Watch Gnome of WatchGnome.com is a premier provider of watch battery replacement via mail. The company was built to provide customers with an easier & more affordable option for getting watch batteries changed. The Founders stumbled on the idea one day when they realized they each had watches that had stopped running, but didn’t have the time to deal with the hassle of going to a local jeweler or mall to get the batteries changed.
Projected Q3 Results
We are continuing to see strong growth in the watch battery replacement business and are currently on pace to beat 2016 projections. Our better than expected results are being driven by a number of items, but the most notable products are:
We have also been seeing strong repeat customer business as well. We are excited to see growth here for a number of reasons. First, it really helps build confidence that the service we offer is valuable and high quality – we are excited to build ongoing relationships with these customers. Second, it confirms a hypothesis that customers own multiple watches that need service and offers a larger market for the business. Along with this trend, we have also seen an increase in the number of reviews we are receiving as well as the quality of incoming reviews.
Future Growth
Since we are having good growth with our current marketing, sales, service & communication strategies we are going to continue to deepen those channels. In addition, we are exploring more product and service offers that may appeal to our customers and market. Many of these are actually requests from customers – again a positive sign when customers ask your business to offer them more.
Expiring Business Lines
In Q4 of 2015, Watch Gnome had expanded into the wooden watch sales market via multiple channels. It initially proved to be a good driver of top line growth during the holiday season, but slowed more than expected in Q1 – Q2 of 2016. We have decided not to pursue this strategy further because there are more efficient uses of capital for the business.