Whats my next step

**hotbuckles** · 07-05-2008 04:16 PM

After 2.5 years and over 2 million in revenue I have brought my company HotBuckles.com to the top of it's game selling belt buckles.

I am looking to expand but i think i am in sorth of a rut and i don't exactly know where to go from here.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

**KKoher** · 07-09-2008 05:33 PM

Hey Nari & Meg...
First off I wanted to tell you guys that you have a great business...very easy to work with, excellent prices, and very fast processing...every order I have received in the past has been no less than excellent quality. If you are looking to expand you should check out frenchcraft.com...I'm not sure if you can access their site or not, you will probably need wholesale access....if not check out my website, Black Heart Inc. ...everything in the belts or belt buckles section that is not from you guys is from them....They have a much wider selection with belts...over 200+ styles I believe....as far as buckles go, they don't have as many as you guys do, but I really like most of their stuff..and we have recently placed an order with them for buckles. We of course will still be ordering with you guys...but you should def. know that they pose as a huge competition to you...and if you are looking to expand you should follow their lead and maybe go more into belts and other accessories...they also carry wallets, hats and men's tee shirts which you can find on our site as well...Best of luck to you, and thanks for being such a great wholesale company.

**Aletheides** · 07-12-2008 02:49 AM

I noticed you guys were #2 on Google, which is pretty amazing.

It's hard to judge where you can go because you haven't really revealed where exactly you are.

I imagine retail is going pretty strong for you, but how is the wholesale side of your business going? This might be an area you want to improve and focus on.

While you've dominated this niche by being the place to get belt buckles, you've also cornered yourself. This is unfortunately one of the downsides to niche marketing - it's difficult to expand into other areas.

If I were you I would take the same formula you used to make this site so successful and apply it to a new business.

Sometimes niches can hit an earnings plateau, and you may have hit your plateau.

**vstar** · 07-12-2008 12:28 PM

getting your website to the top of google for every "Belt buckle related search term" would certainly boost revenue

**hotbuckles** · 07-12-2008 02:47 PM

Originally Posted by KKoher

Hey Nari & Meg...
First off I wanted to tell you guys that you have a great business...very easy to work with, excellent prices, and very fast processing...every order I have received in the past has been no less than excellent quality. If you are looking to expand you should check out frenchcraft.com...I'm not sure if you can access their site or not, you will probably need wholesale access....if not check out my website, Black Heart Inc. ...everything in the belts or belt buckles section that is not from you guys is from them....They have a much wider selection with belts...over 200+ styles I believe....as far as buckles go, they don't have as many as you guys do, but I really like most of their stuff..and we have recently placed an order with them for buckles. We of course will still be ordering with you guys...but you should def. know that they pose as a huge competition to you...and if you are looking to expand you should follow their lead and maybe go more into belts and other accessories...they also carry wallets, hats and men's tee shirts which you can find on our site as well...Best of luck to you, and thanks for being such a great wholesale company.

Hey Katie,

Thanks alot for that... I have been working with french craft for the past year and do carry many of their items for our etail site.
We have decided in the past few weeks about opening a new clothing line that will launch in about 1-2 months.

HotBuckles.com is mostly about buckles and thats what we try to distinguise ourselves at, with the help of loyal customer like your self we can grow beyond imagination. I just wished you bought more buckles from us instead of FC... LOL

Thanks,
Nir

**hotbuckles** · 07-12-2008 02:51 PM

Originally Posted by Aletheides

I noticed you guys were #2 on Google, which is pretty amazing.

It's hard to judge where you can go because you haven't really revealed where exactly you are.

I imagine retail is going pretty strong for you, but how is the wholesale side of your business going? This might be an area you want to improve and focus on.

While you've dominated this niche by being the place to get belt buckles, you've also cornered yourself. This is unfortunately one of the downsides to niche marketing - it's difficult to expand into other areas.

If I were you I would take the same formula you used to make this site so successful and apply it to a new business.

Sometimes niches can hit an earnings plateau, and you may have hit your plateau.

I certainly did hit a sort of plateau in my niche, you are defintely right....

We are also one of the strong leading sites in wholesale as well...

So we are expending our retail side of the business as of now and adding many new fashion accessories hoping to drive sales up.

But as always we gurantee our quality and will always sell high end items.