I first spoke with Braxton Manley for this podcast in early 2021. He had launched Braxley Bands, a maker of Apple Watch bands, 4 years earlier whereas a university pupil in Texas. The enterprise shortly scaled.
He and I just lately caught up. We mentioned the evolution of his firm, successes and challenges in 2022, and plans for increasing the product line.
The whole audio of our dialog is embedded beneath. The transcript is edited for readability and size.
Eric Bandholz: Give us a background on Braxley Bands.
Braxton Manley: About six years in the past, in school, I created an Apple Watch band from a sock for a category undertaking. I spotted it was a strong product and pursued it into my junior yr. By the point I graduated, it was a full-fledged enterprise. I’ve been constructing it ever since.
We make stretchy Apple Watch bands in varied prints and patterns. Early-era Apple colours and designs encourage the type. We needed our bands to be funky and impressed by the enduring Eighties Apple look.
Bandholz: How was 2022?
Manley: It was good and unhealthy, essentially the most difficult yr but. Our income was at a stage I wouldn’t have thought doable three years in the past. That’s the nice half. We bought about 60,000 watch bands.
However the unhealthy half was our overhead. It was extreme. We considerably pulled again on bills, together with our advertising and marketing, which we introduced again in-house. We had been working with a number of businesses and freelancers. We wanted to chill off and run issues like a cottage farm.
E mail advertising and marketing was large for us, accounting for about 45% of our income. SMS was round 15%, and about 60% of income got here from our personal natural channels.
Our e-mail checklist hasn’t grown a lot within the final yr. We’ve stayed at roughly 100,000 engaged subscribers throughout 2022. We’re making an attempt to develop the checklist, but it surely’s tough with out spending 1000’s to amass visitors. Then now we have to transform these subscribers to prospects. We try this with e-mail, textual content, and flows.
Bandholz: How do you get the guests to subscribe?
Manley: We’re utilizing Justuno for cool pop-ups. We labored with an company to construct them, and we’ve since performed A/B testing. I’m excited to launch the Fondue app, which affords money and rebates to new subscribers as an alternative of reductions. We’re going to step away from a discount-heavy mannequin, which we’ve all the time been fairly beneficiant with.
I’ve heard a number of chatter about Fondue and the way properly it really works. It’s good from a branding perspective as a result of we’re not consistently providing reductions.
Bandholz: What are some objectives for Braxley?
Manley: We wish to improve gross sales channels. Month-to-month income of $200,000 would clear up all of our issues — on paper. Apple sells round 40 million watches yearly. We have to promote 6,000 bands a month.
We now have prospects that gather our bands. So we’re specializing in getting them to return again sooner. We now ship internationally and hope to arrange a warehouse within the U.Okay. We now have an Amazon retailer and have began moving into brick-and-mortar retailers. And we’re releasing new merchandise for the broader market.
One in every of our advertising and marketing challenges is discovering the best viewers. Apple sells many watches, but it surely’s nonetheless a small share of whole customers. Most individuals don’t have one. Promoting on a podcast, a billboard, and even via influencers will attain only some prospects.
So we’re increasing our product line. We’re releasing a fanny pack created from our signature recycled elastic used for the watch bands. It’s an excellent cozy, stretchy belt with a magnetic sliding buckle.
I see myself having an organization — a household of manufacturers — targeted on enhancing the world. I see Braxley changing into a way of life equipment model, working and innovating with sustainable textiles. There’s a number of greenwashing within the sustainable business, particularly with attire, which is very harsh on the setting. Lots will get wasted.
Our bands use 100% recycled PET polyester, which is principally clear water bottle plastic. It’s simply repurposed.
I’m eager about working with different supplies which might be stretchy and recyclable. I see us making bungee chairs, shorts, and boxers. We’re contemplating a yoga mat strap and canine collars and leashes.
Bandholz: How can listeners attain out and purchase your stuff?
Manley: I’m @Braxtonmanley on Twitter. Our web site is BraxleyBands.com — quickly to be Braxley.co. People can examine us out on Amazon, too.
