Supply Before Shark Tank
Shaving is a process that is done by men across the world since time immemorial and it is supposed to be done daily or something close to that. Unfortunately, it can be extremely time-consuming. More than just taking time, when it’s done in the wrong way a shave will leave you with cuts, bumps, burns, ingrown hairs, and more.
Some of the problems that people experience while shaving are because of poor shaving technique while others are simply due to a poor choice of tools. A bad blade comes with a host of problems. It might not only take longer to shave but also increase the chances of you developing the problems mentioned above such as burns and ingrown hairs.
Patrick and Jennifer Coddou were aware of this and they wanted to remedy this for themselves and others so that they could have smoother shaves. Patrick had been an aerospace engineer and was an avid shaving fan. He wanted to do nothing more than provide a better shaving experience and that is why he and his developed Supply razor blades.
Supply razors were all single-blade razors but they would cut just as smoothly as a triple-blade because they cut hair at the surface of the skin. They were also ejected and inserted in a way that made it unnecessary to touch the blade making it much safer to change blades.
Patrick and Jennifer had quit their jobs to start the business which had a good start given his experience as an engineer and razor reviewer. However, they still wanted some help to improve their performance in the market. That’s why they reached out to the sharks. They were featured on Shark Tank’s 6th episode of season 11.
Supply on Shark Tank
The founders of Supply, Patrick Coddou, and Jennifer Coddou, went to the show seeking $300,000 for 10% of the business. This gave it a valuation of $3,000,000. They started their presentation by showing the sharks the problems people faced when they were using regular razors. Patrick forgot some of the words in the presentation but Mark Cuban encouraged him to go on.
The Coddous then finished their presentation showing why their razor was better than anything in the market at that time. During their presentation, they had a play showing why a smooth, shaved face was important. They then invited the sharks to partner with them. They then gave the sharks some of their razors to review.
Lori was the first to speak. She said that the razor was quite heavy. Robert then asked what the razorblade was made of because it was really heavy. Patrick then said that it was made out of stainless steel and it was a single blade. Robert then asked when the razors that we know today were invented.
Patrick then said that multi-blade razors started in the 1970s before that, the single-blade razor was what men used. Daniel then said that he did not spend money on many things but he did spend on his razor blades and he had not found a single razor that did the job as efficiently. Patrick agreed and he then said that he had an illustration that illustrated that.
The premise of a multi-blade razor is that it lifts and cuts the hair beneath the surface of the skin. This was bad for many men because it was leading to ingrown hairs. Patrick said that a single blade cut just at the surface of the skin which made the shave just as close but it did not come with the risk. Patrick then said that fewer blades meant less irritation which meant fewer burns.
Mark Cuban then asked Patrick what made his 
razor blades differ from those in the market because there were so many. Patrick said that the first difference was the safety of the razor because of the way the blade was injected. Lori then asked him how he came up with the idea. Patrick said that he had been married for 9 years and his background was in aerospace engineering. Patrick was also a big fan of shaving.
Patrick had started the most visited site for shaving reviews and shaving research on the internet. Jennifer Coddou was a high school teacher at an all-girls public school. Patrick had spent more than a decade in the private sector. Patrick said that he used to sell stealth jets for a living. From the outside, it looked like he had everything but he used to be very dissatisfied with his job. He did not like that he had to wake up in the morning.
Patrick said that he hated waking up in the morning and he even went into a depression. His depression even affected his marriage and he became a person that he did not recognize. Robert said that the best thing about running a business is that you got to control your destiny.
Patrick said that at some point he decided to do something about his situation. Kevin then asked him about his sales. Patrick and Jennifer said that they expected to make $2,500,000 that year in sales.
The sharks were very impressed by the figure. Patrick then said that they did $1,000,000 in sales the previous year. Robert told them that their business was performing very well. Lori asked them how they made their sales. Patrick said that they had risked everything for the business to succeed.
Both Patrick and Jennifer had quit their jobs and invested $125,000 into the business which was all their savings. Their sales had grown due to online direct-to-consumer sales. Mark Cuban then asked them what their margins were and Patrick told him that they made profit margins of around 50%. Mark then asked them what the sales price of the product was.
Jennifer said that their sales price was $129 and the cost of goods landed was $28. However, there were plans for the cost of goods landed to be below $29 in about 2 months. Â Daniel Lubetzky then asked them who their competition was. Patrick said that he considered any face care product to be his competition. The average cost of an order was $110 and they were in a different league from the disposables.
Lori liked the product and even christened it the Cadillac of razors but she didn’t think it was the right investment for her, so she left. Daniel followed suit and said that his reason for leaving was that he could not see any way of adding any value to the business. Mark Cuban then left because he was loyal to the shaving package that he had. He had used it for more than 25 years. He, however, congratulated them for making Dallas, Texas proud.
Robert told them that he thought that their product was very good and he commended them for differentiating themselves from the rest. However, he did not make an offer immediately and so Kevin decided to make an offer. Kevin offered them $300,000 and wanted a $1.50 royalty and wanted 5% of the company for it.
Robert then offered them $300,000 for 15% of their business. Patrick then said that he was interested in both offers but he was concerned about the valuation of the company. He asked Robert if he was willing to give more for 15% of the business. Robert refused to change his offer.
Patrick and Jennifer then accepted Robert’s offer. Patrick said that royalty would have been a disaster for them because it would have occurred at a time when growth was very critical.
Supply Now in 2024 – The After Shark Tank Update
Supply got a deal from Robert, and business has been going great for them since then. The company still sells its products on its website and the line has expanded significantly since then. Its line of products now includes face scrub, moisturizer, and face wash. Supply is also now selling accessories and the accessories that it is now selling are the razor stand, travel case, travel stand, marble bowl, grip sleeve, and Everyday Dopp.
Supply was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. However, they had a lean operation and managed to move locations as lockdowns were imposed in various areas. As the pandemic eased up they managed to go back to regular business operations.
On social media, Supply has shown immense popularity. It has over 58,000 followers on Twitter and over 17,000 followers on Facebook. Its Tiktok page is its biggest page and it has over 490,000 followers on Tiktok which shows how popular the brand is.
The Razor has been rated as one of the top 10 razors in the market by Insider. Supply had realized revenue of around $5,000,000 before the owners gave up ownership of the business. Foundry took over the business in 2022. Patrick said that he had managed to increase profit margins to 75% before he gave up the business.
Everything seems to be going well for Supply even though the founder of the company is no longer running it. It is still located in Texas and continues to provide employment to the people in the region.
