Yet Another Jungle E-com Step By Step - Turret Fitness
Level 2 - Value Investor
This is 100% a guest post, unedited by BowTiedStealth
Hello, anon. I'm BowTiedStealth, founder of Turret Fitness (what used to be Gript, which we'll get into).
Starting this biz has taught me infinite things that would have been impossible to learn had I not done it myself (and I have an MBA…lol). My hope is that this post shows you some of the pitfalls that await any who dare to start a business.
For starters though, a huge thank you to BowTiedBull for the opportunity to write this post. Their Substack has been absolutely invaluable while starting and building Turret Fitness.
Ideation
I'll be the first to tell you that my vacuum insulated stainless steel protein shakers are not groundbreaking.
I'm not Steve Jobs over here introducing the first phone with no buttons.
When I started Gript, I was simply trying to solve my own problem of protein sitting in a plastic shaker for multiple hours while I drive to the gym, lift, shower, drive to the office, and then drink it. A quick google search didn't show me anything that I actually wanted to buy, so I decided to make my own.
That was about it.
Ideas are a dime a dozen, so just pick one that you don't mind thinking about all day every day, and move out on it.
Name
It's popular around these parts to say that the name of your biz doesn't matter that much, and I tend to agree.
However, it is important that you pick something that people will remember, generally fits the idea/vibe you have for the biz, and most importantly...IS NOT ALREADY TRADEMARKED.
When I was signing up for Amazon Brand Registry, I learned you need at least a pending trademark to get registered.
Okay, time to go get a trademark for the name GRIPT.
I HIGHLY recommend using a law firm to submit your trademark application on your behalf, for three reasons.
You need a law firm to sign off on it, even if you do it yourself
Your time is better spent doing things other than learning the process for properly submitting a trademark application
It’s good to have a relationship with an IP law firm should you need one later, whether to play offense or defense
Turns out there are enough other trademarks similar enough to “GRIPT” that the law firm assessed my probability of success as “low”.
Time to rebrand.
That’s why and how I went from GRIPT to Turret Fitness. Nothing else about the business changed when I did that.
Legal Stuff
While we’re on the topic of legal stuff, allow me to introduce you to the idea of an "IP Portfolio". I am far from an expert on this, and I'm not a lawyer or attorney or anything related, so consult one if you need one.
Your IP Portfolio is the collection of patents and trademarks that make your business unique.
You need to be building your IP portfolio as you build your business. However, it's important to balance how much of this you do. Every patent and trademark application costs money, so it's up to you to find the right balance between what does and does not need to be protected, at least initially. Do not blow your entire launch budget on IP protection and then have no money left to buy your inventory, start running ads, etc.
If you want to sell on Amazon (you should want to sell on Amazon), you will need at least a pending trademark for your business name to do so. I did not know this.
If you do have some revolutionary product, you will want to patent it, be it a design or utility patent. I'm not qualified to go into details on this, so DYOR.
Any potential legal challenges you face can cost you tons of time and money that is much better spent on other things.
Do not take this stuff lightly. It adds up quickly.
Logo
This is one thing that I will say you should spend almost zero time on. For the Gript logo, I opened Canva, typed "Gript", found a font I liked, and downloaded it. That was it.
For the Turret Fitness logo, I paid somebody on Upwork and she did it for me. You have much better things to be spending your brain cells on than a logo.
Manufacturing
Unless you're a masochist or have extremely deep pockets, you will need somebody to manufacture your product for you. Luckily we live in the year 2025 and finding manufacturers has never been easier. Alibaba is a good place to start.
You can search by the type of product you want (in my case, vacuum insulated drinking containers), and it will give you a list of businesses that make that sort of product. Then you just cruise through the options, look for traits that you like (customization, MOQs, years in business, country of origin, etc), and start sending messages. Most of these people, in my experience, are extremely easy to work with and very responsive.
I’m an American, and I love America. I desperately wanted to make my shakers here in America. I was able to find exactly ONE company that manufactures stainless steel insulated drinkware and their MOQ was 250,000 units.
I would’ve been bankrupt before even starting.
The manufacturer I ended up going with has an MOQ of 100. Much more palatable for somebody just starting out.
All this to say, don’t be afraid to manufacture overseas. You don’t have to like it, but chances are you aren’t one of the people that shipped American manufacturing overseas. You’re just operating in the environment that was created for you.
If any of your customers (actual or prospective) have a problem with it, block them and move on. They’re not the type of person you want as a customer anyway.
The first manufacturer I contacted was initially helpful, sent me a 3D printed prototype of what I’d described, and then when I went back to him with edits, he ghosted me. Jerk.
Move on quick.
The next manufacturer I tried is easy to work with, did LOTS of back and forth to get the design right, and has been very responsive.
Prototypes
The first thing I did with my new manufacturer was order a sample of one of their already existed products to make sure the quality was there. This began the process of designing the shaker, the mixing spring, the packaging, all of it.
One thing I will strongly recommend is to "dry run" as much of this stuff as possible prior to placing your initial order of inventory.
In my case, my manufacturer produced multiple 3D printed prototypes for me that got progressively closer to “real”:
Plain 3D printed single-walled
Plain 3D printed double walled with proper packaging
Painted 3D printed with the logo on it in the proper packaging
At this point I felt comfortable enough to pay the mold opening fee.
Once the mold was open, I ordered more samples, this time one in each color in a branded box and only placed my initial inventory order once those samples were received and met my expectations.
That's how I minimized my manufacturing risk.
