Skin Care Manufacturer: Tariffs Have Produced More ‘Chaos and Uncertainty’ than Covid, It’s Time to Pass Costs to Consumers

MATTINGLY: “You know, planning for this moment in your business, forecasting what‘s going to happen in the coming months, how do you do it?”
LaFOND: “It‘s almost impossible. One of the real difficult things about owning a business is having to deal with chaos and uncertainty. These tariffs haven‘t done anything but create more chaos and uncertainty than I‘ve ever seen as a business owner. And that includes during the pandemic. If there was any type of strategic thinking or surgical type of approach to tariffs, rather than dealing with a sledgehammer, we could all plan much better. But because there‘s so much uncertainty and so much that we don‘t know, and these decisions are made pretty much on a whim, it‘s very hard for any small business to properly look at what the future is going to bring for all of us.”
MATTINGLY: “For increased costs that you‘ve experienced, are you — explain to people how you kind of think through. Do you pass them through to your consumers? Do you try and eat those costs? Do you try and split some difference there, hoping that maybe that uncertainty will become certain and the tariffs will be pulled off? How are you handling it?”
LaFOND: “Yeah, well, for the past few months, we‘ve absorbed all those increases, which is something that unfortunately is just not sustainable. Over the course of this past month here in August, we contracted all of our clients and said, ‘Hey, we‘re going to be recording your business based on the ingredients, the inputs that you have and how we can continue to operate.’ So we‘ve weathered the storm by basically taking on a lot of additional costs. But beginning today, September 1st, we‘re passing those on to our clients who in turn, when they sell to the American consumer, they‘re going to see those price reflections. So we‘ve already seen kind of a slowdown in terms of interest and purchasing of personal care products this year. And I think as these prices continue to rise, unfortunately, the American consumer is going to bear the brunt of that.”
MATTINGLY: “What is your message to policy makers right now in terms of how they should be thinking about this? What would make your lives, the lives of other small business owners easier?”
LaFOND: “This administration campaigned on the promise of bringing back American business, bringing back the greatness of our manufacturing. Unfortunately, I haven‘t seen any type of order or plan or strategy that we really do that. Unfortunately, instead of helping businesses, most of these policies and executive orders are harming small businesses. So, from the administration, from policy makers, I‘d like to see a real concerted strategic effort rather than just trying to grab a headline.”
MATTINGLY: “Once again, people pay attention. It‘s Natural Contract Manufacturing out of Middleton, Wisconsin. Kyle LaFond, I really appreciate your time sharing your perspective.”
LaFOND: “Thank you, Phil. Appreciate it.”