Lavan Apparel - Down, But Not Out...
When I first started this business I didn’t know how to write a business plan or what market segmentation meant. All I knew was I loved riding my bike and thought it would be cool to design some t-shirts.
Fast forward nearly 10 years and I was out filming with the legendary Aaron Larouque in product I had designed from head to toe. Aaron also agreed to join Lavan to help with managing the team and other marketing stuff. I had just finished one of my most successful summers to date and had things rolling nicely for the next season. It looked like my dream of running a successful mountain bike clothing company was about to happen. Or so I thought…
![Photo by Mike Zinger]()
Let’s rewind a few years and start from the height of my business, which was just coming out of its best summer yet in 2011. I had formed great relations with my five existing international distributors and many new distributors and dealers were coming onboard for next year. Online sales were at its best and local bike shops were selling out of product in just a few days of receiving it. I had organized what I thought was one of the raddest mtb teams out there with guys like, Matty Miles and Karl Heldt from Silvia, Ace Hayden, Wink Grant, Jarrett Moore, Reece Wallace, Noah Brousseau and Brendan Howey. Even had Dylan Dunkerton and Steve Smith still repping when they were able too. The future was looking great for Lavan; so it seemed.
One request that kept coming up from a lot of my buyers was to develop a “kit” so I wouldn’t just be another “t-shirt” company. This would be a large undertaking and a big step for myself and Lavan, but I was excited for the challenge. To help facilitate the process I partnered with a designer from the snowboard industry to get my new kit ready for the following season.
![Photo by Mike Zinger]()
After a solid eight months of prototypes and sourcing out a new supplier I found one that seemed like a great fit to work with. Initial payment was made to start production and delivery looked to be in perfect time for next season. It wasn’t long after production started that another company that was partnered with my supplier didn’t pay their bill leaving them with no financial resources to finish mine. After a few years of dealing with PayPal, the chamber of commerce and other sourcing agents, I still haven’t received all of my product.
It became hard to check emails and reply to shops that had booked orders, when all I got were lies from my suppliers. This has killed any momentum Lavan had moving forward, and I have basically had to rebuild from the ground up. Just like in any sport there are trends, and if you aren’t on it; it passes by so fast.
Even though the future of Lavan looks a bit shaky at the moment, I’m not ready to throw in the towel. I have just lined up a great list of up and coming riders as well as established names like Dustin Guilding, Spencer Graf and returning I have Ace Hayden and Brendan Howey. It has definitely been a learning experience but the one thing that hasn’t changed is my passion for this sport. Huge thanks to all my dealers, distributors, team riders past and present and all of my customers!
- Travis Bilton
lavanapparel.com
Fast forward nearly 10 years and I was out filming with the legendary Aaron Larouque in product I had designed from head to toe. Aaron also agreed to join Lavan to help with managing the team and other marketing stuff. I had just finished one of my most successful summers to date and had things rolling nicely for the next season. It looked like my dream of running a successful mountain bike clothing company was about to happen. Or so I thought…
Let’s rewind a few years and start from the height of my business, which was just coming out of its best summer yet in 2011. I had formed great relations with my five existing international distributors and many new distributors and dealers were coming onboard for next year. Online sales were at its best and local bike shops were selling out of product in just a few days of receiving it. I had organized what I thought was one of the raddest mtb teams out there with guys like, Matty Miles and Karl Heldt from Silvia, Ace Hayden, Wink Grant, Jarrett Moore, Reece Wallace, Noah Brousseau and Brendan Howey. Even had Dylan Dunkerton and Steve Smith still repping when they were able too. The future was looking great for Lavan; so it seemed.
One request that kept coming up from a lot of my buyers was to develop a “kit” so I wouldn’t just be another “t-shirt” company. This would be a large undertaking and a big step for myself and Lavan, but I was excited for the challenge. To help facilitate the process I partnered with a designer from the snowboard industry to get my new kit ready for the following season.
After a solid eight months of prototypes and sourcing out a new supplier I found one that seemed like a great fit to work with. Initial payment was made to start production and delivery looked to be in perfect time for next season. It wasn’t long after production started that another company that was partnered with my supplier didn’t pay their bill leaving them with no financial resources to finish mine. After a few years of dealing with PayPal, the chamber of commerce and other sourcing agents, I still haven’t received all of my product.
It became hard to check emails and reply to shops that had booked orders, when all I got were lies from my suppliers. This has killed any momentum Lavan had moving forward, and I have basically had to rebuild from the ground up. Just like in any sport there are trends, and if you aren’t on it; it passes by so fast.
Even though the future of Lavan looks a bit shaky at the moment, I’m not ready to throw in the towel. I have just lined up a great list of up and coming riders as well as established names like Dustin Guilding, Spencer Graf and returning I have Ace Hayden and Brendan Howey. It has definitely been a learning experience but the one thing that hasn’t changed is my passion for this sport. Huge thanks to all my dealers, distributors, team riders past and present and all of my customers!
- Travis Bilton
lavanapparel.com
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It seems to have worked out alright for the Coastal Gravity Park, I've seen numorous businesses over the past year use it for some quick needed cash and if you can find proper support, it can be alot safer than traditional debt financing or even equity financing.
I know I'd be willing to contribute say 10-15$ in exchange for a tshirt & sticker from an early production run. I don't know what the margins are in the apparel industry, but if with a large enough production run you could raise say 10$ per every 2.50 spent.
I am not saying he should do things differently, but there are ways to minimize your exposure to fiscal fisting.