Doorman Pillow Partnerships
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A successful home decor business selling high-end throw pillows through a combination of direct-to-consumer sales and strategic wholesale partnerships. The business started small and grew to high 6-figures in revenue through organic growth and word-of-mouth marketing.
Key Points:
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Product & Production:
- Hand-made, high-quality throw pillows
- Small warehouse operation with 4 part-time sewers
- Pricing around $79 per pillow
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Sales Channels:
- Primary platform is Etsy with ~10,000 sales
- Custom website for direct sales
- Strategic wholesale partnerships with doorman buildings in NYC
- Targets high-end residential buildings
- Supplies pillows for lobby decoration
- Established ongoing contracts
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Marketing Strategy:
- Minimal marketing spend ($300 over 2 months)
- Relies heavily on word-of-mouth
- Initial customer acquisition through:
- Friends and family purchases with reviews
- Small ad spend (~$100) on Etsy
- Customer referrals
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Business Model:
- Intentionally kept small and manageable
- Focus on quality over rapid scaling
- Built personal relationships with customers
- Direct customer service (owner handles customer calls)
Sam Parr
Host of MFM and fitness influencer
Sam Parr is a serial entrepreneur and business media pioneer.
In 2016, he founded The Hustle, a business news media company that started in his kitchen with just $12 and grew to eight figures in revenue.
Sam led the charge in making newsletters popular when few believed in their potential.
After four successful years, he sold The Hustle to HubSpot, a publicly traded company. Now operating as HubSpot Media, The Hustle reaches 3 million readers daily, employs a team of nearly 100, and has been the launchpad for dozens of its staff to found their own media companies and newsletters.
Sam remains the host of the popular business podcast, My First Million, and continues to start and sell companies. He also co-founded Hampton, a highly vetted community for entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs, and teaches people to write better through his platform, Copy That.