Why did you start your business? I founded Better Than Belts with my brother, Tyler. We have always been interested in starting our own businesses and passionate about fashion and Made in USA products.
A few years ago, Tyler was sick and experienced a lot of weight fluctuations. His pants were too loose and belts were too uncomfortable to wear while he was ill. Our dad thought suspenders could work, but the suspenders available were not cool enough to wear every day. The US market is focused on novelty (Halloween) suspenders, or formal (wedding).
So, we found a manufacturer in New York and decided to make our own.
What makes your product/brand/company unique? Our suspenders truly marry design and function.
We created a product that could sustain daily wear and look good with jeans or chinos. The secret is high quality, 100% durable elastic and jumbo clips. Not the little thumb clips you're used to seeing. Our clips really grip!
Tell us about your most successful marketing campaign. The campaign that keeps on giving was an influencer video campaign on YouTube.
We got our start on Kickstarter, funding our first round of inventory and launching the company with the $11K we raised. A year or so later we found influencer and videographer Van Neistat launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the launch of his YouTube channel. For $5K you could back his campaign and he would make an ad for you in one of his upcoming videos. It was a risk, he didn't have many followers at the time and his base wasn't guaranteed to be a fit for us. We took the leap of faith and he created a wonderful "The Rules Of Gifting" video for us. All star content and it drove quality customers to us around the holidays and continues to drive customers to this day. Evergreen content is a winner!
What is the biggest challenge that you are facing today to grow?: Marketing budget when you don't want to go the route of vc funding. OR Working with a sibling :). OR Hard to stay motivated with a team of two when your business mainly existed during COVID.
Ready to tell your story? Be the next Female Founded Small Business Feature.