What would you do?

The value of building DTC brand bones.

Before I get into a crazy conversation I had on Facebook, here’s an update on what I’m doing this week.

I have my first call with the supplier “agent” this Thursday (Feb 4th, 2021). The agenda is:

• Is there a product catalogue I can access with pricing?

• What is the process for requesting a new product (new design & manufacture)?

• How much lead time is needed for an order to arrive at my shipping warehouse (I’m using ShipHero Fulfillment to handle my shipping).

• What is the agent fee? The agent in question is someone who lives in Mexico, near the supplier that makes the products. The supplier is a family run business and they don’t speak english and I don’t speak spanish.

• Is there a story with the supplier? I want to make sure I’m differentiating my product (fair trade, higher quality material, craftsmanship, family owned business etc).

• How I can get some samples and, products for photo shoots. More on all this in my next update.

So, about that Facebook message. Here’s what I received.

This was sent what looks to be a small investment group looking to purchase some DTC brands they can grow (I researched the sender, not fake). I followed up.

Several days later, I received this response.

I’m sure there could be some negotiation, however, unless someone offers me a case of crunchie bars, I’d rather build the company. My way too wordy response.

Perspective: I purchased the business for $5,900. So, before doing anything of substance, I could have made a few dollars profit.

There’s money to be made building out the bones of a decent brand, running sales for a few months and selling it to people who are looking to grow something and would prefer to not start from scratch.

• Decent name, that comes with a domain.

• Decent branding, though, not super critical, helps the non-designers.

• Product suppliers. Again not critical, however for the newbies like me, it was another reason I pursued the business.

• Most Valuable: Customer Reviews. Nothing says a business is legit more than customers leaving reviews.

• Second Most Valuable: Social following. While the community is small for the business, it’s still an active, passionate group of customers and potential customers who are following for a reason. This audience is going to be key for new product launches and starting new sales.

It’s essentially what Dustin accomplished. He launched the business in May, and sold it December. Now I’m sure the amount of work and energy put into the business far outweighed the return, however, he executed well, started something that has potential and at the minimum, sold it and covered some expenses.

Food for thought.