CINCINNATI — As small businesses work to grow, sometimes it’s difficult to reach new customers in the market.
Recently, Amazon announced its annual small business empowerment report, which shows how it’s helping small businesses reach a broader audience and helping them expand.
What You Need To Know
- Ěeleo Brands out of Cincinnati creates products for babies, like Boogie Wipes and Dapple bottle dish soap
- The company employs second-chance employees through a Jump Start program
- Ěleeo Brands also sells its products on Amazon, which allows them to have a broader reach
- Amazon is committed to helping small businesses- in 2023 there were 11,000 independent sellers on Amazon in Ohio alone
Saralin Walden has been an employee at eleeo Brands for almost a year. But it hasn’t been the easiest journey for her to get here.
“It feels good,” Walden said. “Honestly, it feels important. Like actually doing something productive with my life.”
Walden was incarcerated for five years. After being released, she joined the Jump Start Program, which helped her find a job here at eleeo Brands thanks to opportunities given by CEO Richard Palmer.
“Opportunities are endless with this job,” Walden said. “Like, I could see myself moving up.”
“We feel like we’re blessed to be able to run this business,” Palmer said. “And so we want to use it as a way to help other people. And so a big part of why we started eleeo... was to provide second chances to people. They’re trying to get back on their feet.”
Ěleeo means mercy in Greek, which Palmer hopes to show to not only his employees but also customers and suppliers. His products- like Boogie wipes and Dapple dish soap help new parents acclimate to caring for a little one. Stories of how these products help moms and dads keeps Palmer going.
“And she’s like, ‘Oh, it’s a lifesaver,’” Palmer said of one consumer he met. “She had just had twins recently and went on for ten minutes about how they just really helped her with her kids. And so those are the fun stories.”
While these products are all processed here in Cincinnati, it’s important to get them into the hands of parents across the country.
“Everything comes here, and then we pick orders that we send to our retail partners like Amazon,” Palmer said.
Which is where Amazon comes in- the company recently releasing its annual small business empowerment report. It shows that in Ohio, there are 11,000 independent sellers, with average annual sales of $230,000 and over 76 million items sold, like Boogie Wipes right from Cincinnati.
“It's pretty incredible to see all the moving parts and the millions of packages that are running through here, recognizing that our products are likely in the warehouse somewhere, getting delivered to consumers," Palmer said.
Palmer says selling on Amazon means they can test out new products without competing for shelf space, get their products into more people’s homes across the country, and be a more convenient place to buy for new parents.
“Amazon enables small companies like ours to have a national and even a global, reach with consumers," he said. "And it really has changed retail by enabling us to work directly with, with the moms and dads who buy our products.”
And ultimately it all comes back to helping people like Walden. The success of Ěleeo is in big part thanks to selling with Amazon, but that means Walden gets her own second chance.
“I'm just so grateful that Ěleeo gave me an opportunity to work here because it's really changed my life," Walden said. "I couldn't say that I'd be where I am today if it wasn't for Ěleeo.”