Nettle and Moss: Bringing hair and skincare to another level

By Paul Allen Business reporter allenp@jamaicaobserver.com

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Entrepreneurship is a risk but with adequate research and planning, it's easy to get others excited about your business, says Nettle and Moss founder Aisha Morgan.

Nettle and Moss is a two-year old company that deals in the retail and distribution of natural and organic hair and skincare products. It's also the fifteenth nominee in the Observer's Mogul in the Making start-up programme.

The idea came from Morgan's own desire to find better haircare products locally, something she had difficulty doing. Morgan realised many others had a similar problem and decided to start her company based on her research which suggested organic hair and skin products would be "big".

The company's products are distributed across the island through several of its partners.

"We're not trying to be everywhere but we want to make sure that it's accessible to people who want it," Morgan said.

Both local and international brands, such as Jane Carter Solution, Nanikiki and Nubian Heritage, are supplied by Nettle and Moss.

"I can't say that we have any major challenges so far. We had a very clear vision of what we wanted for the business so it was just a matter of execution," she revealed.

Though not facing any real challenges just yet, she said there had to be some amount of brand building because some of the products were not widely known locally.

She has partnered with a local company that does production for her, however she said it is not far-fetched that her company may start its own production activities later on.

The business's growth will be along the lines of its distribution outlets, she said, not the number of locations the store has.

"It's just been trying to take it to the next level," said the Nettle and Moss principal.

The company was also voted as the Best Place for Haircare 2011 in the inaugural Observer Under the Dryer awards.