🍯 Is it even worth it to start a DTC brand anymore?

Hello You DTC Savage,

Is it even worth starting a DTC brand anymore?

Here’s my honest take:

It only is if you can generate fuel profit immediately (first purchase) or lock in strong retention and CLV (customer lifetime value) within the first 30-60 days.

Remember the DTC gold rush? Back in the day, brands could push an average order value (AOV) as low as $40 and make it work. But today? Those days are long gone.

Here’s why:

• Increased CAC (thanks, Meta, for squeezing brand profits to the bone)

• Increased competition everywhere

• Fading customer loyalty

Facebook used to be the Wild West:

• No real security restrictions.

• Consumers weren’t bombarded with ads

• The competition in bidding auctions was basically non-existent

Customer acquisition was cheap and easy, with minimal strategy required. Why even think about retention when you could just keep the customer flow steady?

But we’re not in 2015 anymore.

Here’s the thing: Acquisition is still the engine of growth—no doubt about that—but Retention is your profit.

You can spend all day trying to bring in new customers, but if you’re not keeping the ones you've already got, you’re leaving serious money on the table. Retention turns a one-time customer into a repeat customer, an advocate, and, ultimately, your most profitable asset.

This is the difference between merely surviving and absolutely thriving in the DTC space.

To put it bluntly… between advertising, fulfillment, inventory, taxes, salaries, and every other cost associated with ecom…

You WILL run out of money if you don’t focus on profitability within the first 30-60 days MAX.

P.S. Did you know that bananas are berries, but strawberries aren't? Lol this blew my mind.

P.S.S. This is only my fourth newsletter, and somehow, I still have more to say. If there’s something specific you want me to ramble about next, let me know.

Talk Soon,

Feras