Website Closers® presents a Direct-to-Consumer eCommerce Brand in the Home Safes Vertical. For 15 years, this business has been a leading provider of all major brands of safes using highly proficient logistics, supply chain management, customer service and sales to service the industry. All Safes are shipped direct to customers with the option to have professional White Glove Service install the safe in the home or office. There are tens of thousands of customers in the company database, ranging from consumers to business owners and organizations and government offices. Military, City and State Police, Sheriff’s Departments and Federal Government offices and other law enforcement bureaus are but a few of the regular customers enjoyed by this business.
Operating on a sought-after domain and as a known leader in the space, the company also sells full size safes under its own trademarked brand. The company’s in-house brand was built several years ago but has not been fully developed. But because there are so few competitors in the safe industry, there remains a strong opportunity for a buyer to develop the brand more fully into not just home and office safes (the products currently sold), but also safe accessories, sporting goods and so much more.
The company does not currently sell anywhere other than its website, but expansion into Walmart, Amazon and others would be a smart decision, especially with the in-house brand.
The business operates through hard-to-acquire relationships with the largest safe manufacturers in the world. These relationships have all but been shut off to new entrants, but have been in place for this company since the beginning … making them even more valuable to an acquirer when combined with the Exact Match Domain. Through the years, the company has grown to become the go-to online website for safes and will be a huge opportunity in the hands of a strategic buyer already in the space; there is over a decade of data collected and housed in the CMS that can be used for further development of the in-house brand and cross sell opportunities.
Value Propositions associated with this business include the aged history of the brand in search algorithms, vendor relationships that are nearly impossible for newcomers to build in this space, a loyal following after 15 years in business, a large amount of daily traffic, and an in-house brand that is ready to be scaled it the right hands. Additionally, a new website theme is currently in development to transition the website from Cart.com to Shopify. This is pegged for completion by the end of February.
Operations and Transaction Structure. The business currently has an Absentee Owner who hasn’t spent any real time with the business for 6-7 years due to the growth of other companies in his portfolio. Ownership is willing to structure the deal with a strong down payment, and then will finance the balance to the right buyer. The right buyer would preferably be one with a minimum of the following attributes:
- experience with eCommerce operations,
- ample capital to grow the company; and
- a willingness to lead and run the company as an operator.
The business is part of a larger portfolio of companies so there are some shared services. However, one good owner-operator can run this business with the current team lead, who has been with the company for over 7 years (and basically runs the daily operations now). We recommend an additional 1-2 Virtual Assistants to round out claims management, product listings and updates, and customer service.
The one thing this business has lacked over the years is a hands-on operator that really gets in to identify cost overruns, product opportunities and further development of the in-house brand. In order to accept seller financing, current ownership would like the next owner to be fully hands on and highly skilled in online sales. This business was purchased 10 years ago by the current group that owns it, and only high-level direction is provided at the moment. The business needs a person that can roll up their sleeves and really focus on growing the company, which has the ability to grow to $50-$75M in Revenue with the right investments.
Additionally, a part of the acquisition structure will be the takeover of the company’s payables and order backlog. This allows an owner to buy the company for some money down + seller financing at much lower interest rates than currently at market + payables takeover.
Margin Opportunities for this business includes:
- Invest in full size safe inventory to provide Quick Ship options and better margins
- Move the business to a Shopify storefront (more flexibility in charging handling fees)
- Shift the business from Free Shipping to a pay by zip code model
- Build relationships with Safe Manufacturers for better deals and pricing
- Build relationships with others in the industry to provide product referrals
- Create an Influencer & Affiliate Network – highly vocal demographic
- Fully Developing the In-House Safe Brand & add sales channels
- Create your own B&M Dealer Network (offered better pricing)
The in-house brand was created several years ago, and utilizes a U.S. based manufacturer of safes to provide a white label product for the brand. This brand has higher margins than most other products sold on the platform and can be further developed by building relationships with additional U.S. manufacturers that are willing to white label products, or by working with Asian manufacturers to create custom safes and accessories. Additionally, given the order history from thousands of customers over the years, new products specific to the brand could be developed to further build out the brand. All in all – this business is ready to accelerate in the right hands.
