A couple who created a hair-loss shampoo after suffering from the problem themselves and turned it into a £5M business – with one bottle selling every 30 seconds.
Matt, 43 and Gail Waterman, 45, from South Yorkshire, were desperate to find a product on the market to address their own thinning hair, and tried a lot of expensive formulas.
When they struggled to find anything that did the trick so decided to come up with their own formula, containing biotin and caffeine – which has since become the best-selling shampoo Watermans, which is on track to turn over £5M this year.
The couple’s success is a far cry from Matt’s ‘really poor’ upbringing, on what he describes as ‘one of the worst council estates’ in Newcastle.
‘My mother was an alcoholic and we often had not electricity and no heating at home,’ he explained. ‘I couldn’t even afford a loaf of bread for long period times.
‘I went to live with my grandparents when I was 16 and they put me through college. I moved away to Yorkshire when I was in my early twenties to start afresh.’
He continued: ‘A lot of people turn to crime in those situations. But you just need to remind yourself that your background does not define what you are, or what you’re going to do with your life.’
Matt, 43 and Gail Waterman, 45, from South Yorkshire, were desperate to find a product in the market that could address the common problem of hair loss
‘I saved money by doing marketing for companies and eventually became the marketing manager of Dating.com with a salary of £35,000 a year, before launching the business with Gail.’
‘We just created our products to start off with for my benefit but because it was so effective, we decided to pass it on to other people who had hair loss problems with no success,’ said Gail, who was working as a hairdresser at the time.
‘We both saved money from savings and made our first 5,000 bottles of shampoo and put them for sale on Amazon.’
She continued: ‘Three months later, they were already out of stock and now our products are so popular one tube is purchased every 30 seconds.’
Matt and Gail’s success is largely down to rave customer reviews on social media. Here, one customer showed her hair growth over 60 days
Happy customer! A woman shows how using the shampoo, which contains biotin and caffeine, helped to thicken her receding hair
A woman with thinning hair showed how using the shampoo for four months helped to boost her locks
‘The company has gone from strength-to-strength with customers now tagging us on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to tell us how much this shampoo has helped grow their hair.’
Within three months of being launched, the product, which costs £13.50, was a best-seller on Amazon – and the couple trademarked their formula and shampoo, before setting up business from home.
The couple are now on track to turnover an impressive five million pounds in 2019, and expect to double that in 2020.
The Waterman’s thriving business is largely thanks to rave reviews of the best-selling product – with an impressive 500 five-star reviews on Amazon.
They also have a string of paid celebrity endorsements from reality stars including TOWIE’s Megan McKenna and Geordie Shore’s Holly Hagan and Charlotte Crosby.
‘We have more than 20,000 followers on Instagram and have already sold two million bottles by successfully advertising with social media,’ said Gail.
The Waterman’s thriving business is largely thanks to rave reviews on the likes of Amazon, as well as a string of paid celebrity endorsements from reality stars including TOWIE’s Megan McKenna (pictured) and Geordie Shore’s Holly Hagan and Charlotte Crosby
Meghan’s TOWIE co-star Lauren Pope, who boast 1.2million Instagram followers, has also promoted the hair growth shampoo
Gail (pictured with husband Matt), who was working as a hairdresser at the time, said: ‘We just created our products to start off with for my benefit but because it was so effective, we decided to pass it on to other people who had hair loss problems with no success’
‘We advertise with reality stars like Charlotte Crosby and Megan Mckenna as they have a massive following on social media.’
‘We also have a PR and advertise to women’s magazines such as Vogue, Cosmopolitan and Vanity Fair. It’s a great way for the product to be noticed by many.’
As for the future, the couple plan to work with more celebrities and continue to be known as ‘the best’.
They’re also expanding their distributions to the US, and hope to get their products on the shelves of Boots, Harrords, and Selfridges.