Website Closers® presents a flourishing eCommerce business in the beard care sector. This business launched humbly, selling to friends and family before transitioning online, where success was notable within 30 days.
The brand quickly gained a tremendous and loyal Facebook and Instagram following, organically driving traffic to the site. Since then, it has witnessed unprecedented growth as its cult-like following expands and becomes increasingly loyal. They sell their custom products exclusively through a Shopify-built website and have subsequently found a niche sector in the enormous market, where they’re enjoying fruitful results.
The bread and butter of the business are manufacturing for other companies. Wholesale currently accounts for 85% of revenue, with D2C sales making up the remainder.
There is a healthy balance of sales between SKUs. Top-selling products include beard balm, cream, and oil, making up around 60% of income. 30% more comes from wash and conditioner, with everything else filling in the other 10%.
The owners have kept advertising simple and ad-spend at a minimum. They didn’t want to grow too fast and relied on word of mouth. The decision to stay in a small company with few employees was intentional. The plan from inception was to keep this a small mom-and-pop business. Unfortunately, or fortunately — whichever way you see it, sales exploded, nonetheless.
All products are shipped daily from the company’s facility. During the summer, they average 30 to 50 shipments daily, while that number averages 150 shipments from September through May. All orders are fulfilled in-house other than shirts and hoodies. A printing company is used to fulfill apparel orders.
Products are manufactured as needed to ensure the longest shelf life, two years from the manufacturing date. As such, only an inventory of raw ingredients is kept on hand. These include carrier oils, essential oil blends, shea butter, and beeswax.
Unsurprisingly the company operates in a male-driven market; however, its range of women’s products has proven successful. The typical age range is broad and encapsulates 18 to 65-year-olds. Sales experience some seasonality. Beard season, as the owners call it, starts in September, and continues through May. The slower months are June, July, and August, while November, December, and January are the busiest.
The brand has plenty of devoted customers. They don’t necessarily target any specific demographic which sets them apart in the niche. Many companies tend to target hipsters or professionals. Management believes this alienates customers, so has targeted the everyday man with facial hair, excluding nobody.
The two owners focus primarily on marketing, graphics, website development, customer service, manufacturing, and accounting.
Additionally, two employees oversee manufacturing, shipping, and customer service, while a third perform janitorial duties.
A third-party contractor posts all social media ads through Facebook and Instagram.
The brand has relied on Facebook ads, of just $500 monthly, to generate much of its D2C business, where it’s had incredible success. The social media giant has brought tremendous sales traffic to the site. As a result, opportunities are ripe to pursue influencer campaigns on their primary channels and engage with their extraordinarily loyal and close-knit community. In addition, the company spends $300 on Google Ads for wholesale marketing.
As mentioned, the owners have dialed back on scaling the business, so options are plentiful.
Amazon has created an excellent marketplace, not just for buyers but for sellers too. As a result, the benefits available to entrepreneurs looking to expand their online business are abundant. Amazon remains the most prominent eCommerce retail platform and has recorded astonishing growth in net revenue, from $11.5 Billion in 2019 to $33 Billion in 2020. That year, Amazon ranked as the top U.S. company in retail eCommerce sales, taking 38.7% of the market. In addition, studies show that 63% of consumers start their search for a new product on Amazon.
Given the brand’s domestic success, international expansion is a tremendously exciting and obvious opportunity. The owners should immediately look at expanding their Amazon storefront. Then, they can quickly sell locally and internationally on the world’s biggest eCommerce platform and see an enormous boost in revenue. Some outstanding agencies can successfully handle the Amazon store, from listing products, optimizing keywords, implementing PPC advertising, and everything in
between. An owner reluctant to take this responsibility on themselves could readily go this route with a high return on investment.
As successful as the business is, they have not yet tapped into the industry’s colossal influencer marketing opportunities, affiliate relationships, email marketing, or focused much on Google ads. All options have shown a great return on investment in this niche and can easily be outsourced to specialists. The opportunities to scale this business dramatically are endless.
Taking over this business requires virtually no working capital, save for paid advertising and small contractors’ bills each month. This business is approved for Partial SBA Financing. A buyer will receive all recipes, raw ingredients, boxes, machines, and USPS and UPS accounts.
