Black Friday: What are we doing?

Every year around this time, people ask us what we're doing for Black Friday / Cyber Monday. Since we're a very transparent company, we're glad to share the ins and outs of small business with you, including this: Black Friday / Cyber Monday is not good for us or our customers.

Let me begin by saying that we deeply appreciate the support and enthusiasm you have for us, our business, and other small businesses. Our decision not to participate in the shark-feed called Black Friday doesn't mean we don't love and appreciate you.

If anything, I want you to understand that we're doing this especially because we appreciate you and want to be able to continue to provide you with the excellent products and service you have come to expect from Outlaw.

We're a small company trying to compete with much larger companies with much bigger purchasing power and much bigger budgets. Their annual in-office hand soap budget is probably bigger than what we made all last year! They're mass-producing infinite quantities of product, and we've got little teams handcrafting everything (that solid cologne was made in batches of just 15!).

It doesn't help us "make our numbers" to move a ton of product, because we can't just spin up a new batch of solid cologne or handmade soap when we run out... we just run out. So having a crazy discount sale puts everyone at a disadvantage: we can't keep enough stock because we've sold it at impossibly low prices, and people end up disappointed. No one wins.

We love the holidays

Just because we don't celebrate the specific days of BF/CM doesn't mean we don't sincerely appreciate the holidays... this time of year, we're all giving thoughtful gifts that (ideally) show that we have a special understanding of what that person would love and enjoy.

Whether that's giving Fire in the Hole Campfire Cologne to your buddy Mark, who you know absolutely loves camping and can't wait to get back to poking sticks into embers, or giving a Calamity Jane Soap and Lotion Set to your roommate Kim (because everyone wins, right?), the holidays are a perfect opportunity to say, "I love you. I see who you are and why you're special, and this reminds me of what makes you special." (usually in the company of friends and family)

As a small business, we make a lot of our annual revenue during this season. It's an important time both emotionally (when we spend time with our own friends and families) and financially (when we hopefully get a little runway to help us through the leaner January and February months).

We sincerely appreciate the care you have for us and our little business, and your understanding about our decision not to participate in BF/CM.