Jeff Sheldon is a designer turned entrepreneur. He began Ugmonk, a Pennsylvania-based direct-to-consumer model, in 2008 as a vendor of graphic-inspired t-shirts. His desktop organizers, which he added in 2020, are seemingly unrelated till realizing he designed each — the t-shirt graphics and the desk instruments.
Jeff first appeared on the podcast in 2020. He had simply moved t-shirt success in-house and launched a Kickstarter marketing campaign for his first desktop instrument.
In our current dialog, he addressed phasing out the t-shirts, increasing the desktop line, and the dilemma of promoting on Amazon. Our complete audio is embedded beneath. The transcript is edited for readability and size.
Eric Bandholz: Inform our listeners who you might be.
Jeff Sheldon: I’m the founding father of Ugmonk, a 16-year-old direct-to-consumer model. Initially, we bought t-shirts, however we’ve developed into well-designed, useful desk and group merchandise. Considered one of our standout gadgets is Analog, our desktop notice card system to remain organized and scale back digital distractions. Ugmonk is understood for design — aesthetics and performance.
Of us related Ugmonk with graphic tees for our first 12 years. I designed the graphics, and we finally moved to manufacturing the shirts for improved high quality. Working with a producer in Los Angeles, we created a greater garment. Regardless of the manufacturing challenges, we discovered rhythm and constructed a buyer base round these shirts.
Nonetheless, about two years in the past, we stopped making attire. Our enterprise noticed its highest single income day once we introduced that change. Prospects purchased 20 to 50 shirts, not desirous to miss out. Whereas leaving that a part of the enterprise behind was robust, I knew it was the correct determination.
Bandholz: Have your attire prospects transitioned to desk merchandise?
Sheldon: I haven’t dug deeply into the analytics, however surprisingly, many shoppers who purchased our t-shirts have additionally bought our desk merchandise. At first look, this may appear odd — how do t-shirts and desk equipment relate? Nonetheless, Ugmonk attracts prospects who recognize design and performance. Many shoppers who’ve been with us because the t-shirt days have moved into careers the place they want high quality, well-designed instruments for his or her workspaces.
Once I began Ugmonk, graphic tees had been big. Platforms like Threadless had been well-liked, and lots of of my prospects had been of their teenagers and twenties, shopping for shirts and posters. Quick ahead to now, and many shoppers have desk jobs or make money working from home. So, whereas a few of our previous prospects nonetheless miss the shirts, many have moved on to the Analog system, which is now extra well-liked than our peak attire days.
The web t-shirt market is extremely saturated. Everybody sells t-shirts, and numerous manufacturers use drop delivery to supply generic merchandise. Within the early years of Ugmonk, we thrived on natural development — electronic mail lists and social media earlier than it grew to become pay-to-play. Nonetheless, it was robust once we tried, in 2017, to scale utilizing advertisements. Promoting t-shirts by means of a Fb advert, particularly when competing in opposition to a sea of comparable merchandise, is tough. We didn’t see a lot success.
In distinction, we launched the Analog system on Kickstarter in 2020 with speedy success. We raised virtually half 1,000,000 {dollars} from over 5,500 backers. We determined to spend money on paid acquisition for the product, and it labored. It’s a visible product that solves an actual downside — individuals are distracted by their units, and the Analog system provides a tangible approach to keep organized. In comparison with t-shirts, promoting Analog by means of promoting has been extra scalable. It’s an instance of product-market match.
Bandholz: Has your position within the firm modified?
Sheldon: My position has developed, however I nonetheless deal with lots of the duties I did within the early days. As an illustration, I nonetheless shoot most photographs as a result of I’m captivated with capturing our merchandise in a means that tells their story. I might outsource pictures, however I benefit from the artistic facet. Plus it’s a core a part of our model’s identification.
Our workforce has grown. It was simply me. Then, I added an worker. Now we now have two full-time workers and a part-time workers of two to 5 individuals, relying on our wants.
We’ve scaled operations with our in-house warehouse and success. I outsource some facets of the enterprise, like promoting, but I’m nonetheless hands-on with natural advertising and marketing and writing most emails and my month-to-month “5 Issues I’m Digging” publication, which has turn out to be a fan favourite.
Managing the artistic and operational sides of the enterprise is worrying, however it’s all a part of the journey.
Bandholz: Ugmonk’s merchandise will not be on Amazon.
Sheldon: Amazon is a love-hate relationship for me, just like Meta. In 2017, we examined our Collect desk organizers there however didn’t see a lot traction. So we pulled again. Amazon is flooded with low cost, knockoff merchandise, making it onerous for purchasers to tell apart between high quality and subpar gadgets.
I’ve turn out to be extra open-minded these days. The truth is people are buying on Amazon — it’s the place a big share of ecommerce searches begin.
I purchase consumable gadgets, like espresso filters, on Amazon for comfort. We’re contemplating promoting refill playing cards for the Analog system there for a similar purpose. It’s about assembly individuals the place they’re. I nonetheless worth proudly owning our buyer expertise immediately on our web site, however Amazon could be complementary for sure merchandise.
Bandholz: So listeners ought to go to your web site to purchase merchandise.
Sheldon: Sure, at Ugmonk.com. They will discover me on X and Instagram.
