Bi 364: From His Kitchen to $1 Million in Sales on Amazon (Ft Brandon Mackie)
June 1, 2021
On the Bright Ideas eCommerce podcast, Trent Dyrsmid interviews today's most successful eCommerce, Agency, and SaaS founders and gets them to share all their most effective strategies and tactics for growth so you can quickly figure what you need to implement in your business today to get ahead of your competition. If you are looking for proven methods to scale up your eCommerce business, increase efficiency, improve your systems, and delegate more, this is the podcast for you. eCommerce, automation, outsourcing, standard operating procedures, workflow management, search engine optimization, social media, podcasting, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube.
Episode Highlights
[3:22] – Brandon's Introduction
- Brandon’s company is called Keto Farms. They sell keto-friendly snacks on Amazon.
- They started the business in 2018 and are approaching a million-dollar run rate on e-commerce in 2021.
- Brandon shares that he is the only full-time employee. He outsources people to do other tasks.
- Keto Farms turned profitable last year.
[6:48] – How Brandon came up with an idea for a product
- Brandon made a gentleman's agreement with his business partner, who has been into the keto diet.
- They decided to quit their corporate-type jobs and banked on the keto diet trend on Amazon.
[9:34] – Brandon discusses what indicated that he is ready for business
- He would advise anyone to do micro-testing before quitting their job.
- One thing that gave them confidence is having a lot of experience in e-commerce.
- He examined the numbers and figured out their venture wasn’t that scary, so they started the business.
[11:05] – The apps Brandon used to get data for his business
- Internally, they have a couple of different tools.
- But the one they use today is Helium10. It informs Brandon about the competitive landscape in Amazon.
[12:00] – The products Keto Farms launched
- Their initial offerings were instant coffee and matcha.
- Brandon eventually figured out that snacks had a higher take rate than powder beverages.
- Their approach was to have fun in the kitchen and work with novel ingredients.
- Eventually, they launched their own site and worked with influencers on Instagram.
- By this point, their Amazon sales dramatically rose.
[17:37] – How Brandon kept the momentum of his business
- He used an email list to drive traffic towards Keto Farm’s Amazon page.
- Amazon loves external traffic. With this in mind, Brandon redirected all of Keto Farm's website traffic to Amazon.
- Brandon utilized this differentiating factor to increase the search rank of their product and Amazon sales.
[22:30] – Building the company by maximizing enterprise value and promoting sustainability
- Harvesting from your current email list will only drive your Amazon sales up to a point.
- Eventually, you’ll need to start thinking about having a fresh batch of people on your email list.
- Keto Farms is also actively thinking about reviving D-to-C and bringing its products into retail stores.
[25:17] – The packaging story of their products
- To further Amazon sales and get into retail, Keto Farms is thinking of investing in a professional packaging redesign.
- The only thing that could sell your product in retail is the packaging.
- They haven’t thought of crowdsourcing, but they are looking for traditional VC angel investors for the packaging.
[28:07] – Keto Farm’s self-manufacturing phase
- Brandon mentions how they had a horrible experience with a co-packer.
- They then decided to do their own manufacturing, with inexpensive equipment and rented space.
- Self-manufacturing helped them address customer feedback faster.
- However, they had less time for marketing, sales, and product development.
- They eventually outsourced a new co-packer.
[31:29] – Scaling Keto Farms
- Brandon shares that they have had offers to sell Keto Farms outright.
- However, they feel like it’s not the right time yet.
- Brandon is also still exploring opportunities in retail, packaging, and rebranding.
[36:14] – Final Lessons From Brandon
- Brandon’s go-to question when faced with big decisions is: If you are on your deathbed, would you regret never going for it?
- There is usually a lot less downside to going for things than you think.
- He is much happier now than when he was in a corporate job. Even though a million dollars is still a small sum, Brandon believes they will continue to grow if they continue to do their best.