They say the clothes make the man. If that’s true, where does that leave the busy professional who is short on time and unlikely to spend his free moments shopping?
Enter Manpacks, a clothing-subscription service that delivers the bare essentials directly to the man. The startup offers an array of packages for men to receive underwear, undershirts and socks without leaving their house.
Ken Johnson, co-founder of Manpacks, will present at tonight’s Geek Dinner at AS220. He recently answered questions about the service for Providence Business News.
PBN: Manpack sounds suspiciously like it’s a product tailored for men who are geeks? Is that your target market?
JOHNSON: Yes and no. The geeks have really embraced the idea and represent a good portion of our customer base, however our target market is more broad: young professionals who place a high value on their time, and prefer to automate redundant tasks. Much of this demographic just happens to be “geek,” but we also see professionals from all lines of work joining us, often times via an equally busy significant other.
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PBN: How much technology do you need to make this service work beyond simple order fulfillment software? Do you consider yourself a technology company?
JOHNSON: We’re a Web-based business. The tech requirements are basically a functional website, live chat to orient confused shoppers, a reliable backend to keep track of customer sales cycles, recurring billing software, a fulfillment system. However, most the attention we get amongst tech circles simply has to do with our progressive take on e-commerce. We are doing something new and innovative with the way we sell goods as a service, and that’s just appealing to anyone trying to figure out what the future will look like.
PBN: What do you see as the next product or service that you may offer?
JOHNSON: Male grooming products are coming soon, and we also have plans to increase community involvement. We are always looking at ways to expand the service and make ourselves easier to interact with.
PBN: Your website says the company is based in Florida, yet you are part of the current class of the Betaspring startup incubator. What brought you to Rhode Island?
JOHNSON: The Betaspring startup incubator brought us here! Actually, Andrew is from Ottawa, Canada, and I am from Florida, so this was a great opportunity for us to share office space and really focus on the business.
PBN: What have you learned so far at Betaspring? Are you looking more for investors or expertise or both? Which do you feel a startup needs more in today’s market?
JOHNSON: After launching Manpacks in January, we grew in popularity before we had the chance to figure out why. Betaspring has helped us better understand our relevance in today’s marketplace. The program mentors and directors have been hugely valuable with their feedback and advice, and they are always willing to share their time and experience. … We have a powerful business concept that needs some massaging, but are confident the investment dollars will be there when we are ready, so long as we continue to put in the hard work, and bootstrap our way to more and more loyal customers. Personally, I think that most early startups need expertise more than investors, so they can spend more time building something excellent instead of worrying about how much money they need to do it. Ideas can be tested very cheaply these days. Go out, get some customer validation, iterate, sell, sell, sell … then look around for capital to help scale the business.
