THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT FROM IZMIR TO AMERICA
Before inventing the light bulb
Edison made more than 1000 failed attempts.
When asked in an interview, “After so many failures, you didn’t think of giving up ?”,
Edison replied: “I didn’t fail 1,000 times,
I just found 1,000 different ways the light bulb didn’t light.”
Koray Tuzun says “You find your limits by pushing them”,
with his eyes smelling of Izmir.
He is brave, innovative, simple, joyful, very
one of us.
With great excitement, I ask him the strategic story of his 45
years of business life that started in 1980
A nuclear family of four. From Izmir,
free, democratic, entrepreneurial, successful,
smiling. Conscientious people who read, discuss, talk,
produce, know how to be in life with courage.
Modest, we call middling, but parents who do not avoid sacrifice for their children.
Their efforts and education are reflected in their lives.
I ask Koray…
Being self-employed? Does it come from the family ?
“As long as you don’t do too many things wrong throughout your life, that’s enough to do a few things right ” says Warren Buffet.
My first money-making experience came to my mind.
My father had a shop in İzmir İnönü street Nokta.
So I know what it means to be a shopkeeper.
I was a kid, I set up a lemon stall in front of the shop and stepped into the marketing-sales business
I had a car with wheels.
Izmir residents know that a famous bazaar is organized around the Military Hospital.
In addition to shopping for clothes and socks ladies would load the weekly market with vegetables, fruits, cheese. In those years, I used to accompany them for a reasonable fee and provide logistical support.
The entrepreneurial identity started to develop.Lemon stall and logistics…
I loved the act of making money. Throughout my middle education, I was buying lemons, daily eggs, whatever product happened to be available at the time and selling it at a profit.
Albert Einstein says,
“Everything should be simplified as much as possible, but not simplified”.
We can make ourselves se l or strong.
And the effort spent for both is equal.
After my university education, a period called self-employment, but a period in which I will put a lot of effort and respect began.
Marketing is one of the most difficult professions . Believing, convincing…
People don’t buy products or services. They buy solutions.
Marketing is the beginning of a story, and customers are the heroes of this story. I have experienced marketing in so many different lanes that I wanted to experience the coffee business .
Taking a risk, I brought Filtered coffee, espresso, bean products and machines of a famous coffee brand in Italy.
You say works have gotten better…right??
Change is not a threat, it’s an opportunity. Thus began my business life.
I started to serve 85 percent of the hotels in Izmir Çeşme.
However, due to the crisis with Italy, I experienced my first bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy is not as easy as it seems, I have a lot of effort.
Failure is also about us. Every failure opens a new door actually…
Ah of course. The new door opened to the beverage industry.
I trademarked the character BadCat Şerafettin by obtaining trademark permission from Bülent Üstün.
I got into the business of BadCat, 5% distilled low alcohol wine. It was a very good product.
I had found a great market on college campuses and in many other areas. But I was introduced to an industry that made me realize that marketing alone was not enough. PR. ..
Bankrupt again?
Lets all over start again.
Yes, bankruptcy again.
We are laughing while you are telling it, but it is a hard curve turn this time..
I decided to take a corporate position between two jobs.
I became the manager of an important meat products company.
It was a different experience. White collar, responsibility is high, but the risk belongs to the company owner.
My brain was looking for a search and an exit.
A friend of mine had oil tankers. I said, “let’s do highway asphalt works together.’
We started, of course. We made good money but the job didn’t represent me.
At that time, I read an advertisement in the newspaper – at that time there were job ads in the newspaper
ads – like this
“Would you like to earn your own money ?”
If it were today, it would be an advertisement to complain to Cimer as a fraudster…
After two bankruptcy , one white collar, one unrepresentative experience
I couldn’t even match the coins in our pockets and went to an interview with a debt subscription bus ticket .
Oooh!! subscription bus ticket, the killer of our youth…
I reached the job advertisement “I will earn my own money ” with four bus in my debt subscriptions.
Here again marketing job had found me.!
This time tea maker…
I was going to market tea machines with large boilers used in coffee houses, business places, etc.
I said, “I can do this business, train me.”
I will make the sale and I will keep the down payment, the other installments will stay with the company.
Wouldn’t my eyes shine?
I was making sales with a performance far above what was expected of me.
I didn’t have a car at that time.
I woke up at 04:00 at night, put my subscriptions in my pocket and hit the road.
This adventure lasted a full year. Just when I got things in place,
Just as I was getting things going, this time the company went bankrupt.
Oooh Shit !
Job opportunities are like buses, every time another one arrives.
I decided that I should close the subscription bus ticket period.
