Starting a microbrand.

Question 1-Probably not. There are already too many out there.

Question 2-Slim and none

Question 3-A broad background in business, good lawyers , financial advisers and money. lots and lots of money.

The watch market is highly competitive. You would need to ensure your product stands out from the crowd. Do a lot of market research. Find a niche. Make your design stand out and your pricing competitive.

Take a look at this on Fratello:

https://www.fratellowatches.com/building-a-watch-brand-follow-thomas-as-he-develops-a-watch-of-his-own/#gref

Thomas Van Straaten chronicled his experience doing this.

Imagine trying to start a cola company with Coca and Pepsi already having say 90-95% market share, what would be the chances of success? Now, swap cola for watches and ask your questions again! In short, more chance of me becoming POTUS (which as a Brit could never happen).

Just no.

I've had a few hobbies that have become my job/career and it completely kills the enjoyment of the hobby, because it becomes a money making enterprise and whatever you are selling just become commodities and profit margins become far more important than the object itself.

Plus all the other reasons the folks above have said !

Interesting questions. Though, just thinking about it, wouldn't Jody of JOMW be facing the same conditions (with his Erebus brand) as the OP would be if he started a microbrand? Jody portrays himself as an ordinary, working-class, family guy of no extraordinary means ... from what I can see, his target market is his Ewe Tube audience + some word-of-mouth ... which would (or should?) likely only make Erebus a small fish in a BIG pond?

So, why would Jody start up a microbrand if he didn't think he could make a (successful) go of it?

What sayeth the jury?!

His YouTube channel is pretty big and the audience tends to like good value watches. I think he has a much better starting point than many other micros.

Start the easy way by getting a hundred from Aliexpress with NH35 movements and your brand on the dial. Do a few youtube videos with target words in the title to review them. remember search engines respond to title targets. sell on Etsy and Facebook marketplace. get your friends to give reviews. If it takes off you can get an Alibaba factory to make a custom order just like the other Youtubers do.

Jody already had at that point a massive audience that will listen to him and, if the product is good, buy it, and a capitalist partner (“Mr. P”) on this venture. He explained a lot of it when he launched the Origin.

I have an idea of starting a picobrand. Basically I'd be doing an off the shelf case, custom dial, and possibly custom hands. If I go through with this I'd only be starting with a run of 10-20 watches with the hopes of breaking even.

The watch needs to be well made, priced competitively and have a unique selling point.

It’s a tough time…..the watch market is coming down and retailers are getting desperate again

I’d say it would be incredibly tough in that industry as their are microbrands everywhere. It’s not impossible if you have the drive and passion for watches and bring out appealing designs. But it’s all about your marketing and getting it out there for people to see!

If it’s your passion go for it, don’t let anyone put you off, just ensure your expectations are realistic at first!

And good luck if you try 👍🏻

Hmmm, very good points. Although, I think that his YT channel will bring people to the Erebus watches, but I doubt he will get rich from it.

A vision, an unusual design, and a decent amount of money. Most microbrands come and go. It often seems to help if they are an extension of an existing watch-related business.

The biggest trap is from my perspective to offer some that already exists or is generic. If one can't answer the question of why a product offering is better than an AliExpress brand, then there will be a problem.

Thank you. Some day I sure will.

True that.

I think you've nailed it and in my opinion the hardest thing is to bring something different because everything has already been done a few small things can be done but for true innovation one needs cash. Alot of it.

Very interesting.

Yeah. I am aware this happens with some people.

Try Kickstarter if you think you have something unique. A basic 3 hander with a NH movement isn’t gonna cut it.

If something remotely similar exists in Ali Express, then you have no chance. And you have near zero change of beating Chinese mushroom brands on price.

I think we’re past the market saturation point.