Starting a DTC (direct-to-consumer) brand felt like jumping into the deep end without floaties.
I knew people were doing it—glorified TikToks, sleek Shopify stores, and “six figures in six months” gurus plastered everywhere—but when I actually started putting the pieces together for my own brand?
Total chaos.
I made mistakes, wasted money, changed logos five times, and almost quit twice. But I got through it—and now, I help others do the same. So if you’re dreaming about cutting out the middleman and launching your own DTC business, let me walk you through the real 8 steps that matter—messiness and all.
1. Validate the Idea Before You Invest a Dime
I launched my first brand without validating anything. Just vibes. And yep—it flopped.
You need to answer two questions early:
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Does anyone actually want this?
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Can I reach them directly, without a retail partner?
Run small ads. Drop a survey. Post in forums. Hell, even Reddit will give you honest feedback. If strangers won’t pre-order, no one will reorder.
Use tools like Google Trends, TikTok search, or Ubersuggest to gauge demand. It’s not about guessing—it’s about proof.
2. Define a Stupid-Simple Niche
Don’t try to be for everyone. I made this mistake trying to sell sustainable bags for “busy professionals.” Too vague. I pivoted to “eco-conscious moms who want cute bags that don’t scream ‘diaper bag,’” and things clicked.
Know your niche like you’re building it for your best friend. The tighter your audience, the easier your branding, messaging, and ads will be.
3. Create a Brand That Actually Feels Human
This part is way more than just logos and fonts.
Your brand voice should feel like someone your customer wants to hang out with. The kind of brand they’d follow even if they weren’t buying right away.
Pick:
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A tone (friendly? cheeky? bold?)
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A vibe (clean, colorful, luxury, handmade?)
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Values (what hill will your brand die on?)
My second brand leaned heavily into “real-life messiness”—think unfiltered photos, memes, and admitting when we screw up. Our audience loved it. We didn’t just sell, we connected.
4. Build Your MVP (Minimum Viable Product)
Don’t start with 50 SKUs and fancy packaging. Start with your one hero product.
We launched with one version of one product and shipped in ugly kraft boxes. Ugly? Yes. Functional? Also yes. We reinvested profits into refining later.
Focus on:
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Function first, polish later.
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Supply chain basics—can you actually fulfill orders at scale?
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Margins that make sense. If you’re not clearing 60%+ after COGS, you’ll struggle.
5. Choose the Right Platform (Hint: It’s Probably Shopify)
Look, I’ve played around with Wix, Squarespace, and even WordPress. But for DTC? Shopify is king.
It has:
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Built-in eCommerce tools
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Solid integrations (Klaviyo, AfterShip, Recharge, etc.)
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A huge ecosystem of apps and experts
Just keep it simple. Clean layout. Fast load times. Clear product photos. No autoplay videos or weird scroll effects.
6. Build an Email List Before You Launch
I cannot scream this loud enough: start collecting emails before you launch.
We built a “coming soon” page with a waitlist. Ran $5/day Facebook ads. Had 2K people on our list by the time we launched.
Email drove over 40% of our launch revenue. Without it, we would’ve had… crickets.
Use a simple lead magnet—early access, discount, or exclusive product preview. Just give people a reason to join now.
7. Launch Loud, Not Perfect
You will never feel ready.
Set a date, build your pre-launch hype, and go live—even if you’re scared. Our launch had shipping delays, a typo in the checkout flow, and one product photo that was… blurry. We still made sales.
Start with:
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A launch email sequence
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Organic content (talk about the process, not just the product)
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Paid ads, but keep the budget tight and test like crazy
Perfection is the enemy of launch. Get your product in hands, get feedback, iterate.
8. Nurture Customers Like They’re Friends
Post-launch, your real job begins: retention.
We sent personalized thank-you emails (with GIFs), handwrote notes in the first 100 boxes, and replied to every DM like we were texting a friend.
Guess what? People came back. They told their friends. They left reviews.
Set up post-purchase flows, ask for feedback, and keep the convo going. Loyalty is earned—one touchpoint at a time.
Final Thoughts
Launching a DTC brand isn’t just about getting a cool product out into the world. It’s about building something that people trust, talk about, and come back to.
Don’t overthink every detail, but don’t rush the stuff that matters (like knowing your niche and building your list). You’re not launching a store. You’re launching a relationship with your audience.
