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The Outdoor Wholesaler
2024
I founded The Outdoor Wholesaler because I have always been inspired by the welcoming atmosphere of local ski and bike shops. Growing up with a small business owner as a parent, I understood the pivotal role these establishments play within their communities. There is a certain magic in stepping into a shop and engaging with knowledgeable owners and staff who ensure customers leave with gear that is both financially accessible and perfectly suited for their adventures.
As my passion for skiing and biking grew, I began to notice a gap. These local shops often did not carry the up-and-coming brands that my friends and I wanted to represent on the mountain. This realization sparked an idea: what if independent outdoor brands could instantly reach a network of local shops?
With this question in mind, I began reaching out to experts in the outdoor industry. I called ski shops, brand owners, sales representatives, marketing leads, buyers, and more to better understand why quality independent brands struggled to gain representation in local shops. Here is what I learned:
For independent brands, building a retail network is time-consuming, capital-intensive, and essential for growth. This challenge is exacerbated by rising trade show costs, declining attendance, and the decreasing number of sales representatives in the industry.
For local shops, independent brands often cannot offer the payment terms shops require for cash flow purposes. Furthermore, these shops are hesitant to place large bulk orders without confidence that the products will sell.
For both local shops and brands, their strength lies in their community engagement, which sets them apart from corporate giants.
This understanding shaped the development of The Outdoor Wholesaler, an online marketplace where independent outdoor brands could be discovered by local shops. The goal was to create a one-stop solution for forming new partnerships in outdoor retail while providing the tools necessary for success in the wholesale landscape.
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Process
Customer Discovery
I began my journey by cold calling key decision-makers across the outdoor industry. These conversations included shop buyers and owners, brand founders, and independent sales representatives. By listening to their challenges, I gained valuable insights into the pain points each group faced:
Brands struggled to expand their retail networks due to rising trade show costs, an exodus independent sales representatives, and the time-consuming nature of the process.
Retailers are excited to bring on new products to differentiate themselves, but only if they have confidence those products will sell
These discussions helped me shape a platform that addressed the core needs of all three stakeholders and informed the features I would prioritize in the build phase.
Fundraising
To fund the development of The Outdoor Wholesaler, I pursued multiple avenues of financial support. I raised $5,000 through the Human Spirit Award and applied for several other grants. Additionally, I competed in the New York State Business Competition, advancing to the final round. These funds were critical for supporting the initial phases of product development and early marketing efforts.
Building the platform
I joined Life Changing Labs (LCL), a startup accelerator, where I began the development process. I built 75% of the product myself using Bubble.io, a no-code development platform. To accelerate progress, I hired a contracted developer through a connection in LCL.
I started learning Bubble by following a tutorial to clone an Etsy-like platform, which helped me master the basics. From there, I expanded and customized features for my two-sided marketplace, which included:
Payment processing through Stripe.
A homepage with custom advertisements.
Search functionality with filters for distance, color, price, and more.
Uploadable images and customizable product descriptions.
Custom order form builders, powered by an algorithm hosted on Heroku, allowing users to specify terms and conditions, volume-based pricing, demo pricing, and preseason dates.
Custom store pages, where brands could create personalized storefronts featuring their branding, product listings, and promotional stories.
The marketplace was designed as a two-sided platform. Retailers interacted with a standard marketplace layout to browse products, search by various filters, and place orders. On the other side, brands managed their operations through a custom "Basecamp" interface. This Basecamp allowed them to handle their store page, manage product listings, and track order statuses, providing a streamlined and organized way to engage with retailers.
Simultaneously, I began onboarding users while the MVP was under development. By the time the MVP was complete, The Outdoor Wholesaler had 18 brands and 14 retail locations on the platform. I held weekly chats with these early users—both retailers and brands—to gather feedback and refine the product. These ongoing conversations directly informed the development process, ensuring that the features I added aligned with the real needs of users. This collaborative approach helped shape a robust platform designed to foster meaningful connections and streamline wholesale operations.
Business model
The Outdoor Wholesaler’s business model was designed to incentivize early adoption while generating sustainable revenue. For brands, I offered two subscription tiers:
$50 annual subscription fee with a 10% commission on sales.
$100 annual subscription fee with an 8% commission on sales.
The goal was to scale these fees over time once critical mass was achieved. Retailers could join for a one-time fee of $50, which I waived if they purchased a sample product.
This pricing structure ensured that both brands and shops could participate with minimal upfront costs, creating a low barrier to entry while fostering long-term growth.
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Outcome
Launching the MVP of The Outdoor Wholesaler was an eye-opening experience that reshaped my understanding of the outdoor retail industry. Despite building a fully functioning marketplace with features like payment processing, search filters, and custom order forms, I quickly learned that the core assumptions behind my business model did not align with the realities of the market.
Retail buyers were hesitant to take on new products without proven sales records, prioritizing risk minimization over diversification. Many were also content with their existing ordering processes, showing little need for a new platform. More importantly, I discovered that sales representatives, not buyers, were the true drivers of new product adoption in stores, even though buyers had the final say in ordering.
Brands were eager to form retail relationships, but their biggest challenge was convincing established commission-based sales representatives—often managing accounts with 50-100+ shops—to take a chance on their products. This issue was compounded by the declining number of sales reps and the reduced opportunities for connection due to fewer trade shows post-COVID.
These insights showed me that while the marketplace addressed some gaps, it failed to tackle the most pressing pain points of retail buyers and brands. It became clear that I needed to rethink the value proposition to better align with the needs of the industry. This experience reinforced the importance of customer discovery, adaptability, and focusing on solutions that bridge the gap between brands and retailers in meaningful ways.
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