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Small Business Interview with Trackpack Coolers' Andrew Shelton

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

 I connected with Andrew Shelton from Trackpack Coolers through LinkedIn a few weeks ago when I first approached him about this interview.  In the interview below Andrew shares with us his unique insight and advice on everything from NASCAR to the best type of shopping cart to put on your small business website!

Tell us about Trackpack Coolers and who you focus on serving?

TrackPack Coolers LLC manufactures a unique backpack style beverage cooler that is capable of chilling and dispensing 20 “beverages” of your choice! Each TrackPack® Cooler includes three reusable freezer gel-packs, our proprietary dispensing frame, and a waterproof liner insert – so the frame can be removed and the cooler can be filled with just about anything, including ice. Our customers include tailgaters, race fans, music festival attendees, and many more…

How did you get started selling online?

The company was founded in 2006 and began retailing in early 2007; in the very beginning, our website retail channel was our ONLY point of sale. It was through our website that we were able to introduce our product to the consumer AND retail markets. We now have 5 different sales channels including retail, promotional, direct to customer, website drop-ship, and our own web retail site.

Where will Trackpack Coolers focus most of its energy in 2010?

2010 is going to be a significant growth year for our company. We are currently focused on a few key additions to our core product line, and we are also looking forward to announcing some important marketing and distribution partnerships.

If you had 2 lessons learned from your business that you could pass on to others about selling online, what are those?

Consider your customers at all times. We are constantly running tests on which landing pages, ad-words, or page layouts yield the best conversion ratings. We have found (through trial and error) that:

1. Retail sites should be as dynamic and tactical as possible – Less copy, more images and bullets.

2. Make checkout processes as convenient and easy as possible. The more pages someone has to click through, the greater the chances that you’ll end up with an abandoned cart!

As 2009 closes, what do you see as 2 new trends in your business this year?

1. There has been a considerable tightening in the competitiveness in the retail market model.

2. We quickly rebounded against traditional retail market constraints through more effective use of internet marketing– which has proven effective as we have seen a significant growth in our web-related sales model.

If your business/store could be any movie or movie character, what movie/movie character would it be and why?

Bob Mapplethorpe from Bottle Rocket (1996).

Dignan: Bob Mapplethorpe, potential get-away driver: go!
Bob: Well, I think there’s a real air of mystery about me.
Dignan: Don’t complicate it. Your number one strength is you have a car you can provide. Sell yourself! Start over. Ready, go!
Bob: Okay, alright. I’m a risk taker! I’m growin’ an entire crop of marijuana plants in my parents back yard! I think that shows…
Dignan: Wait, you’re growing an entire crop of marijuana in your back yard?
Bob: Dignan, look. I’m just not very good at this selling-yourself stuff, okay? So, I’m just gonna tell you the truth. I really wanna be a part of this team. And I’m the only one with a car.
Dignan: That’s good. That’s good. ‘Cause that hits me right here.

If Trackpack Coolers could have a dream spokesperson for your company who would it be and why?

That’s a tough question. We’ve put in a lot of time into marketing within the racing community (NASCAR) because many of the venues allow our coolers to be taken into the events. Additionally, the NASCAR fan base is consistently noted as one of the most brand-loyal followings in all of sporting events. Also, a race car driver is relatable to the function and uses of our product… cold beverages at a NASCAR race that can be accessed quickly.  So really, we’d have to say any of the major drivers… 

How do the folks at TrackPack Coolers let loose after a busy day working?

Let’s get serious; we make a cooler that dispenses 20 drinks… what’s a workday?

Do you have any parting thoughts for our readers and the small business community?

Ultimately, initiative is what distinguishes a successful business from someone with a great idea. The initiative to implement your idea comes from creativity, determination, and incremental goal setting. Ideas come to fruition through a series of small steps—it doesn’t all happen in a day. You just chip away, each daya little  at a time, while keeping the overall objective in mind. To keep the long-term goal in perspective, you can’t ride roller coasters…there are ups and downs, but consistency and tenacity is ultimately what gets you through. Most importantly: Don’t let anyone tell you no. You are your own best advocate and no one is going to do the work for you. Don’t let obstacles prevent your idea from ever being tested – you have to go out and do it.