I took HACCP (critical control point and hazard analysis in product and production) and
KALDER trainings.
A total of 50 people in Turkey had received these trainings.
It was not as easy to access these trainings online and as it is now.
It was not as easy and online as it is today to access these trainings.
Maybe today has made it easier, but most trainings have become empty and unqualified.
I agree.
Then?
Then it was adventure again. At “Sarıkız”, one of Turkey’s most famous mineral water brands,
I was first promoted to factory coordinator, then to Board Member Then Chairman of the Board.
I took part as a sector representative in the regulations of the Ministry of Health regarding the production of potable waters .
I prepared publications about spring waters and their sources in Turkey.
By achieving HACCP and ISO Standards, we made the brand “Sarıkız” one of the leading brands in the sector.
Great. I read it somewhere. There are so many striking Ideas, what is missing is the desire to realize that Idea. when you talk One feels this desire on you.
Even if you are on the right track, if you are sitting.. they will run you over.
I have never sat down.
I went to China for a packaging and machinery fair in the capacity of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sarıkız mineral waters.
On the way back I noticed that the stewardess sprayed liquid on her face with a spray.
My entrepreneurial identity, the curious character immediately stepped in.
I asked, the stewardess replied, “I use a product containing thermal water so that my skin is not damaged on long flights” .
It was a French brand.
Of course, I looked at its content. it contains 9 minerals.
All the way, I projected the subject in my mind. I dreamed about it.
We had natural mineral water that was much more effective, containing 29 minerals, rich in selenium , thermal water, not deep sea water.
EAU Mineral Naturelle…
So a foreign entrepreneur had made a skin product with only 9 minerals..
With the same thought, I sent the water samples I took from the catchment, our mineral water source, on my return from Türkiye to the Italian Integra and German Sasol laboratories for analysis.
The results were surprising and pleasant .. The PH value of the water was 5.5, that is, it was in full compatible with the skin , which created a eid atmosphere.
I was excited, but to be even more sure,
I also sent a sample to the EAU Department of Pharmaceutics.
Here dermatologic tests were performed on 400 different subjects.
And again bingo!!
I got the results.5.5 is fully compatible with the skin
Great, then?
Then I broke the mineral water business to my partners and founded my company to fly with my own wings.
For the first time in the world, Mineral water (EAU Mineral Naturella)
I started the production of cosmetic products
So, You added innovation to mineral waters and cosmetics…
I received my registration for the use of mineral water in cosmetic products which is evaluated as an industrial design and a comprehensive invention.
My invention was published in International Cosmetic Science.
I listen with pride… “Imagination is everything. It is a preview of the
beauty that awaits you.” says Albert Einstein..
You are right.
I set out with those dreams and developed dozens of products such as shampoo, conditioner, lotion, cream, skin spray.
And I started production.
These products were products for the mass market.
Then came other products. I continued to produce cosmetics with my salon exclusive, Performance for women hairdressers, Vouque, Le Brunch, Aid Protein Splush brands.
By developing the product scale, we have a serious market in the exclusive salon products in the cosmetics market in the whole country with approximately 165 barcode products.
There was an issue that caused me to hang in the first jobs..
PR ?
Yes PR… This time, with the right PR, I increased the development and promotion process of my brand in national and international shows.
Of course The sector had other problems..
Paraben-based preservatives were used to extend the shelf life of products.
I had read that, along with the statement by the World Health Organization (WHO), these and similar paraben-based preservatives trigger estrogen hormone production, especially in women’s bodies, and increase the risk of breast cancer by 78%…
For this very reason, we concluded that using paraben-based products was not right, and then a ban was imposed. We had to find a solution, and we did. I created my project called Ultrasonic System, which extends the shelf life of products by 4-5 years. It was accepted and registered as an invention by the Ministry of Industry and Technology of the Republic of Turkey. Our invention, which has become a first worldwide, was among the top five projects in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship ranking.
“I succeed because I don’t give up dealing with problems” said Einstein. The second invention was again a solution to a problem…
Experiences, problems, yes, of course brought solutions with my experience.
Despite all these efforts conjuncture in Turkey situations such as the instability of the markets conjuncture in Turkey situations such as the manufacturer and brand owner
for us in the position of material moral problems had started to create.
The stagnation of growth was causing us to count in our place.
Of course you found a new solution…
Of course. The biggest market was America, New York.
It was necessary to be in the center of the world, in finance and in cosmetic sector.
I was mentally ready. I took a radical decision,
I dissolved my activities in the Turkish market within a year.
I completed my preparations for exporting to America by making production in Turkey.
