We launched a DTC brand in 30 days flat. How?

Some of you would know my itch to build took interesting turns over the last 1.5 years. I have been trying, in different ways. Finally, I launched a new DTC brand. It was fast. How did it happen?

Hello, hello! I am Shantanu, and I write weekly on topics in business, marketing, and culture. You would have noticed that I changed the newsletter name to “Out of Singapore”. I will tell you why, but first

Haha, I hope you are doing your best! Do write back to share anything interesting, be good or bad.

My week started with uncertainties. I didn’t know what I would write for this weekend. I didn’t know if the planned brand launch would happen on time. Things have fallen into place, quite fast, and that allows me to share this interesting story.

Before I jump into the story and be all-business-like, let me tell you how did “Out of Singapore” happen. I chose “Navigating Life” as the title of the newsletter since I am actually navigating life. It’s honest. It’s also generic. Who is not navigating the game of life? So yes, I was going to change the name sometime. Thank you

Substack

for allowing this feature. I also happened to read about queerness is evolving in Japan on

Out of Japan

newsletter. The writer is an expat based in Japan, writing about his experiences there. I felt I could do something similar from Singapore. I have always been amazed with the country. It allows me to bring out the Singapore element of the stories.

Okay, back to the main story. We launched a DTC brand in 30 days at my new workplace. I started working here last month, Mar’23, with the responsibility to grow their brands. The first step action item was to launch two new brands. I gave an ambitious plan to launch them next in 60-90 days. This is the story of the first launch in the series. We launched Xandro on Friday, 28th Apr’23.

I define “launch” as the state of business where you can start running digital ads to generate traffic and sales. What are the steps leading to the launch?

1. Crafting a brand vision and identity.

2. Identifying product opportunities and finalizing the key SKUs.

3. Defining a business, and marketing plan.

4. Completing compliance requirements.

5. Manufacturing or sourcing the products, including packaging, to make them consumer-ready.

6. Setting up a live web store to collect and fulfill orders.

7. Integration with fulfillment providers to enable successful and timely delivery.

8. Setting up marketing and analytics tools to generate traffic and sales.

Note that each of these is a massive project in itself. Also, each is a long story as well. The process is linear, however, there is a fair bit of iteration. 

Xandro is a brand for performance seekers. We find the best performance enhancing ingredients. Only natural ingredients make the cut. We don’t overcharge. We will be available across most markets in the world. We are slowly building up the community to learn, share and perform at our best!

Photo by Braden Collum on Unsplash

Let’s talk about the process now. When it started, the brand was supposed be 1 SKU brand for a atleast 8-12 months. So everything - website, production and plans were aligned to 1 SKU. There was a pipeline of products to be introduced later. Somewhere our hearts had a change of feeling, and we decided to launch all products together. Ofcourse, there were commercial reasons, however, let’s keep that out of scope of this article. What do you think was the impact?

We went scrambling to change everything - the brand identity, sourcing of raw materials, the website and everything downstream. The website developer was furious. To start with, he was supposed to do only a one sku website, then we got a ecommerce platform that was not Shopify (he still cries about the code structure) and now we changed the whole website wireframe and structure! To get him onboard and ensure the website is finished on time, it needed a good deal of negotiation. We had a “gentleman’s handshake” (he used this term, and I was so relieved to hear it). We managed to get the webstore done on time but I must say the whole process was taxing. Maybe, sticking to Shopify would have made it simpler. 

During the whole period, we were working on multiple parts of the launch. There were instances of “let’s finish item B and start work on item C and then D”. However, for most parts, we didn’t wait for one item to finish before starting the next. You would be surprised at the efficiency possible if we don’t always wait. That’s true in real life too. Remember, how many times the plans are delayed because someone is not on time? Next time, try going ahead with the plan and let the other person join later. You will be surprised that it makes almost no material difference to the satisfaction levels of each party. Plus it is so much less frustrating for ourselves.

Okay I stop preaching. I don’t like others preaching to me, so I won’t preach to you. Only real stories and experiences. 

Launching a DTC brand in short period isn’t easy. There were some key factors that worked in our favour. 

1. We are vertically integrated, for most parts. Processing and packaging happen at our facility in Singapore. Almost everything we need is available in the same space - from the product to the graphic designer (you’ll be surprised how important a graphic designer is to the process)

2. We are a small team, so we can move fast. There is no procurement “team”, design “team” or performance marketing “team”. For most key things - there is one person with complete ownership. This ensures there aren’t unnecessary revisions and each person can achieve their goals fast.

3. There are no corporate documents to make. We makes slides and documents that “do the job”. All “good to have” documents are marked for later. Only the essentials make the cut for our time. 

4. Most things are in-house, allowing for flexibility. We speak directly to the person and explain the requirement instead of writing a long email. This also allows for brainstorming on the spot instead of back and forth on emails. 

5. I must confess that a good amount of work was already in place. Product idea, label design, and e-commerce platform was identified by the time I came in. I put all things together and put a date to each output.

6. We kept things lean, and simple. 

7. We are digital only. Building an offline distribution is a notoriously time taking process. 

8. We had the resources. Product, people, and cash. 

Of course, it is not all done. We will improve our web store, launch new products, update design, enter new markets, undertake new compliance requirements and build a community. This is a great start though! 

Have a look at Xandro and tell me what do you think. We are delivering to Singapore, United States, Australia, Hong Kong and UK at the moment. 

The hustling over the last year as startup founder definitely helped. I am not the happiest at having to stop the journey to earn my bread. But that’s life. Whatever happened has also led me to start writing. I am taking pleasure in sharing these weekly stories. It’s becoming more structured every week. I am also discovering new places where I can write from. For today, I found a public library 15 mins from my place. For next week, I already have a place in mind. Hint - another public library. I had a lot of complaints in my mind to write about, but let’s all be happy and not complain. Hahaha. 

Thank you for reading this edition. Let me know if you hear about specific topics. Feel free to complain - about the content, writing style - anything you don’t like, just shoot. 

Till next week, have a great time. The week will finish a day earlier than most weeks. Hope you got that joke (4 day work week laa). 

Okay, bye!

Go, go! The story is over for now 😉

Okay, last one - I am hooked on to Flower by Jisoo. The dance step has taken the world by a storm. I am guilty part of this world. 😂

Now, seriously bbye! I go check out Jisoo.