As of July 8, 2022…
52 days ago, Troy Scarbrough and his partner bought Forrest & Harold.
38 days from today, they launch product #2.
Dude moves fast. Plus, he’s smart enough to recognize that men only need so many wallets. No matter how nice they are. And these are nice.
It’s not his first go, though. Troy already owns Barefoot Yard, which sells natural lawn care products so safe you can go shoeless without worrying about growing a second head – and Lawn Serv, a DIY lawn care subscription box.
And to think, when he was in business school and first caught the entrepreneurial bug and tried to acquire his first business, he had this harsh realization: “I realized… I’m poor. Like, I can’t just buy a business.”
There is that.
Business owners don’t typically give their babies away.
So, after a stint at Babson, Troy went into banking. But it won’t be forever – just long enough to fund a couple of startups and acquire a wallet business.
Although it’s not a wallet business anymore, either. Troy’s got a much bigger vision for Forrest & Harold. He knows lots of men want nice things. They also don’t want to have to research, find, and test out those nice things. Things like sunglasses and belts and Dopp kits. (I’ll save you the Google… it’s a men’s toiletry bag.)
But not just those nice things.
Troy knows that no matter how nice those things are, and they will be nice, guys only need so many of them. So, the smart move is to also add some consumable products into the mix. Products for making guys look and smell good. Products that don’t cause decision fatigue, and that don’t smell like Herbal Essences.
When you acquire a business, you usually acquire a customer list. In this case, Troy woke up one day with email addresses for 300K prior customers. About 120K of them were “engaged” customers. And when Troy emailed a Father’s Day offer, 40% of the sales that came in were from them.
That’s a lot of people opening their wallets to buy, um, wallets. All because of email marketing.
Autopilot Sales… it’s a thing
About which, by the way, we just dropped a course called Autopilot Sales inside The One Percent. BTW, one of that course’s contributors is Greg Johnson, coach inside TOP and the Incubator. Greg is not only the mind behind Email Magic (helluva good newsletter, gotta say)… but is also the proud new owner of… a Forrest & Harold wallet.
Before that, Greg was rocking a far less fashionable option: a shiny, black binder clip. (He’s kind of adorable.)
Anyhoo, it’s almost like Troy was destined to buy this wallet company. Living in Gloucester, Massachusetts, he’s got a buddy who owns a leather manufacturing company – and who was willing to let Troy rent some of his warehouse space. Brian has also been a huge help in cutting Troy’s learning curve about leather and manufacturing leather goods.
It’s a beautiful ‘unfair advantage’ – and Troy is glad to have it. He’s aiming to grow this brand as big as he can. Then sell it. Maybe. And if he does, it wouldn’t be long before he dove back into the entrepreneurial deep end. He can’t NOT be in this entrepreneurial life. As he says, Ryan’s got the Cleveland Guardians… he’s got business.
That’s one reason Troy joined the Capitalism Incubator.
Into the Incubator
I mean, where else are you going to find like minded people who actively help you grow your business? Are you going to run into them on the street? Strike up a convo at a dinner party about how you’re losing a little sleep hoping your most recent inventory order gets to Amazon’s warehouse in time for Prime Day? Pfft.
In the end, acquiring a business can give you a pretty sweet head start over building one from nothing. It helps if you can see where the original founders left a lot of money on the table. By buying a product-first business with the potential to become a real brand with multiple products serving the same audience, and solving a problem to make their lives better… that’s how fortunes are made.
Troy, we’ll be rooting for you every step of the way.
Your Turn?
We’ll keep you updated on Troy’s progress on the road to $1 million.
We’re on a mission to make one million millionaires by 2028. Will Troy be one of them? We’re betting on him!
How about YOU, though? We’d love you to be one of them, too.
If Troy’s story inspires you to build a million-dollar business that makes the world a better place, you’re in the right place. We can coach you on your road to $1 million, too.
First up… you’ve got a fun little homework assignment.
Check out this FREE million dollar brand playbook.
