusable products with a clear conscience and can choose when, where and what hours to work. The customer can choose products that are value for money, reusable, environmentally- and health-friendly. The products are made of natural fibres, and have considerable local input in labour and where possible in sourcing raw materials.

Moon Pads business aim is to make accessible products that help women and parents to choose a healthy and more sustainable lifestyle. The products will be reusable, will help reduce the family budget, will be made from natural materials and will support good health. Most customers will lean towards an interest in saving money, caring for their health, and environment and/or feminist issues.

The production chain will, where possible, support local small businesses and home-based work options.

Customers can expect to purchase reliable, well-made, functional products at a fair price. And they can expect to be supported as they learn how to best use them to meet their own individual needs. When presenting our products we are aware of our role as mentor and community educator in the areas of health, lifestyle and environmental issues.

On a personal basis I choose to work from home as a sole trader to supplement the family income while having the work-hours freedom to meet my own health needs and fulfil extended family commitments.

Why am I selling Moon Pads?

My husband, Alex, retires next year - and we have plans for a lot more travelling and very much looking forward to life with the freedom to be "Grey Nomads". Unfortunately it is pretty hard to pack an industrial sewing machine and a house full of fabric into the car when you take off around Oz. It also is hard to maintain a good service to my customers when "on the move"! So the time has come to release this business that has been my passion for 9 years, and pass it on to another pair of good hands who can nurture it into its next stage of growth.

There is heaps of potential - all the hard establishment work is done; the designs are well used and loved by thousands of women who keep telling their friends; the name (which is a registered Trademark) is well recognised as being cloth menstrual pads; the website is finding customers and is ready for some TLC from a more technically oriented person than me to add a shopping cart; and there is much room for growth - I have to admit to not searching for many wholesale customers, for example, as I knew I could not grow much more and still do it all by myself!

Interested? Got some passion for women, their health, the environment?

All expressions of interest should be in writing to: attention Pip, Moon Pads, PO Box 118, Sandy Bay, TAS 7006

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