32. Bringing the Marketplace Model to Inventory Financing, CEO at Kickfurther

In this episode of E-Commerce with Coffee?!, host Nate Svoboda is joined by Kickfurther CEO Sean De Clercq to talk about Kickfurther, the marketplace inventory financing model, and the democratization of e-commerce. Among many helpful insights, Sean gives us some short and sweet bullet points to entrepreneurial success:

• Identify a problem
• Solve it better than others
• Have good margins
• Open up wholesale
• Increase volume
• Leverage volume to negotiate discount
• Scale, scale, scale
• Sell

Ready to take in the wonderful insights Sean has brought to the show? Grab yourself your favorite brew, kick back, and enjoy!

What to listen for:

• Sean gives us the breakdown on Kickfurther. Inventory financing is a tough game to play, both for those looking for funding and those looking to fund. Bringing a marketplace model to the inventory financing game, Kickfurther brings down the barrier to entry for both sides.
• As most breakthrough solutions, Kickfurther is born out of experience. Sean’s time in wholesale showed him that, paradoxically, doing well can drive you bankrupt. More specifically, scaling is expensive, and getting ahold of that capital was simply not an option for many businesses. The solution? Bringing the marketplace model into the picture.
• Sean gives us a crash course on the marketplace model which, essentially, works as crowdfunding for inventory financing. On one side, brands are vetted and evaluated as to how likely they are to succeed. On the other side, funders are evaluated and presented with possible good matches. This process helps democratize the financing process, connecting growing brands with available capital directly, instead of having to rely on industry contacts and connections.
• Since Kickfurther vets who might or might not be a successful business on the platform, there must be some differentiator to look at. When it comes to entrepreneurs, Sean explains that brands who have big margins and have found a niche market are the ones that tend to do very well. Identify a special opportunity and go after it aggressively.
• Why doesn’t every brand with a niche market make it? Sean says that one of the biggest mistakes is charging too little. Small margins and low prices may seem like a great way to attract customers, but it leaves little-to-no chance for scaling, which can ultimately be the brand’s downfall.