Help Save Ballard Organics (local business, certified organic soaps)

Oh dear! Ballard Organics/Seattle Organics, a small and lovely local business, needs the community's help! See their website at http://ballardorganics.com, and the public open letter below.

http://j.b5z.net/i/u/2104165/f/Letter.pdf

To Our Dear Supporters of Ballard Organics Soap Company,

We at Ballard Organics have had the pleasure of serving the greater Seattle Community for the past five years. We are incredibly grateful for the loyal backing of this community. Your support allowed us to update our Ballard Organics soap line to attract more customers; it allowed us to create Seattle Organics, an affordable certified organic brand that reaches a wider population; it has allowed us to give back to our community through donations to food banks, schools, environmental causes, and to various charities including the Urban Rest Stop. Despite these collective achievements, we find our business struggling for survival. We are now reaching out to you, our dedicated community, to help us save our company by buying our Common Stock through our SCOR offering (see website for details), supporting our product line, and spreading the word.

Like many small businesses, we are having difficulty achieving financial stability. We accept that we got caught up in the excitement of growth potential and that our strategy to move into such a large warehouse played a role in our current situation. Despite the economic conditions of late, our sales grew 13% last year, but this increase has not been enough to cover the additional overhead we took on with our move to a larger facility.  We have encountered additional setbacks: business partners, also struggling, have been slow to pay us, and our growth has been slower than initially projected. 

We are working to ensure we do not repeat the mistakes that led us here. We plan on moving into a smaller, more economically and environmentally sustainable warehouse and re-focusing our efforts on the local community for both sales and opportunities for outreach. With your investment we will continue to offer sustainable, certified organic products, be able to expand our more accessible Seattle Organics line in the PNW, move toward using more locally sourced goods, and provide greater benefits to our exceptional employees.  

Regarding the Common Stock, we highly anticipated that we would have already raised the minimum amount needed to use the funds. We have raised $51,000, one-third of what is needed to meet the minimum requirement. If we do not raise an additional $99,000 by the end of February we may be forced to deal with an unwanted decision to close our doors; a decision that would remove Ballard Organics and Seattle Organics soaps from your local marketplace.

Simply put: The 10 employees of Ballard Organics need your help. We are asking the community to come together, invest in our company, buy our products, and spread the word to help us get back on track. Our Pacific NW sales continue to flourish. You are tremendously loyal and supportive individuals and our prospects for expansion in the region are made possible by you. This, combined with the achievement of our common stock investment goal, will ensure our company’s survival. 

We need you now more than ever to rise up and meet this challenge with us.

For more information on our Common Stock Option please visit our website at: http://www.ballardorganics.com/investors

or contact our Director of Investor Relations: Yvette Sanchez at (206) 406-305 or Yvette@ballardorganics.com.

Thank you one and all. With the Kindest Regards,The Ballard Organics Soap Company Team