Growing My E-Commerce Product to $1.5k/mo in Twelve Months

Hello! What's your background, and what are you working on?

Hey! I'm Burly Vinson, the founder of Snappies. My background is in sales and marketing, which, though I didn't know it at the time, helped give me the skills and motivation to start my brand.

I like to describe Snappies as a brand trying to change the definition of snapback hats. Lofty goal, I know. I use premium materials, like leather and brass snaps, in place of the cheap plastic snaps you find on most snapback hats. Creating something that serves a larger purpose has always been important to me; that's why I donate the proceeds from each hat to non-profits to help plant 10 trees.

At this time I'm averaging around $1,500 a month in revenue, but I'm looking to exceed that with increased ad budgets and increased inventory.

What motivated you to get started with Snappies?

I'm a hat guy. I like wearing hats, especially snapbacks. Problem is, I wear my hats backwards, and I was never a fan of the plastic straps digging into my forehead.

I couldn't understand why none of these brands tried to use something other than plastic for their straps. So, I decided to try and make something better.

What went into building the initial product?

Initially I tried to mimic the design of the two plastic straps snapping together while using leather and brass in place of plastic. After toying with it and making prototypes, however, I found it couldn't work. So I ended up with my current design of placing the snaps along the backside of the hat and using one strap to snap in. It's different, for sure, but it gave my hats a unique look and feel.

The first few prototypes took some time. I had no experience with leather working or creating an apparel product. Much of my time early on was going to local leather and craft shops trying to figure out what would be the best materials (type of leathers, snap sizes).

A big obstacle I faced was sizing. If a hat is too small or large, even by a centimeter, it ruins the whole design. Because my hats only have three sizes, I had to experiment with snap placements to really nail a design that could work for most people. Luckily, I have a decent number of friends with varying heads, so I could recruit them to test out the fit.

For the actual designs on the hats, it was a little easier. Like I said, I have a background in marketing, including graphic design, so I was able to create all my own graphics and make mockups in Photoshop to nail a brand look. This really helped me save money by not having to outsource the design work.

I work full time, so all of this was being done in my free time and on my own dime. So it was your stereotypical story of working late into the night tinkering on some new, unproven product.

How have you attracted users and grown Snappies?

I didn't have a big launch plan or strategy, which, looking back, was a missed opportunity. My initial customers came from the Snappies Instagram page. Starting from zero is tough, but I was able to slowly grow this following on Instagram by reaching out to my target demographic, commenting, liking photos, etc. People often underestimate the sheer amount of time and effort that goes into getting a brand off the ground.

Once I had a few customers and brand supporters, it was vital I nurtured these followers, as they are often your biggest brand champions. I coined the term "Snap Nation" to refer to my followers as a way to build that tribalism that's so crucial for brand success. Encouraging customers to share photos wearing a Snappies hat not only gave me free advertising — it was also a great source of content to repost on my own brand page.

Starting from zero gives you the advantage of trying any and everything. It gives you the freedom to do marketing efforts that take time and can't scale, but are helpful for initial growth. Early on I used guerrilla marketing as a way to get initial brand awareness.

I live close to some colleges, so I literally walked around and posted up flyers of my brand and Snappies' URL. Honestly I didn't expect it to do much, but to my surprise, I was able to get a handful of customers just from that.

What's your business model, and how have you grown your revenue?

I sell Snappies hats directly to customers through my eCommerce site via Shopify. If you're starting out in eCommerce, Shopify is the way to go. Super streamlined, and even a novice can throw together a modern-looking website.

What's really helped my brand expand is Facebook ads. They've taken off recently, which has caused inventory problems. I'll blow through inventory faster than expected, and I'll have to slow down my ads, which has caused a yo-yo effect in monthly revenue recently. I'm averaging around $1,500 a month when I have sufficient inventory, but this depends on the budget I place on ads.

For any entrepreneurs in eCommerce, Facebook ads are incredibly powerful. The problem a lot of people have starting out, including myself, is nailing down the targeting to make it profitable. With so many targeting options and variables, it's hard to know what's working and what's wasting your money.

I didn't start to see real results until I used custom audiences based off past customers or newsletter signups. My advice to entrepreneurs getting burned from Facebook ads is to wait until you have a list of reliable contacts (customers, signups, website visitors) and then target audiences based off those lists via lookalike audiences. At the end of the day it takes a lot of trial and error, so don't be afraid to lose some money testing your ads.

My costs are still high due to the custom nature of my hats and the fact that I'm not ordering very large quantities that lower unit costs (1000+). Currently I'm making around 30% margin on my products.

What are your goals for the future?

I started Snappies because I wanted to make hats I liked but which weren't available. So for me, success is simple: designing and creating hats I think are awesome. Luckily, other people seem to think so as well, so it gives me the resources to come out with even more products.

I've had success with online sales, but I'm looking to get into retail to add another revenue channel. I'm speaking with a few retailers, which should help move more products via wholesaling.

What are the biggest challenges you've faced and obstacles you've overcome?

Finding a manufacturer and getting my products produced at a larger scale was an obstacle starting out. A key mistake I made was not being absolutely precise with product specifications. You can't take for granted that a manufacturer knows the exact dimensions, materials, or colors you expect if you don't spell it out.

Ultimately, I had to go through multiple iterations before I was happy with a final product. This can be painfully slow, especially when you're ready to start selling your product, but it's key you have exactly what you want before ordering hundreds of a design.

Have you found anything particularly helpful or advantageous?

My background was definitely an added bonus starting out, and it allowed me to do many of the startup tasks myself. Everything from product photography to graphics I was able to personally do, which saved money at the start.

If you haven't read it, check out Tipping Point, by Malcom Gladwell. Great book that gives a good perspective on how even small changes can really make all the difference.

What's your advice for indie hackers who are just starting out?

Don't fall into analysis paralysis. At some point you just have to take the dive and run with it. Things can always be better or more fine tuned, but if you don't start you'll never get anywhere.

There's a huge amount of free resources out there, be it Indie Hackers or reddit. Read up. See what's working for others and use those strategies for your business.

Finally, try any and everything to get the word out. You never know what works until you try it, so you might as well try it all. When you start at zero, anything is an improvement.

Where can we go to learn more?

Check us out at snappiesco.com. You can also follow @snappiesco on Twitter or reach my by email at contact@snappiesco.com.

Ask me any questions you have and I'll be sure to answer them below.