Scaling a Trophy Business Through TikTok Virality, Pricing Power, and Email Monetization

Switch from cost-plus to value-based pricing to uncap margins.

Instead of adding a fixed margin to COGS, price purely on willingness to pay; test 5-6 % monthly increases or 80/20 split tests on best-selling SKUs until gross-profit × units peaks.

Why: Cost-plus businesses rarely make large profits because they anchor to cost rather than perceived value; small price lifts can double profit when baseline margins are thin.

"every business I know that does a cost plus model doesn't make a lot of money"

Consolidate attention on the fastest-growing, highest-margin segment.

Shut the break-even retail location (+$50 k profit), double-down on gag gifts via TikTok, and pause low-ROI Facebook ads for trophies.

Why: Split focus dilutes resources; the gag segment already produced $250 k in one viral month with no ad spend.

"let's just save our 50,000 a year in rent, and then just add that to the bottom line"

Turn TikTok virality into a repeatable system of content, influencers, and paid amplification.

Post 1-3 trend-driven videos daily, recruit influencers for live shopping, and boost top hooks with TikTok ads; repurpose winners to Instagram.

Why: Gag gifts thrive on shareable humor; once a hook works, minor SKU variations can ride the same creative.

"we could do 10 million next year. I would just say, we're gonna take all of our resources, we're gonna go all in on TikTok"

Mature e-commerce brands extract 30-50 % of revenue from email flows and weekly nurtures.

Build abandoned-cart and browse-abandon flows, then send one weekly email with recognition psychology content plus a “funniest trophy of the week” PS to drive repeat traffic.

Why: Email is pure profit (no ad spend) and leverages an existing 10 k list that is currently untapped.

"Most mature e-commerce businesses get between 30% and 50% of revenue from email"

Insert a high-value upsell offer inside every shipped box.

Print a card with a QR code linking to a buy-one-get-one or steep discount on top gag gifts; adjust base price so net margin stays intact.

Why: Captures zero-cost repeat purchases from buyers already primed by the humor of the first gift.

"I would put a buggo offer in… buy one, get one to two free, and then just fix the pricing of the one so that it makes sense"

Max out intent-based channels (SEO + Google Ads) before scaling interruption ads.

Triple SEO agency output and layer branded & long-tail Google Ads; these clicks convert at 9-13 % and yield 13:1 LTV:CAC.

Why: Search captures buyers already looking for trophies; the blended LTV:CAC of 11:1 indicates room to spend more.

"if you get 13 to 1, it's like, we should spend as much as we possibly can on that"

Only optimize what is actually the bottleneck.

Cody proved capacity can double in December; therefore marketing, not fulfillment, is the constraint worth fixing.

Why: Fixing non-constraints yields no throughput; focusing on demand generation leverages existing operational slack.

"Fulfillment-wise, we proved that in December, we can handle about double fulfillment… I just need more people to the site"

Choose the problem you’d rather solve: constant new-media hunting or long-term league retention.

Gag gifts = media arbitrage requiring fresh creative; leagues = outbound sales for recurring 12-year lifetime value.

Why: Business model dictates lifestyle; Cody prefers faster profit over slower enterprise sales, making TikTok the aligned bet.

"what problem would you rather solve?… If you wanted to hit 3 million next year, I was like, we could do 10 million next year"