{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Profits on Purpose","title":"Founder Turned Down Amazon Over 100 Times. Her Margins Will Tell You Why | dip | Kate Assaraf","html":"<iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https://share.transistor.fm/e/32484ad5\"></iframe>","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2616,"description":"How Does Your Brand Stack Up? Download our FREE eCommerce Hidden Profit Audit Template here: https://www.futurereadycfo.com/hidden-profit-audit-free-templateKate Assaraf built dip into a brand sold in 400 to 500 independent stores without spending a cent on advertising, and she's said no to Amazon more than a hundred times. She started with $40,000 and still owns 100% of the business.In this episode, Kate sits down with Nate to explain the thinking behind a go-to-market strategy that runs counter to almost everything other consumer brands do. She shares why selling through zero-waste stores, salons and surf shops protects both her retailers and her margins, and why putting dip on Amazon would undercut the relationships her whole business is built on.The conversation digs into the financial side too. When her contract manufacturer went bankrupt, Kate took the risk of building her own factory, which removed the distributor and co-manufacturer markups and gave her room to hold prices steady while others raised theirs. She talks through working capital, tiny MOQs, and why her inventory system is really just her team keeping an eye on the shelves.There's also a great section on what she does instead of paid ads: taking her top store owners on retreats to Morocco, the Dominican Republic, the Catskills and Tennessee, treating the people who actually sell her product as her most valuable marketing channel. To date she's redirected over $5 million into local economies through her independent retailers.Kate and Nate also get into greenwashing and why synthetic isn't automatically worse than natural, her grateful dead-stock packaging idea, why she'll never take on an investor or a business partner, and what's behind her decision to finally start advertising for the first time, mostly to drive customers into the independent stores she cares about.Find dip at https://www.dipalready.com and use the store locator to find a stockist near you. Connect with Kate on LinkedIn,...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/_cxG7RO1ZcnYwGXI1jP4ZK-pmU86wobwOhFfT9k5yjU/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9kYTEz/MDg5MzFhZjJlMzkw/MDkxNDRlYzkyNWQx/ZGIzYi5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}