Orbis Australasia
A husband and wife team who quit their jobs to start a business tell the story of their company which is now worth over $35 million and exports worldwide.
Zina Richter was working in the nutrition department of a hospital when she noticed something.
There were loads of patients with diabetes suffering skin conditions – but none of the delicate moisturisers and balms were helping.
She got the idea for a hand cream but for people with hands-on jobs or medical issues who needed something a little stronger!
Talking to her husband, Pynith Char, an accountant, the pair decided to go for it and develop a heavy-duty cream. Playing with different formulations in their garage, the enterprising couple perfected their idea.
‘It was a long, hard slog,’ Zina told news.com.au
‘There were a lot of times we thought we were going to throw in the towel but we just had the passion and when you are passionate about a product you want to see it work.’
The line of creams – DU’IT – was released in 2001 and after being picked up by Priceline and Chemist Warehouse they soon saw it spread to Woolworths.
But their business didn’t really boom until they started selling in China.
‘Basically the Chinese love anything from Australia and New Zealand because of the quality. We have very strict standards in Australia and because of all the issues in China contaminated with baby formula contaminated in egg shells, they don’t trust anything from China and are looking for products from Australia and New Zealand.’
Their product has millions of fans all over the world – and to think it started from a simple idea in their garage!
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