You have a superb idea. You build your business on that splendid idea. But slowly, you realize you have to shift gears. The direction you are heading isn’t helping you fly up and away toward your goal. That is the situation that that the founder of Everfan found himself.
Scott Chastain, a landscape architect by training, took his passion for design to the superhero world in 2010 when he started the company, EverFan. According to him, the leap from designing landscape to creating superhero capes wasn’t very far.
“I grew up visiting comic bookstores with my cousin and could always be found drawing superheroes when I was a kid,” he said. “I consider myself a designer and I just needed to learn how to apply my designs to this new industry.”
Now, just a few years into the business, the reach of the company has grown dramatically, and the product has evolved. Everfan started with collegiate capes, added whimsical designs, and now the most popular line is the custom capes.
Scott always thought that superheroes and athletes had a lot in common. And that raving fans would buy capes as an alternative to hats, shirts, and other licensed apparel. So he ordered inventory from a manufacturer, but the deliveries came in late in the season. He had to pay substantial upfront royalties for college licenses, and he couldn’t get into retail stores without sufficient inventory of all the regional schools. Even with ten school licenses, it wasn’t enough.
Two years into the venture, he found himself deep in debt and he knew he had to shift gears. But Scott listened careful to what customers wanted, and he pivoted. He had been ignoring the requests that came in from customers for customized capes.
And then he had his AHA moment.
The Pivot
“There are so many possibilities for customers to customize their own superhero outfit. They can use their own logo and mix and match colors. We have seen customers use them for promotions, fundraisers and even conventions,” said Scott.
So Scott pivoted to capes with customizable options. So he built a “design your” superhero costume.
When forming Everfan, Scott knew he wanted social responsibility to be part of the vision of the company. He began to develop relationships with children’s hospitals and non-profits, such as CASA and Children’s of Alabama (Birmingham).
“Products like these help lift spirits and bring hope, so it is a pretty natural extension for us to have a presence in places where kids are suffering for whatever reason – cancer, abuse, serious illness,” he said. “There is a lot of power in just believing and if we can make people feel like superheroes for a while, maybe they can overcome some of the hard stuff life throws at them.”
Lessons along the Pivot
- Starting a business with a lot of inventory you have to purchase and resell is tough. Is there a way to get preorders in advance of your commitment so you know that at least half of your inventory will sell quickly?
- Competing with large enterprises who have the financial resources to do so much more makes it hard to beat them at their own game. But, in a small niche business that isn’t crowded, you can carve a slice of the pie that is yours. Scott learned this by focusing on the customized side of the business versus a pure licensing play with colleges.
- Having multiple revenue stream opportunities helps. Scott can sell direct to consumers but can also sell to organizations looking for an alternative to a customized t-shirt. So, he has more than one target audience he can sell too that have common interests. Can you find complimentary opportunities in your marketplace to sell?
- Are you part of a trend? Think of the customization of goods and services today versus years ago. Scott is capitalizing on how much people want to personalize their expression of themselves. Whether for children or adults, the customized cape is part of bigger interest consumers are already expressing in both the digital and analog world.
What a great idea to buy customizable capes for your small business employees so that they can express their super powers at work. EverFan is an idea with wings and capes.
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Photo Credit: Screen grab from Everfan. All rights reserved.