Demand Test
This idea is far from ground breaking, and I'm not the first one to talk about it, and this is not the first time *I* have talked about it. (source)
You need to test demand before you buy inventory. This is what you can be doing while you're getting your manufacturing spun up.
Get your site built (Shopify is the obvious choice if you're doing ecomm) using Youtube tutorials, reddit forums, Shopify forums, and finding people online (either in the jungle, Upwork, Fiverr, etc) that can make your product images for you. Use other ecom sites (jungle or otherwise) for ideas on how your site can look. I practically lived on TJBuongiorno’s Ramp Health site while building mine, and surely bugged the shit out of him with a million stupid questions. BowTiedVDeer has a great post on his old (hacked) account about how he created content before he had product. (source)
Once you have your site built, you can start running ads. Use Meta Ads Library to scope out what your competition is doing. The style, the creatives, the text, etc. You can even do what I did and copy and paste the text from their ads, change the branding to yours, slight edits to change the vibe, and run it.
$40/day is a good place to start.
Do you then get sales?
When I was demand testing, I didn't worry about ROAS, CPC, or anything like that. I figured I could worry about all of that later. Right now, you're simply trying to answer the question...do people want to buy this?
If the answer is yes (you're getting sales), then keep chugging on the manufacturing piece.
Other Considerations
Customer Acquisition Cost
I didn’t think about this until I was signing up my first few affiliates and I thought to myself
“damn, I gotta pay the affiliate 10%, AND give a 10% discount?? That’s 20%!!!”
Oh to be naïve again.
Then the gears started turning…
“Build it and they will come” does not work in ecom
You have to pay to get a purchase…be it via affiliate discounts/commission, free product, ad spend, UGC purchases, whatever.
Your margins are what determines how much you can pay for each purchase and still be profitable.
And your margins are determined by your sale price minus your expenses.
Expenses
Two types: Fixed and variable
Fixed expenses you pay no matter what. In ecomm this is stuff like your Shopify subscription, Klaviyo subscription, any other paid apps you have on your site.
Variable expenses you pay more when you sell more. This is stuff like your COGS, shipping, packaging, fulfillment (there might also be fixed cost with fulfillment), etc.
It is CRUCIAL that you know these numbers so you don’t get to the end of a month and not be able to pay off your biz credit card because you were running too high of a CAC.
LTV
Your customers long term value.
Okay great, you paid to acquire a customer, congratulations. They know about your brand and have a hopefully good experience with it. Now, how long do they stick around? Are they purchasing from you every single month for the next 20 years? Are they going to buy once and then be set for life?
This was something else I didn’t consider when I was starting. People only need a few shakers before they’re all set for a longggg time (especially when the shaker is as good as mine is).
This is why you see so many brands building around recurring products. Gum, supplements, toothpaste, soap, etc. All things that the customer will burn through and need to reorder, ideally from you.
You can tolerate a high CAC if your LTV is strong enough to support it.
Sacrifices
Building a business takes time, there’s no denying that. You need to find somewhere to pull time from if you want to start something. BowTiedOpossum talks about this a lot, how you have a lot more time than you think you do every day/week/month, you’re just wasting it on
stupid stuff.
If you’re a young single guy, you’ll find no sympathy from me.
I have a full-time in-office W-2, a wife, and multiple very young children. I have to go to work to put food on the table and a roof over our heads, I have to spend time with and raise my children, I have to spend time with my wife to maintain a healthy marriage, I have to work out for my physical and mental health.
None of those things can change because of my business.The thing that I sacrifice instead is sleep.
I work on the business when everybody else in my family is asleep. And yes, I do move slower than other people because of that. Very limited time to work on it.
I’ll tell you the same thing I tell people IRL that are putting off getting married or having kids for “the right time”. The right time doesn’t exist. You make the right time.
Or you wait for the right time and then never do it because the right time never comes along.
Up to you.
Conclusion
Alright I think that’s about it. I’m sure I’m leaving a lot out, but the big takeaway here is to just start. It’s impossible to know everything before you get started. Everything is an unknown unknown initially and the only way to find out is to start, solve one problem at a time (whichever alligator is closest to your boat, as they say), and learn as you grow.
In the meantime, you can get the best protein shaker of your life at turretfitness.com.
Vacuum insulated for you people that wait too long to drink your stuff and still want it cold (like me).
Stainless steel for you people that hate that disgusting protein shaker stench (like me).
Ergonomic design for you people that are sick of these stainless-steel drinking vessels being impossible to hold onto (like me).
Integrated measurement dial on the inside of the bottle for you people that track your macros (like me…sort of).
Dual silicone seals in the lid for you people that don’t want to leak stuff all over your gym bag (like me).
Dishwasher safe for you people that hate washing stuff by hand (like me).
I personally have 4 in my rotation (two blacks, a white, and a raw).
I use three on days I lift: one for my pre workout, one for my water while lifting, and one for my protein afterwards. All three are prepped the night before, sit on the counter overnight, and are still cold when I get to them the next morning.
The fourth is for my non-lifting cardio days when I wait until 2pm-ish to drink my still cold protein that I made the night before.
Turretfitness.com
Check it out bro.
BTB Notes: Main things to takeaway from this are simple: 1) you’re never too old to start - majority are just tied up making excuses, 2) the only metric that matters is *sales* assuming you’re profitable and 3) be sure to have your IP set up correctly to avoid mass delays.
We’ll be back tomorrow and still have no idea what has happened since Friday but should be an exciting Tuesday!
Disclaimer: None of this is to be deemed legal or financial advice of any kind. These are *opinions* written by an anonymous group of Ex-Wall Street Tech Bankers and software engineers who moved into affiliate marketing and e-commerce.
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