Featured Listing: Ecommerce Brand in the Bathroom Niche

About the business

Tell us a little about yourself. What’s your background? How did you start the business?

I’m an entrepreneur who wants to make some impact in the world. I feel that no matter how much money you make in the world but if you did it without any underlying greater cause then it’s a waste of your time and purpose.

I am an engineer by degree and started Alpenforce with my partner as a project to understand the e-commerce world after gaining some experience through the previous companies I had worked at. It has been a roller coaster ride but running this brand still gives me a high because I feel that we are solving a very genuine problem of low water pressure and hard water through this product in the US

As an eCommerce business, where are your products made?

Our products are made in China and are shipped to our warehouse in California from where we ship it to our customers placing orders through our website.

What can you tell us about your Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) and Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

Our cost of acquisition is $ 32 and we have an average order value of 64 dollars, which makes us profitable. Our customer lifetime value is $68

How have you marketed the product and where are your customers originating from?

We market our products through Facebook ads and influencers on Instagram. Our brand only ships within the US because that’s where we have our warehouse and we provide 3-5 day delivery to customers free of cost and a 2-day delivery option if they pay for it.

Is the asset on your listing owner-operated, how much time does it take to run the business, who else is needed on the team, and what is automated?

The brand is owned & operated by 2 partners. We also have a customer service agent who takes care of customer emails and queries. We have a freelancer who works with us to keep improving upon our search engine optimization to increase our organic reach. The 2 partners take care of the demand side and finances. The supply side is completely automated due to the usage of ShipBob for storing inventory and fulfilling orders from there. Our manufacturer is in China and produces high-quality products for us. The partners spend 3-4 hours per week individually running the brand.

What does someone need to do to continue operating the business in its current form?

It would be great if the person who would take over knows how the marketing domain works. We run our ads on our own because we feel we do it the best. However, if the person taking over isn’t very adept at it then he can always outsource it to an ads agency. In that case, he’ll just have to take care of the finances and keep an eye over the brand on a macro level to make sure everything is running smoothly.

Growing the business

Can you list a few opportunities for a potential new owner to continue growing the business?

Currently, we are present just in the US, so a geographical expansion to countries battling hard water would be a high recommendation from our side. We are also just running Facebook ads so expansion towards more demand generation channels such as TikTok, Snapchat, and Pinterest is also highly recommended. We have very low sales on amazon as well, so that’s another avenue that can be explored.

What has been the evolution of this asset since its launch?

When we started, it was a dropshipping business and then when we saw potential in the product, we private labelled it, designed our own packaging, and improved the product quality. We also started keeping inventory at ShipBob’s facility in California, our fulfilment partner. Overall, people are pretty happy with our products and we have a 4.4 rating on Facebook feedback.

How does this business make money? What are the current revenue streams?

The business makes money through the online sales channel. More than 95% of our revenue comes from its own website. Another source is Amazon but we haven’t optimized that part of the business.

What marketing channels are most profitable for the business?

The most profitable sales channel is Facebook, we have spent more than half a million dollars in advertising there and get consistent sales from that channel.

How does the business currently acquire customers and what is your breakdown for marketing costs?

The business currently acquires customers via Facebook ads, Google searches, and word of mouth. 30-35% of our sales happen organically whereas the remaining happen through Facebook ads. In terms of marketing costs, Facebook is our main marketing spends. It accounts for almost 95% of our marketing costs. The remaining goes for influencer marketing, google ads.

How big is your current team? How many people does it take to run this business?

We are currently a team of 4 people. 2 partners and 2 employees are there.

What’s the reason for selling your business on Flippa?

We are selling because we are working on a bigger project in the e-commerce domain and want to concentrate primarily on it. This project is taking the majority of our time and resources.