There are many approaches to starting and growing an E-commerce company. Drups Ventures has opted to expand rapidly by acquiring marketing and E-commerce brands that offer a wide range of products. Here’s more about their unique business model in this week’s Small Business Spotlight.
### What the Business Does
Drups Ventures focuses on managing marketing and E-commerce businesses. Joseph Drups, the owner, mentions that they have numerous brands under their umbrella. Their focus is on providing quality lifestyle products, ranging from seat cushions that relieve muscle pain to gift boxes and jewelry.
### Business Niche
The company excels in growing quickly while maintaining high standards in E-commerce operations. Drups shares that they have successfully purchased, merged, and scaled their business across eight different businesses and over a dozen brands. This has earned them a spot on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies in the U.S. for multiple years.
### How the Business Got Started
Drups Ventures began as a digital marketing company. They started by buying smaller E-commerce brands and gradually scaled up to acquire larger ones.
### Biggest Win
Their biggest win came during the COVID-19 pandemic when they successfully closed their first deal above $2 million. Despite the challenges, they persisted, went through eight banks to secure funding, and finally found a partner bank to close the deal. This acquisition marked a significant milestone for the business.
### Biggest Challenge
Navigating the pandemic was particularly tough due to the varying performance of their multiple brands. Some saw a surge in sales, while others struggled. At one point, they had to put some sister businesses on life support. In 2021, they faced a challenging transition, replacing 19 out of 22 employees in one of their businesses. Despite these hardships, they managed to weather the storm.
### Lesson Learned
A key lesson they learned was the importance of targeting stable companies. Drups reflects that finding stable companies could have reduced their stress and effort over the past five years.
### How They’d Spend an Extra $100,000
With an extra $100,000, Drups would focus on launching new products, a new platform, or buying a new business. He enjoys using growth budgets to experiment with moonshot projects.
### Coolest Accomplishment
One of their proudest accomplishments is being recognized by Inc. 5000 as one of the fastest-growing businesses in the U.S. for two consecutive years.
### Favorite Quote
Drups’ favorite quote is from Albert Einstein: “Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value.”
