There is no exact blueprint for successfully launching a recent product in a crowded environment, but Entrepreneur+ members recently had the opportunity to attend an incredibly informative webinar on Jordan Nathanfounding father of a brand producing non-toxic kitchen products Caraway seedwho shared the product development and marketing strategies that helped him increase his company’s annual revenue by greater than 500% in just 4 years.
During the conversation, Nathan discussed each the big-picture and small-picture considering that has been key to Caraway’s success. Watch the entire webinar below and read some of the key takeaways, which have been edited for length and clarity.
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History of entrepreneurship
“We launched Caraway in 2019. I had a background in the kitchen industry and had launched a lot of products before. I had a really scary experience when I accidentally overheated a non-stick pan during a product test and got Teflon poisoning from the fumes. So I started researching what cookware was made of and was inspired to launch a brand that would bring non-toxic materials to the kitchen. We researched materials like stainless steel and cast iron, but we found that most consumers wanted something that was easier to cook with and clean. That’s when we found the ceramic non-stick material that we wanted to bring to market.”
Tips for newbies
“My best advice is to talk to as many people in the industry as possible. I’ve talked to everyone from larger, traditional brands to material experts and factories. It’s really hard at first to put into words what you want to build. And your concept is constantly evolving throughout the process. So getting all the right data points, opinions and information helps you get to the brand you want to build.”
Market differentiation
“Our products are all about ease of use and design. We wanted to create something unique, memorable and timeless. Part of the process was looking at what was on the market and trying to create something that didn’t exist. So, as we scanned the market, we noticed that there wasn’t a lot of color in the category, most lids were convex rather than flat, and many of the handles on the market were very uncomfortable and unergonomic. We also learned that one of the biggest pain points for consumers was storing their cookware in their cabinets when they were done using it. So we created our own Caraway pan storage solution that keeps them organized and prevents damage that can be caused by stacking them.”
Marketing
“We relied a lot on influencers and ambassadors who were early adopters of the product. Interestingly, we didn’t really work with chefs or cooks. We relied more on interior design experts or influencers who were known for promoting non-toxic products. We sent them the pan before the launch so they may fall in love with it. And we built early relationships with a lot of press contacts. Inviting them into the office, joining the design process, and getting their perspective on color and what they wanted their readers to see was incredibly helpful. And one of our biggest growth tactics was creating a pre-launch waitlist with a easy landing page on carawayhome.com. We ran a bunch of referral programs and giveaways with other brands to grow that list. When we launched, we had a list of hundreds and hundreds of consumers who were excited to be early adopters. And that was a good place to begin for the brand.”
Setting price points
“Pricing is an imperfect science. It’s form of a guessing game. From what I’ve seen in the market across categories, I think it’s really hard to get to the middle ground. So when you are building a brand, you actually need to put that foundation by answering these questions: Do I need to supply value to my customers by offering the lowest price? Or do I need to supply value by charging more for high-quality materials and design? For us, the $395 price point was ideal because it allowed for prime quality but was still reasonably priced for customers. We’re in the premium space, but not the highest priced in the category. You don’t wish to make the mistake of charging too little and then raising prices to repair margins later.”
Entrance to shops
“We started as a DTC brand. Now we sell with about 15 to 20 retail partners. Crate & Barrel was one of our first partners and our first store. They were amazing and did a great job of representing our point of view on design and connecting us with design-conscious customers. Some of our relationships with retailers were through introductions, but most of them were cold emails. We had a list of retailers we wanted to expand into very early on. I remember going into the offices of these retailers early on with just drawings on the page. They’re very smart buyers who’ve been looking at trends for decades. They have a lot of great data. Getting some of that information and feedback is key. And I think getting them involved in the process early on can help you get into stores. If they’re following your journey and you’re telling them about the sales growth, it really makes it easier to get into those stores when they see something you’re really into.”
The biggest challenges for startups
“There are probably too many to count, but I think one of the challenges of running an early-stage business is that the possibilities are endless, but the resources are very limited. So you have to be very focused. It’s important to find one or two things that really work and dive into them before you go for more. When we launched Caraway, we had our core set of cookware. We didn’t add a ton of products very quickly. We focused on one or two advertising channels and made sure we got those down before we added more.”