JOEY RAHAL – FOUNDER OF PAIN STRIKE
You know what it’s like when you get out of bed during winter and it seems a little harder with the aches and pains? Or you hurt yourself during the simplest of tasks? Perhaps you don’t recover from exercise like you used to?
Joey Rahal used a family secret, employing the best in natural ingredients to create Pain Strike to treat those annoying little injuries. The brand is now set for national distribution, which is positive news for Australia’s pain threshold.
What is the history of Pain Strike?
Many years ago, my Mum and Dad where overseas, and Dad injured himself and used one of the local pain relief creams. He loved the product and had the idea to create a similar pain relief cream that used natural local ingredients and was made in Australia. He came back and went straight to work, developing a natural formula and over the years developed “Pain Strike”. He understood that people deal with all types of body pain and wanted everyday Aussies to get back to living their lives to the fullest. Years later, I had the business passed down to me, and like my dad, I have the same vision and values for success.
What are the unique qualities of Pain Strike to other brands on the market?
Pain Strike has a formula that uses natural active ingredients without any of those harsh chemicals seen in a lot of other pain relief creams. Our main ingredients: Cajeput Oil, Wintergreen Oil, Camphor Oil, Clove Bud Oil and Menthol work synergistically to relieve muscle, joint and inflammation pains. We are also proud to say that we manufacture Pain Strike in Sydney, which means we have the highest quality and safety standards.
How did you go about securing the distribution of the product?
We first identified key markets and potential retail partners that aligned with our values and target market. The main focus is to build great relationships with these people and the market our partners cater for. Building relationships with customers is always very important, going to different markets and interacting with everyday people is one of my favourite parts of the job and it also helps with our brand awareness because when people like the product they tell their friends and family. Targeted marketing campaigns also helped drive consumer demand, making our product more attractive to distributors.
What are the biggest challenges you are facing and how are you trying to overcome them?
As a company, we are competing with already very well-known pain relief brands, and each of them have teams of people dedicated to selling. Our biggest challenge is getting people to trust our company and not go with the generic pain relief cream. The everyday Aussie needs to try our product, so what I do, is go to different markets and events and trade shows, and allowing people to sample Pain Strike. Once people try the product they love it. People need to trust this product and you cannot just trust it by buying Pain Strike online.
What’s your best success to date?
As a company, we haven’t had that one big success story yet. We have multiple small wins which I am still very proud of. For example, being stocked in as many pharmacies as we are to date, being a part of the Australian Made Campaign and hearing the satisfaction of our customers are when they use our creams. We are a brand that helps people be relieved of their everyday pains and bodily problems, so I feel our success and achievements are very unique.
What’s the best bit of business advice you have received?
To be consistent and to always keep trying. When I talk to other business owners, I actively seek out their experiences and insights. I recognise that every conversation is a chance to learn something new. I hear from quite a few people that consistency is key, but it’s more than just sticking to a routine, it is persistently pursuing excellence and improvement even when you have setbacks. Consistency also creates a pattern of operation that can be refined over time, and is a step closer to innovation.
What are the plans for the Pain Strike over the next year?
We have big and exciting plans for Pain Strike over the next year. We need to improve our brand awareness and get our product seen by more people and businesses. Within the next year, we will be in major retailers such as Aldi and Woolworths, as well as getting into more and more pharmacies and continuing with our events and conferences. We want Pain Strike to be Australia’s trusted brand for pain relief.