Welcome to America. Year?…
In 2017, our American adventure started. New world market, zero customer portfolio. For 8 years I have been making a serious labor.
Take a risks make you a little whipped you up?
Possible. The struggle to exist among the giants of the world whipped me up.
I was so confident in my products, that the new world could not upset me.
I had 10 sets of care products and 300 dollars.
And a lot of self-confidence. I was in the field of marketing research.
I had only one problem, I didn’t know anyone.
My English wasn’t good enough..
Great courage. Being from Izmir requires it….
We set out on a journey, we’ll be fine. In this way, I traveled around America 3 times.
I was explaining my product practically.
It attracted attention and created astonishment.
I explained the products to the customers one-on-one.
I never stopped struggling. Sometimes
I was running out of money, I had not yet made sales
From time to time
I even got help from the church. The right product, presentation, honesty, honesty, being clear,
not making promises that you cannot fulfill. From the first moment of the product until it reached the customer
I was in command of every stage, I was professional and focused on success. Business owners knew me now. The butterfly effect had started. After the first customer, the water flowed like . I made friends, gained trust.They started to support me.
I created strong references. I was participating in America’s most famous shows (NY IBS, Orlando Premier,IBS Las Vegas).
I accelerated my efforts for brand awareness. I was growing rapidly.
Exports came one after another. I expanded our product scale.
Even if it wasn’t raining, I was thundering.
I had to create awareness..
Because, Serious budgets were required to compete with big and global brands.
The power of PR is here again.
After two years of my business, we decided to get a “Kosher Certificate”“ for awareness.
This certificate was given by us to a cosmetic product for the first time in the world. It is an important document especially for the Jewish and Christian community.
What is Kosher?
It is a document that proves that the product produced is prepared in accordance with the principles of belief. In addition to religion rules, this document also shows that the substances used in the product are of high quality, suitable for human health and reliable .
Great… 2 inventions, many products and a document that creates awareness… Market be afraid of you.
There is a serious Jewish community in America, and with Kosher we managed to attract their interest.
They were talking about us among themselves as an urban legend.
We attracted attention and created awareness.
Then we introduced private label products into the game.
We designed products for world-renowned brands and very famous chain salons under their own brands and developed many products such as all-inclusive shampoo, hair conditioner, care products.
Where’s your head office?
In New York City. We have warehouses in many states and in Italy. We have distributorships in Puerto Rico and Ecuador in South America, in Germany in Central Europe, and offices in the United Kingdom and Australia.
We continue our sales and marketing activities in 19 states in America.
We can provide one-to-one service to 8000 salons.
Hundreds of our sales staff are flying like butterflies in America.
Can consumers shop easily from the your website?
Yes. Consumers and salon owners can obtain all our products that are on sale in the market in America only from our own online site.
What is the name of the site?
Protectorofficial.
Especially our protector brand is only used and sold in salons.
We do not allow this brand to be sold in multi level
marketing.
We are working on a pleasant work for end consumers, young people, women and men, which they can reach
in e-commerce. We will be in sales channels such as ebay, amazon, trendyol with our special products that will create a different market.
We followed in the press that he honored our country with many awards…
Thank you.
Two years in the “instant effect product” category of America: Our product category awards, Consumer Associations recognition, Jewish Community Awards, Best content awards, Awards of European Cosmetics award,
Cosmetics company that best represents Türkiye abroad (2021) ,2021 Eurasia Awards,best invention category ultrasonic system award the first ones that come to mind.
Is instant effect hair product ? I think many people, need such a product.. like me…
Yes, instant effect is important.
This is Hair product…
Napoleon Bonaparte unknowingly described you. “Success begins where courage begins.”
I’m listening to a unique life story. Full of courage and success…
Success begins where the comfort zone ends. Belief and struggle are crowned with a good team.
A lot of information such as loving your job, not giving up the struggle, learning from mistakes, doing the job by consulting the competent
is in my memory.
I guess good people can win too. Some fairy tales can have a happy ending.
My readers know me, I don’t write what I haven’t experienced. I guess I need to experience your sector..
Why not, life is full of surprises..
Trade is the art of taking risks. If you perform this art properly success is inevitable.
Believe in yourself, your work, your knowledge.
The parable Disney was fired from the first newspaper he worked for due to “lack of imagination”.
He quit his first cartoon company. But he did not lose faith and revolutionized the world of entertainment by creating Mickey Mouse. Today….
Disney is a billion-dollar brand…
Burcu Tuna
SOURCE : https://sevmedya.com/izmirden-amerikaya-kelebek-etkisi/