Phenom Elite leveraged continuous 8fig funding to stabilize their inventory and scale their store.
We don’t wonder where our capital is going to come from anymore. That has changed the game tremendously for us.
Football Passion Becomes ECommerce Foundation
About:
Football was life for Nathan Dorton; growing up he played in high school, then college, and semi-professionally. After his football career ended, he still wanted a way to stay connected to the sport he loved — and a way to get quality football gloves without breaking the bank. So, with only $65, Nathan created five glove prototypes, and his store, Phenom Elite, was born.
Challenge:
When Nathan created his store, he didn’t have much experience in the eCommerce space, and all his products were made to order. As he started scaling his store, he knew that he needed to start holding his own inventory, but he didn’t have the capital necessary to make that leap. As a new seller, he knew there had to be a better way to plan his business and visualize his supply chain. After trying several different funding providers, Nathan needed a different kind of funding solution that could align with his manufacturing timelines and provide more flexibility in the face of seasonality and sales peaks. And as Phenom Elite continued to grow, Nathan frequently worried about holding enough inventory to avoid stockouts.
Solution:
With 8fig, we,ve been able to plan out our entire next year of product launches
When Nathan found 8fig, he was thrilled to learn that 8fig funds individual stages of the supply chain, meaning Nathan could get capital as early and often as he needed it. Additionally, 8fig’s flexibility ensured that Nathan could get more funding when he needed to order more inventory, and less when the football season was over. With capital from 8fig funding each inventory order, Nathan knew he could order products well in advance to anticipate demand spikes.
Try to get into a niche and stick with your niche. Don’t try to be broad when you first start out. Find a product that’s really good, that hits well and sells well that you can be known for, and then start to branch out from there.
Result:
Thanks to partnering with 8fig, Nathan’s store has experienced a 50% increase in revenue in just 6 months. And his cash flow problem has been solved; instead of worrying about how much cash would be left over after running ads, paying manufacturers, and paying back funding providers, Nathan can now focus on new product development. Phenom Elite has scaled significantly as a result of 8fig funding as well, and launched licensed products from Warner Brothers with the increase in cash on hand. 2022 has been a record sales year for Phenom Elite, and since starting with 8fig Nathan has not worried about having enough inventory to cover his orders.