<p><b>Startup Description</b></p><p>My product is a melatonin-free sleep and stress supplement, sold direct-to-consumer, that targets the cortisol side of sleep disruption rather than melatonin deficiency, at a clinical 300mg dose of KSM-66 ashwagandha (versus the ~50mg typical of competitors), plus L-theanine and taurine. I started it in 2024 as a solo, self-funded side project alongside a full-time job, sourcing the formulation through a white-label manufacturer and building the DTC funnel, brand, and retention systems myself from the ground up.</p><p><b>Key highlights:</b></p><ul> <li>Annual revenue (trailing 12 months): ~$38,330</li> <li>Annual profit: pre-profit on a fully-loaded basis (see Revenue and Profit section below)</li> <li>Churn rate: ~64% over 90 days on the subscription base</li> <li>LTV: estimated ~$80 per customer (AOV ~$70, ~14.6% repeat purchase rate; a rough estimate given limited repeat-order data)</li> <li>CAC: ~$80 (blended, Meta)</li> <li>Business margin: ~72% contribution margin after product cost and 3PL fulfillment</li> <li>Other: 551 lifetime Meta-attributed purchases; ~1,000 total customers; one SKU across three supply sizes (1/2/3-month)</li> </ul> <p><b>Team</b></p><p>Solo-operated. I handle product sourcing and supplier relationship management, marketing (Meta ads, creative, copy), email/SMS (Klaviyo), site management (Shopify/Replo), and customer service. No contractors, agencies, or VAs.</p><p><b>Tech Stack</b></p><ul> <li>Shopify — storefront and checkout</li> <li>Replo — product/landing page builder</li> <li>Klaviyo — email and SMS automation (welcome series, abandoned cart, post-purchase, win-back, quiz-funnel segmentation)</li> <li>Fillout — quiz funnel, integrated with Klaviyo</li> <li>Meta Ads Manager — primary paid acquisition channel</li> <li>Amazon Seller Central for the secondary sales channel</li> </ul> <p><b>Marketing and Growth</b></p><p>Meta Ads has been the primary acquisition channel, running on tested creative angles, hooks, and long-form advertorials, driving the large majority of paid conversions. All-time Meta spend is ~$44,000 across 551 attributed purchases, with blended ROAS around 0.57 and CAC around $80, meaning paid acquisition has not cleared break-even at the budget and skill level I could bring solo. Secondary, largely untested channels include organic Amazon search, light SEO, and one brief influencer trial. Growth activities that were validated but never scaled: winning ad creative and advertorial pages (documented and transferable), and an email/SMS infrastructure that's built but under-monetized.</p><p><b>Revenue and Profit</b></p><ul> <li>Lifetime revenue (24 months): $50,032</li> <li>Trailing 12-month revenue: ~$38,330</li> <li>Contribution margin after COGS ($2.62/unit) and 3PL fulfillment: ~72%</li> <li>All-time Meta ad spend: ~$43,899</li> <li>Cumulative net result, fully loaded (revenue minus COGS, fulfillment, software, and ad spend): approximately –$14,060 (a loss)</li> <li>MRR: ~$1,150 across 23 active subscribers; 90-day churn ~64%, retention ~36%. Around 24 subscriptions are currently paused (payment method on file) due to a cadence mismatch rather than dissatisfaction, and represent near-term reactivation upside through Klaviyo flows already built.</li> <li>Repeat purchase rate: ~14.6%</li> </ul> <p>I'm disclosing the fully-loaded loss directly because it's the honest picture: the ad spend went into validating a transferable acquisition system, not into extracting profit, and the business runs close to break-even when operated lean with minimal ad spend.</p><p><b>Return on Investment</b></p><p>If operated lean (minimal-to-no paid acquisition, relying on the existing subscriber base, organic, and email), the business generated roughly $1,243/month in profit on average over the trailing 24 months before ad spend. At the current asking price, that implies a rough payback period in the range of 12–15 months under those conditions. This is illustrative, not a guarantee; actual payback depends heavily on whether and how a buyer scales paid acquisition, and past ad performance has run below break-even at the spend levels tested to date. A buyer who improves conversion, AOV, or ROAS efficiency changes this materially in their favor.</p><p><b>Startup Assets</b></p><ul> <li>Shopify store, domain(s), and website files</li> <li>Amazon Seller Central account with sales/review history</li> <li>Customer database and email/SMS list: 25 active subscribers, 4,000+ email subscribers</li> <li>Klaviyo account with full automation flows, plus the Fillout quiz funnel (5-tier segmentation)</li> <li>Meta pixel data and complete ad history (551 purchases' worth of conversion data); all creative assets (hooks, ad copy, video scripts, advertorial pages). Note: the ad account itself is an agency account and cannot transfer directly, pixel data, history, audiences, and creative all transfer, and I'll assist re-warming a new account.</li> <li>Brand assets and design files</li> <li>Supplier relationship (white-label manufacturer, FDA-registered, cGMP-certified facility, COAs available)</li> <li>Instagram, X, Tiktok accounts</li> <li>~600 units of inventory at ~$1,158 of landed cost.</li> </ul> <p><b>Risks </b></p><ul> <li>Profitability: the business is not yet profitable on a fully loaded basis; paid acquisition has run below break-even at the budget level tested. Mitigation: the validated funnel, creative, and pixel data reduce the cost and risk of a buyer reaching profitable scale versus starting from zero.</li> <li>Subscriber churn: 64% over 90 days is high. Mitigation: much of it traces to a cadence mismatch (customers over-ordering multi-month supply), addressable with existing but unused Klaviyo resume flows and better cadence options.</li> <li>Channel concentration: Meta is the dominant acquisition channel; Amazon, Google, Pinterest, and TikTok are largely untested. Mitigation: this is also the primary growth lever for a buyer with more bandwidth or budget.</li> <li>Single supplier: not contractually exclusive, though no competitor currently sells this exact formulation. Mitigation: a buyer can pursue an exclusivity agreement or dual-source.</li> </ul> <p><b>Summary</b></p><p>My store offers a buyer the expensive, uncertain part of building a DTC brand already done: a differentiated, clinically-dosed formulation with no direct competitor, a documented and transferable Meta acquisition system (proven creative, pixel data, and audiences included), a built-out email/SMS retention infrastructure, and a real customer base, all validated on a self-funded, part-time budget that never had the capital or bandwidth to scale past break-even. The opportunity is straightforward: an operator with real acquisition budget, a dedicated media buyer, or simply more time than I could give it solo steps into a working, de-risked system rather than a blank page, with full financial transparency and platform access provided to verify every figure above.</p><p>✅ $38,330 TTM revenue</p><p>✅ 1,020 customers</p><p>✅ Business model: One-time sales</p><p>✅ Built with Shopify </p>