Strategy Journal | Refill Store and Refillery Business Insights
A journal for refill store owners navigating sustainable growth, profitability, and values driven business -- featuring tools from the Lean Refillery.
One of the things I value most about being in this work is the community of other refill shop owners.
The conversations we have with each other — the honest ones — are rarely about the polished parts of business. They’re about what’s actually happening on the ground: what’s working, what isn’t, th...
One of the questions I hear from people with refill shops is: “Should I be making my own products, or buying them wholesale?” and then the follow-up question usually comes right after: “If I do want to make things in-house, how do I decide which ones are worth making?”
In the early stages, most re...
One of the easiest ways for a refill or maker business to overspend is on equipment.
It’s tempting to assume that a more “professional” formulary needs more machines, more specialty tools, and more dedicated gear. In reality, excess equipment often adds friction: more setup, more cleanup, more stor...
Before You Buy New Equipment, Ask the Questions That Actually Matter
New equipment is one of the easiest ways for a small maker business to spend money—and one of the hardest places to tell whether that money will actually come back.
It’s easy to justify a purchase by telling yourself it will incr...
Tiffany from Juniperseed Mercantile and Bridget over at Bridget’s Botanicals trade struggles, insights, and production hacks regularly—"collaboration over competition, always."
If you run a refillery—or you’re thinking about opening one—it’s completely normal to feel a pang of panic when you hear t...
If you’re trying to live more sustainably, there’s a good chance you’re carrying some guilt with you.
Guilt about plastic.
Guilt about fast shipping.
Guilt about convenience, clutter, and habits that feel hard to break.
Guilt about not doing enough—or not doing it perfectly.
Many people want to do...
Running a refillery is meaningful, values-driven work—but it’s also complex.
Most refill store owners don’t start their businesses from an accounting or traditional business background. We start from purpose, intuition, creativity, and grit. And while that passion is powerful, it often means that c...
