Steven and Jordan Neman started House of Léon as a DTC business that only the brave would attempt: furniture. Massive, bulky, made to order, and expensive, how could they apply DTC building blocks to something so far outside of the box? In this episode, Jason talks with Steven about how they got started and what they are learning along the way.

Jason and Steven begin by talking about what went into founding House of Léon and how they were able to work around the standard furniture manufacturing conventions that guarantee that almost everyone is paying the same prices for mostly identical pieces, no matter the branding. Instead Steven and his brother Jordan began by designing one-of-a-kind pieces and then found someone who would make them to order, always putting their vision first. Of course, the brand has only existed since 2021, so there have been lots of learning along the way - Jason and Steven get into what it takes to manage inventory when it is so large in size, how to manage it by doing market research ahead of time, and what Jason wishes he had learned when he was at the beginning of his founders journey.

Topics Discussed:

• Jason’s 56 page deck for ecommerce founders
• What changes for companies based on the size of what they sell - from tiny false eyelashes to sectional sofas
• House of Léon’s founder story
• How House of Léon was able to upended manufacturing’s hold on furniture pricing
• How House of Léon stands out: quality materials and excellent design
• How to avoid making products your customers don’t want
• Listening to your customers to make production choices
• Different inventory problems: overstock and stockout
• Different inventory solutions: conservative ordering and demand prediction
• Jason’s take on hiring early in the business life cycle

➡️ Building Blocks website: bbclass.co

🍍Jason’s twitter: https://twitter.com/EggrolI

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Steven’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-neman-93625488/

House of Leon instagram: https://www.instagram.com/houseofleon/