What Got Us Here Won't Get Us There

If you've been following the efforts of Beardbrand's products lately, you'll have noticed we've been out of stock of several products for a long period of time.

From my perspective, this is both a blessing and a curse; I wanted to share some insight into the inner workings of Beardbrand and where we are going.

At Beardbrand, we've never been afraid of change and we've never been afraid to do things differently. It's that very attitude that allowed this company to grow, despite many of my friends and family telling me the business would go nowhere. This attitude is both a hinderance and an advantage. It has allowed us to have years where we launched over 50 new products, but also held us back from developing strategic product launches.

Last year, we created the internal theme of "focus"; which meant for the team to focus on tasks that we did best and strive to make them even better. From the outside, it may not look like our theme was successful (out of stock issues), but we've fundamentally improved the way we do business. It's helped us reach a larger audience.

What got us here won't get us there.

The way we used to develop new products, manufacture products, manage inventory, and distribute products got us to a successful level; however, those same processes were holding us back from achieving the next level.

In early 2017, we were approached by Target to carry our White Line. Partnering with them would give us the opportunity to grow the community, improve our operations, and help Beardbrand develop new products & resources.

Due to the nature of the relationship, we needed to keep quiet about that progress, which for me, sucks. I've got a little bit of a big mouth, and love sharing the things we're working on. So with the Target launch officially complete, I wanted to share our current product strategy.

How Beardbrand is Growing

First and foremost, our goal and vision is NOT to be content with what we've achieved. We aren't trying to build a small family run business that is content with what has already been accomplished. We are trying to make the world better by helping men invest in themselves through grooming. The more men we can reach, the bigger the impact we can make.

With that being said, we want to stay independent, self funded, and grow at sustainable levels.

So, scarce resources + an ambitious growth plan means we must make focused decisions. Simply put, we can't do everything we want to, and some of the decisions we've made are very hard and require sacrifice.

The first of those decisions was working with Target. They are now the exclusive carrier of White Line products. This means that the line is no longer available on Beardbrand.com and not available for purchase to our international customers.

But, working with them has helped in many other operational aspects. If you're a long time customer, you'll have noticed that we had a 4oz and 2oz container for our Utility Balm as well as a 8.45oz and 2oz container for our Wash & Softeners. That is because we weren't big enough to order custom sized packaging and had to use what was available.

Many of our customers travel frequently, needing packaging that is compliant with TSA. Our original goal was always to have travel compliant packaging, but now with Target's help we can roll that out across the board.

Less sizes are very beneficial because it helps us plan & produce products more efficiently.

In the past, we would be able to purchase materials "off the shelf" and produce it in a short period of time. But as we've grown, we've put more stress on the supply chain, so that process is no longer feasible. We need to order products at a much larger scale, meaning it takes more time to bring everything together.

So, as we make the switches from two sizes to one size, we projected and planned out what our demand would be & the time it would take to manufacture the products. Needless to say, our growth has far exceeded our most ambitious growth projections, and we sold out of several items. Excitingly though, selling out should be less common in the future.

What Makes Beardbrand Different

We know you have options, and here’s why we think Beardbrand is the top option.

The biggest thing about Beardbrand isn't the products, but the community we are trying to support and grow. When I started Beardbrand back in 2012, I wanted to help men feel confident with growing a beard, despite what society would say. Fortunately, we've made a big impact and there are a lot more freedoms for men to rock facial hair in places that used to not be acceptable.

We will continue to create and share content that helps you invest in yourself - everything involving beard care, hair care, body grooming, self improvement, and style inspiration & guides. We share this content on our social media platforms, YouTube, and through our blog: Urban Beardsman.

In my opinion, no company in the grooming space (big or small), can come close to the content we provide for the community. It's a top priority for us and we'll continue to develop more strategies to create and share more content.

In addition to being a community builder, Beardbrand views itself as a fragrance company. Our products are available in 8 different fragrances with price points for all different budgets. Across the board, our products are made with the same great base ingredients; it's the fragrance that helps it stand out.

The White Line makes up our basic fragrances, whereas our Gold Line uses exotic and luxurious ingredients for the fragrances. The Silver Line naturally sits in the middle of those.

Companies larger than us tend to have only one or two fragrances with a wide variety of products, whereas some smaller companies generally have a wide variety of fragrances, but only one or two different products.

We believe fragrance to be an integral part of your grooming routine. For instance, Tree Ranger has the power to give you a spark of energy in the morning, and Old Money will help you feel like a million bucks as you go out on the town in the evening.

But our products are more than just pleasant scents - they are developed to be exceptionally high quality, versatile, and effective. Everything we manufacture starts with an idea and gets chiseled into a proven product. It leaves in its wake a wash of prototypes and cool, but unfeasible ideas.

It doesn't stop with the launch of a product. We listen to our customers, take their feedback, and set off to improve the products. I believe that perfection can never be attained, but by focusing on progress, we can get closer every day. Our tagline: KEEP ON GROWING isn't just for our customers, but also for how we work at Beardbrand.

What's in store for the future

While we are very proud of what we have built, we aren't satisfied. There's simply too much left to do, people to help, and products to launch.

Let's start with the easy stuff - our products. Our product focus will continue to be beard, hair, and body with a sprinkling of some branded tees and hats. Our goals are to build out the Gold Line to match the Silver Line. So, those Styling Balms, Beard Washes, and Beard Softeners will be coming soon in Old Money, Temple Smoke, and Four Vices. In addition to that, nothing is sacred at Beardbrand and we're always willing to make things better.

We will strive to keep our products class leading with ingredients that are safe to use and beneficial to your body for the long term.

Beardbrand is more than the products though, it's a community of people who are looking to become better versions of themselves and who are looking to keep on growing. Part of our strategy for this year will be to continue to invest in the community and provide more tools to allow community members connect with each other and to better support each other.

We are very grateful for our journey so far and we are looking forward to helping grow the community in the future. Our team is very driven and hungry to help you have the best experience you could imagine. If there is anything you ever need, or a direction you'd like to see us move; please contact us at support@beardbrand.com.

As always, thanks for everything and KEEP ON GROWING!