I love ShipMonk’s UI design and functionality. My favorite feature is the ability to quickly see inventory values at any point in time.

BeardKing‘s Story

In his young teens, Nicholas Galekovic was excited when he finally started growing facial hair. But he soon realized the lifelong responsibility of facial hair grooming was a messy and time-consuming task. “Getting yelled at as a teenager, by my mother, for leaving little hairs all over the sink, I figured there had to be a better way – other than putting down a towel or t-shirt when trimming – but there wasn’t,” said BEARD KING founder Nicholas Galekovic.

“One day, after few glasses of wine, the idea just hit me! I got my sketchbook out and started drawing the initial concept. Then I started cutting, gluing, and stapling any random material I could find to form the concept I had in my mind. After developing and using the product myself, it has become an essential tool that I use weekly.” And that’s how the Beard Bib was born.

In doing so, Galekovic successfully created a market niche for a product that hadn’t previously existed. Said Nicholas, “After I made the first prototype in my house, I took it to an Italian tailor to further develop the idea. Five prototypes and a few weeks later, I had a solid sample I could test. Once it became an essential tool that I couldn’t go without, I knew we had a winner. It created a sense of peace in my kingdom, and I just knew that others worldwide could benefit from the Beard Bib just as I was!”

Bootstrapped and driven, BEARD KING began shipping out of the founder’s 700-square-foot apartment – with inventory soon covering every available inch of his home. “I knew at the pace I was going, it wasn’t scalable and I needed to make a change to adapt to BEARD KING’S fast growth,” said Nicholas.

Nicholas knew he needed to hire a 3PL, and that’s where ShipMonk came in to support his growing kingdom. “Hiring a fulfillment center really helped me get all the inventory out and pump out the orders so I could get back to focusing on what got me here: creating content, videos, and marketing. That’s what I was good at, and not so much fulfilling and doing all those other things. I realized that, but I did it for so long that it drained me,” said Nicholas.

Nicholas adds, “I was just wearing too many hats, and I feel it’s important for entrepreneurs to recognize when they’re starting to juggle too much at once. My inventory needed a fulfillment center and couldn’t stay in my one-bedroom apartment. I also couldn’t be driving to the post office all day long for six hours back and forth. I needed to find a better way because things like that are what keep you behind and don’t allow you to focus on the things that you’re good at.”