Industrial Revelation
Nearing the tail-end of 2015, I came upon a fantastic discovery of an opportunity within eCommerce. So I decided to explore this “new thing” in-depth, spending whole nights until first light broke learning about this industry. I would sit up watching endless YouTube videos, webinars, reading articles, and buying courses to complete the following night. I slept a mere 3 hours each night before heading out for a full day at the office. This was my daily cycle for seven months straight until finally, I felt as if I was ready to jump into the deep end of this industry for myself.
By early 2016, I was doing some arbitrage on Amazon, experimenting a bit on eBay and Etsy, and very quickly realizing that this was not what I was looking to immerse myself in for the long run. Instead, my goal was to build my independent brand with an audience that repeats and buys from me, which will remain stable over time and not depend on the monstrous trading arena.
Towards the middle of 2016, I discovered the possibility of setting up a store on Shopify, and a vast treasure was revealed to me, opening a whole new world of possibilities I had only dreamed of until this point. So, I set up my brand for the first time called Twinssss. My brand focused upon a collection of products for twins; everything revolved around products purchased in multiples. It was an excellent idea—at least that’s what I thought at this time.
Excited and overwhelmed by the discovery, I decided to purchase the Dan-Sylvia course (which, at the time, was considered the most excellent guru in the US) to gain a deeper understanding of influencing marketing on Instagram and learn how to drive more traffic to my store.
After several months of trying to profit from Twinsss, I came to the realization that there is a much bigger problem here than my inexperience in digital marketing. When I confronted the website cart abandoners about why they did not make a purchase, they responded that they were unwilling to dress their babies in unfamiliar materials and fabrics – i.e., my dropshipping products from AliExpress are unsatisfactory and irrelevant.
Pattern Recognition
Fast-tracking a few months ahead towards the end of 2016, after an in-depth study of thousands of my clients’ profiles from Twinssss, I found a crazy pattern on pages these people ‘liked.’ The one consistent thing among them was an intense love for animals, especially wolves.
After completing a bit more market research, competitor research (which did not exist in this niche then), and testing of products, I decided to give this whole Shopify scheme another chance. So I injected more funds from the house’s joint account and birthed my new brand, Wolvestuff, on Shopify’s Brooklyn template with a PayPal payment option only.
Scalable Scrutiny
Now, skipping forward to our official launch date, October 26, 2016, just in time for the crazy peak season of Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas! A few Facebook ads later, we quickly identified that a bracelet with a feather symbol appealed to the audience. This simple discovery allowed me to make a rapid scale and sell it in the thousands! So naturally, suspicions were raised with my bank manager, who suddenly had to increase my frameworks with a sudden influx of cash flow.
Reflecting on the days of seeing myself sitting with that branch manager, baffled with the idea that I can be making six figures a month from “Wolvestuff.” From that point, I showed him exactly what a Facebook ad looks like and how it takes surfers to a landing page and onwards to the checkout.
From that point on, every second or third product turned out to be a product that hits the audience with great precision, and the business grew until it reached the need for ten employees in the Philippines, consuming my attention around the clock, and addicted to the screen just waiting for the subsequent “cha-ching” notification.
From Aspiring To Inspiring
Amidst all of this madness, I was also developing the biggest eCom community in Israel, producing workshops and courses for all experience levels, and most importantly, giving lots of hope and inspiration to new guys entering the field; it is all entirely possible!
Fast forward three years ahead to 2019, Wolvestuff sold through a broker, and my time is mine again all of a sudden! It is a massive endeavor of long-term businesses whose construction processes take months, but their strong foundations will allow them to survive for many years to come. One example of this is Trust The Brokers, one of the most successful and leading brokerage agencies globally for Digital businesses/assets.
Enter the student arena—I often get reports of multiple businesses who had initially studied under me and since then have seen success in their brands; some are now in the exit stages or beginning the exit processes.
For the past year and a half, my partner Tolik and I have been running the agency, building a solid foundation and proven methods to recruit the best brokers and create a vast network connection of brokers worldwide.
We see the trend clearly, and we know exactly where to put our energy and efforts in the next two years. It’s clear that the new era of micro-brands is on the rise and will continue to expand exponentially in the following years.
Russian Doll Effect
Two years from now, the exit will no longer be Amazon stores, but independent eCommerce brands acquired by the Arigrators who are busy today buying costly Amazon stores and will absorb what is developing under their noses.
Investments will slowly shift to micro-brands until it explodes in a period of two years from now, at which point we will see even higher multipliers than what is expected in Amazon stores today.
It won’t be limited to private money coming into play, but super-brands like Nike, Adidas, etc., will begin to understand that it is worthwhile to buy microbrand brand activity. These super-brands will seek out microbrands that someone smaller has already built—along with their existing reviews, repeat customers, and digital assets—rather than setting up something from scratch.
Bird’s Eye View
So, the way I look today at new microbrands is precisely the way a startup is built. There needs to be a business model, in-depth research, money or investors, a great team of professionals, and, most importantly, an understanding of how to build all these things and create an impeccably functioning system.
By 2017 I had already realized that I needed to build an eCommerce store with foundations so solid that would later make it a thriving brand. It’s at that point that I launched what would become my first 7 figure store, completing the cycle and selling it with a profitable exit.
I hope that by 2024 you’ll be the one to make a successful exit on your microbrand. Myself and everyone at the Trust The Brokers team will be there for you to fulfill your exit dream so that you can make your realities a thing of dreams.
Good luck!
David Popovich, Owner of Trust The Brokers, the fastest-growing brokerage agency, is also the leader of eCom IL, the biggest eCom community in Israel, and a 7 figure store owner.
