How this watchmaker used Shotput to expand over 40 countries in 1 year
Mark Ang had enough of seeing poorly built designer watches sold at exorbitant prices to people who could barely afford them.
As a watch enthusiast himself, Mark knew what makes an excellent watch and it worried him to see them spend hundreds of dollars on brands that were far from reliable.
“The designer stuff isn’t that lasting. They’re pushing the brand name and a lower price point, but they aren’t pushing high quality materials,” Mark said.
So he saw an opportunity: to create elegant timepieces that wouldn’t make people bankrupt. A product they can wear proudly and show off to friends. He went straight to his drawing pad and sketched the first designs of Hastings & Co watches.
Set on heavily investing in the quality of the watch, Mark quickly launched his first KickStarter campaign in 2015 to sell the first watches and gain feedback.
“We did 125% of our goal which was modest at the time, but we learned what the industry was all about and then built on that.”
All these watches and no time to fulfill customer orders.
Mark wasted no time and launched his second campaign in 2016 and his business took off.
“We were doing way more in volume, but it was hard to fulfill all these watches. It wasn’t something we could easily do ourselves. We all had day jobs and it wasn’t feasible to do on our own.”
Mark found Shotput and reached out to us. After listening to his concerns we personally on-boarded him, walked him through the entire process, and explained how things would work.
“It made this insurmountable task much more doable and cost-effective, Mark said.”
“Having you guys take care of the rest was great because that was a huge thing we didn’t have to worry about. We can now focus on what we do best: designing more watches. You guys have really done a lot.”
Hastings & Co is now in over 40 countries and has been featured in GQ, Esquire, and other publications. Mark’s working on another watch for the coming months and getting his products in front of more people.
