There is no exact roadmap to successfully launching a new product in a crowded space, but Entrepreneur + members recently had the opportunity to sit through an incredibly enlightening webinar with Jordan Nathanfounder of the non-toxic cookware brand Qimoniwho shared the product development and marketing strategies he used to increase the company's annual revenue by over 500% in just four years.
During the conversation, Nathan covered the big and small picture thinking essential to Caraway's success. Watch the full webinar below and read some of the key takeaways, which have been edited for length and clarity.
Look now
The story of the entrepreneurial origin
“We launched Caraway in 2019. I had experience in the kitchen industry and launched many products before that. I had a very scary experience when I accidentally heated a pan with Teflon during a product test and got Teflon poisoning from the fumes. So I started to research what cookware is made of and was inspired to launch a brand that would bring non-toxic materials to the kitchen. That's when we found the non-stick ceramic material we wanted to bring to market.”
Related: This side hustle of the 27-year-old now earns over $500k a month
Tips for newcomers
“My best advice is to talk to as many people as you can in your industry. I've talked to everyone from the biggest legacy brands to materials experts to factories. In the early days, it's really hard to tell in words what you want to build. And your Concept is constantly evolving as you go through the process, so gathering all the right data points and feedback and information helps you get to the brand you want to create.”
Market differentiation
“At the core of our products are 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. And so while we were scanning the market, we noticed that there wasn't a lot of color in the category, most of the caps were domed versus flat shapes, and many of the handles on the market were super uncomfortable and non-ergonomic which was one of the biggest pain points for consumers was to store the cookware in the cupboards after they were done using them, so we created a special way to store the Caraway pans that keeps them organized and prevents the damage that accumulation can cause.
marketing
“We bent over backwards influencers and ambassadors who were early adopters of the product. Interestingly, we did not work with chefs or cooks. We relied more on interior design experts or well-known influencers to promote non-toxic products. We sent them the pan early before launch so they could fall in love with it. And we built early relationships with a lot of press contacts. Inviting them into the office, involving them in the design process, and getting their perspective on colors and what their readers would like to see was extremely helpful. And then one of our biggest growth tactics was we created a pre-launch waitlist with a simple landing page on carawayhome.com. We developed several referral programs and giveaways with other brands to grow that list. By the time we launched, we had this list of thousands and thousands of customers who were excited to be early adopters. And that was a good starting point for the brand.”
Related: He started a business with $2000 – Now it's a global brand
Setting price points
“Pricing is an imperfect science. It's kind of guesswork. From what I've seen in the market across all categories, I think getting to the midpoint of pricing is really challenging. So as you build a brand, you really want to lay that foundation by answering these questions: Do I want to provide value to customers in terms of the lowest price? Or do I want to provide value by charging more so that the materials and design are high quality? For us, the $395 price point was perfect because it allows for high quality, but is still affordable for customers. We are in the premium realm, but not the highest price within that category. You don't want to make the mistake of charging too little and then having to raise prices to adjust your margins later.”
Entrance to shops
“We launched 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 partners. They've been incredible and have done such a great job brilliant representing our design point of view and connecting us with the high design customer From these retailers at first, with only drawings on a page These are super smart buyers who have seen trends for decades They have a lot of data of great because the early process can help get you into a store If they're following along on your journey and you're keeping them updated on upsells, it makes it easier to get into those stores as they see that things start clicking for you.”
The biggest challenges for startups
“There are probably too many to count, but I think one of the challenges with running a business early on is that there are endless opportunities, but you have very limited resources. So you have to stay very focused. It's important find one or two things that really work and go deep into those before you go beyond them before you add more.”