Every startup is a rollercoaster in its own right, but even with that benchmark in mind, our journey to this point has been winding in ways none of us could have predicted.
When we announced our first financing round and mission to bring durable, beautiful and accessible office furniture to growing teams back in November 2019, we (like most of the world) had no idea what was approaching.
At the time, we were focused on building an enterprise solution for teams furnishing on-premise space for dozens or hundreds of workers. When COVID-19 struck the US in March 2020, and offices began to shut down across the country, that market evaporated overnight. We went from a high water mark of nearly a million dollars of revenue per month to almost zero in a single week.
For a brief moment, we held out hope that COVID would be a temporary setback, that we’d be furnishing corporate offices again within a few months. It quickly became evident, however, that we weren't just undergoing a pandemic that we would eventually (albeit slowly and carefully) come out of; we were undergoing a once-in-a-lifetime shift in the way people work.
Faced with this new reality, we decided to forge ahead with a new path—transforming every facet of our business from product and marketing to fulfillment and logistics in order to sell directly to the millions of consumers now working from home.
Two years and a heroic effort from our team later, growth has never been stronger at Branch. In 2021, we reached over 50,000 customers with products like our best-selling Ergonomic Chair, which has sold out more than ten times and received rave reviews from customers, independent reviewers and ergonomists alike.
What's more, we've prioritized efficient and responsible growth, approaching net profitability and generating a SaaS-like $2M of revenue per employee despite unprecedented turbulence in supply chains and traditional DTC acquisition channels.
But we’re most proud of our feedback from customers. We love hearing from folks who sit, work and feel better because of our products and service, evidenced by our NPS and CSAT scores. It’s a reminder that many of us spend more time interacting with office furniture than any other product except our mattresses—in our case, you’re awake—and benefit tangibly from an inspiring and accessible work environment.