Building a handcrafted watch-strap brand – Daniel Luczak of DaLuca Straps

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Hey there, entrepreneurs. My name is Sushant and welcome to Trep Talks. This is the show where I interview successful eCommerce entrepreneurs, business executives, and thought leaders, and ask them questions about their business story, and also dive deep into some of the strategies and tactics that they have used to start and grow their businesses.

And today I’m really excited to welcome Daniel Lu to the show. Daniel is the founder of DeLucas, which creates extremely well made and unique watch straps Since the beginning, the,

um, my intro I wrote,

uh, the business has now Extended. Sorry about that. It usually 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: doesn’t happen. No, no worries. Take your time. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Hey there, entrepreneurs. My name is Luhan and welcome to Trip Talks. This is the show where I interview successful e-commerce entrepreneurs, business executives, and thought leaders and ask them questions about their business story and also dive deep into some of the strategies and tactics that they have used to start and their businesses.

And today I’m really excited to welcome Daniel Luha to the show. Daniel is the founder of DeLuca Straps, which creates extremely well made and unique watch straps. The business has now expanded into other categories such as belts, wallets, hats, and t-shirts, some of the other items. And today I’m going ask Daniel a few questions about his preneur journey and some of the strategies and tactics that he had used to start to grow his business.

So thank you so much for joining me Trip Talks, Daniel, 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: really appreciate it. My, my pleasure. Thank you so much for having. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: So we were just talking and you were telling, telling me a little bit about yourself. Um, I’m very interested to know, you know, it’s a very specialized, a business watch straps. Can you a little bit about your, um, story, what were you doing before creating this business and what really motivated you to start 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: watch straps business?

Definitely. Yeah. It, it would be my pleasure. Um, we, um, it, it really started, um, as a hobby. It, it was back in 2009. Um, my entire life I’ve been, um, deeply infatuated, uh, and deeply in love with watches as a whole. So it was, you know, from Timex to SAOs to, um, tag Hoyer to, you know, eventually Rolex and Panerai and many other brands, um, that love of watches gradually increased.

And, um, at a certain point when I, when I purchased my first Panerai watch, uh, right around 2009, That’s when I was looking for aftermarket watch fans. And, um, I was not too happy with what I saw in the aftermarket, um, marketplace for, for aftermarket watch straps. And so that kind of led me to, you know, tinkering in my garage, uh, figuring out from the first step to, uh, to the last on how to make a watch strap from scratch.

And, uh, just kept doing that for a while until I really mastered the craft. And then that’s when, um, it kind of became a hobby and then eventually into a, a full fledged business, um, right around 2009. So it was really a love all the way to, uh, a business and that’s kinda what spurred it. There was no real, um, business plan to start.

It was just more the love of it and it kind of organically grew from the beginning. Um, so there was no official business plan or anything like that? It was, it was pretty simple. Uh, humble beginnings, I would say. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: So are you more of a, like a watch collector or That’s just, uh, the hobby part of it and the business is really around the scraps.

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: Yeah, the, the, the business we’ve kind of tinkered with, um, selling some pre-owned watches. