2019 was a wild year at Previnex and filled with ups, downs, challenges, lessons, pivots, and ultimately big steps forward for the company. Transparency is a value that we hold highly at Previnex, and I hope you enjoy this recap and look under the hood of our year in review!
To kick this letter off with a baseball analogy, hitting home runs is as alluring as it gets. You can score quickly, run around the bases slowly, smile, and enjoy as the crowd cheers loudly. The downside to home runs is that if you’re always focused on hitting them, you’re going to strike out a lot, not consistently score runs, and lose games as a result. Hitting singles on the other hand requires more effort and work. You have to hustle to first base and grind singles out. Singles aren’t as glamorous, you don’t get as much glory, but hitting singles consistently scores runs and is an effective way to win games if you’re consistent.
Early in 2019, we were swinging for the fences and then some, and found ourselves fully pursuing an opportunity that had triple grand slam potential. Chasing this opportunity in and of itself wasn’t the issue, but taking our eyes off of hitting singles was and cost us. Because Previnex is made up of a small, lean, and dedicated team internally, focusing on this grand slam not only cost us runs, but it cost capital (producing inventory to be in a position to capitalize on the opportunity) and time (almost a year of focus and effort). It also led to a steady decline in sales from January to July. As a result, we needed to take a real honest look in the mirror about what was working, what wasn’t, and go back to the basics.
When I launched Previnex in 2013, the vision was to make products of unparalleled quality, safety, and effectiveness, where health influencers would naturally seek us out given our product and process differentiation (clinically studied and effective ingredients/products, ingredient testing, production run testing, finished product testing, etc.). We were very fortunate that this strategy worked and that some amazing partners were attracted to us and came on board. This is how Previnex grew in the early days.
To make a very long story short, the basics for us meant single mindedly focusing on our partnerships (both existing and cultivating new ones), and going all out as a company there, and starting in July, that’s exactly what we did. We started growing at an accelerated pace throughout the year, and here are the biggest lessons I learned in the process.
Lessons
#1 - Don’t take your eyes off of hitting singles. When we defined what singles looked like at Previnex and started focusing on hitting them, our business started to turn around and grow. While home runs are alluring, hitting singles consistently will score runs (and still lead to some doubles, triples, and maybe even a home run). Define what singles look like for you and/or your company and never stop hitting them. Hit singles with excellence, and you have a proven recipe for growth and success.
#2 - The importance of laser focus. The risk of chasing too many things is that you can’t do all things well. The benefit of defining and pursuing one thing with excellence is that you can produce excellent results. In an overcrowded marketplace (nutritional supplements in our case), excellence is required to stand out and win. Once we were laser focused on reengaging our current partners and acquiring new ones, our business started to grow at an accelerated rate. One book that really challenged me and ultimately helped shape our laser focus mentality and strategy is Essentialism. I highly recommend reading it!
Giving Back & Stories of Impact
To me, using our company to serve malnourished children is arguably the most rewarding work that we do. When we launched our Get Health, Give Health® Program in July 2017, we partnered with an organization that I had personally supported and watched execute a vitamin distribution program to children in need. Unfortunately, they weren’t the right partner for us and in late 2018, we identified a new partner, CMMB, who had a proven track record of getting aid in the hands of severely malnourished children.
While we’ve donated close to 600,000 chewables since launching our giving program mid 2017, one thing that we’ve been missing have been actual stories of impact. Late this year, CMMB started sending before and after stories, and the first two stories that we received were of Joseph and Dieuthro. When I read these stories for the first time, tears started welling up in my eyes, and this gave me and our team a real boost and provided good perspective and affirmation that what we do really matters. When you’re in the trenches day-to-day, it’s easy to lose sight of this sometimes. I hope you’ll take a moment to read these stories if you haven’t already, and I hope you find them as deeply moving and encouraging as our team did.
New Products, Initiatives & Looking Ahead
This year, we launched our newest product, Brain Health PLUS. Customer feedback has been tremendous and I’ve personally seen incredible benefits to my memory, processing speed (I think faster and more clearly), and overall brain health. While the product is extremely effective and completely inline with our focus on promoting longevity, performance, and everyday health, we didn’t market this product as well as we could have after launching it. Still, product sales grew throughout the year and we’re currently working on a few initiatives to help customers try this product and feel benefits firsthand in some creative ways.
We also launched a new customer rewards program late in the year. Previnex exists to serve our customers, partners, and malnourished children. All of our employees know this and serving others first is our #1 core value as a company. Launching a customer rewards and loyalty program was high on our list in 2019, and phase two of this program is already in the works, where we hope to launch VIP tiers where customers will get Previnex swag, customer perks, and additional autoship discounts as they level up. Stay tuned!
On the new product front, we’re looking to launch one new flavor of our popular Nourify PLUS vegan meal replacement product. Please comment or reply with the flavor you’d like to see us produce! Also, we have our eye on some other product categories that have very interesting clinical data. These areas include immunity, sleep, and energy/focus. Stay tuned!
Closing
I’m honored and humbled to lead a company that is doing work that really makes a difference, and we’re so grateful for the opportunity to serve you and your health. This is something we don’t take for granted.
From all of us at Previnex, we wish you all the best for an outstanding 2020, and hope your year ahead is filled with happiness, success, and of course, great health! At our healthiest, we can maximize our potential and make our greatest impact on our families, communities, and the world!
As always, I’d love your feedback on what you liked and didn’t like from us this year, if there are any areas where you think we can grow and do a better job, and how we can make your experience with us better. Please comment or reply with your feedback. I promise to personally read each and every response.
Here’s to 2020!
In Great Health,
