Success – BALMSHOT Targets Lips Worldwide

BALMSHOT founder Wayne Forney, contracted lip cancer in 1983 due to his outdoor lifestyle. After successful lip reconstruction surgery, he used lip balm daily to protect and moisturize his lips. Wayne became dissatisfied with knurled cap of standard dispensers that often made a gooey mess in his pocket. He retreated to his garage to think about and tinker with a better system. He soon came up with a working model based on the shotgun shell that featured a firmer, knurl-free twist base and tighter fitting cap. In 2010, Wayne finalized his new lip balm delivery system known as BALMSHOT. From his small production operation in Boise, Wayne developed sales in stores such as Walgreens and Cabela’s and created a presence on Amazon. 

In 2015, BALMSHOT sought to accelerate exports by participating in Export Excellence, Idaho’s ExporTech Program to explore export opportunities. Wayne had some ideas about where he wanted to export but did not have a process for researching and targeting his best export opportunities. Export Excellence paired BALMSHOT with an Idaho District Export Council Coach and a Boise State University International Business Student who helped research export opportunities and create an export action plan. The Program introduced Wayne to a host of export resources that he could draw upon to help with global research and intelligence and export mechanics. BALMSHOT targeted a trade show in Germany that helped him learn about the European market and inspired him to develop a new organic product that was requested by German visitors. BALMSHOT also learned that Amazon was exploring a new model that would allow BALMSHOT to sell into European Markets using the Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) platform instead of a local distributor.

Results

• Export Excellence provided a cost-effective way to research new export markets.
• BALMSHOT identified new markets in Germany & Canada.
• BALMSHOT developed an organic product for global markets.
• Export Excellence provided an effective model for developing new export markets.
• BALMSHOT retained current staff and hired a new employee to handle record sales in 2017.
• Export Excellence helped BALMSHOT develop a network of export resources the company uses to address ongoing export-related issues.