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Archive for the ‘Featured’ Category

First Black Friday Report

Saturday, November 21st, 2009

Here’s the first KikScore report on the holiday shopping season. Based on our research, there should be an uptick in activity. What am I basing this on? The fact that DC airport is packed today and my flight was oversold. Also, I’m sitting on a plane right now and have asked a couple of folks if they are going to spend more money this year. They didn’t really respond to me, but I sensed that they plan on buying more. Except the weird guy in 10A. The only thing he looks like he’s in the market for is a shovel for all the bodies he likely has stashed in his basement.
Ok. Not very throrough research, but it will get better. Also, feel free to send in your non-scientific polling/economic data.

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Diary of a Tech Start-Up: Disagreement Over Product Features

Friday, November 13th, 2009

If you’re doing a start-up with other people, I guess it’s unavoidable to have disagreements with your team. If you’re lucky, the biggest disagreements center around where to go for happy hour. Personally, I like Chili’s. I know it’s not necessarily cool, but the chips and salsa is really good (very salty chips) and the margaritas are big (and unlike I’ve mentioned in previous postings, the glasses are very easy to hold onto). It’s also very unlikely that you’ll run into your competitors at Chili’s — as these weak-kneed companies can’t buck peer pressure and social convention and won’t be caught dead there.

Recently, our team has been caught up in a larger kerfuffle.  It centers around how we promote and/or explain the shopper experience that can be expected on our customer sites — via a numeric score. Some of the customer feedback is the concern that shoppers may equate an 820 (which is a really high score) with a “low B” rating (which would get you valedictorian status at my high school).

A contingent of our team believes that, because we already spell out the guidance of the numerical rating (“great experience”, “good experience” and “poor experience” expected), to remove customer confusion, we could eliminate the actual score. Other team members argue that the numeric rating shows the precision and sophistication of our scoring model (see posting on our algorithm), and it is something that our customers need to accept.  Take a look at one of our customer’s sites, at www.17thandriggs.com to see the current version of the user experience.

We’re working through how to please all the team members, but this disagreement doesn’t seem to have a clear mid-point. I guess that’s the point of working with the right team. If everyone has an opportunity to express their views, whether the decision goes the way a particular team member wants really isn’t important. It’s that there’s an underlying level belief that ultimately, with enough deliberation, the group can reach the best decision for the business and the customer.

On the other hand, instead of thoughtful deliberation, we’re also thinking of implementing Mixed Martial Arts in our team meetings. I may have a bit of a paunch, but I have a pretty good reach.

Feel free to give us your opinion in the comments below on your feedback on this issue.

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Diary of a Tech Start-Up: Funding…Dance with the Devil or Not

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

One of the ongoing debates going on with our tech start-up is whether to seek outside investment or not.  The first point that is often made by one of us is that it is too early to be thinking about it.  Heck, we just launched the beta version of this site and are now getting our first customers…isn’t it a bit presumptive to think about asking for $$ from a stranger? 

This scenario reminds me of a scene in the greatest movie of all time — Waiting for Guffman.  Corky St. Clair is charged with directing a play about Blaine, Missourri’s history.  Corky approaches the City Council and states that the ONLY thing he needs to throw the play is “one hundred thousand dollars”.  When informed that the City’s annual budget is $100k and that includes swimming, Corky responds “there won’t be swimming in my play.”  How does this tie into our discussion for asking for outside investment?  Well, maybe it doesn’t but it’s a great movie.  No, my point is that we before we seek out investment, we need to clearly establish a need for our services and that we have a competent management team that will know what to do with the money if/when we do get it.  We can’t go in all Corky St. Clair, not having a clue as to what is a reasonable amount of investment and establish what we are going to do with the money will have a strong likelihood of showing a return on investment.  See Corky asking for money

Now comes a more pressing question.  Assuming the time is right (and we don’t ask for the entire City Council’s budget), do we seek out investment at all?  As Raj pointed out in an earlier post, there are now a lot of tools that exist that make starting and running a business very inexpensive.  To date, we’ve been self-funding KikScore and we’re pretty good at stretching a dollar.  While it would be great to have a swank office and have the ability to throw an awesome holiday party with a DJ, it may not be worth the equity and control we’d have to give up (it really depends on how good the DJ is).  We’re not alone in our thinking.  According to a recent posting on www.rockyradar.com — 84% of Inc’s Fastest Growing 500 companies never received venture capital (though many did likely get angel financing). 

Several of us on the KikScore team have been part of venture-backed companies previously.  Some of us had good experiences, some of us did not.  So, as we continue to grow our customer base and improve upon our core product, the debate within KikScore will rage — do we continue to self-fund or do we seek professional investment.  We’ll keep you updated (and we’d love to hear your thoughts about it).

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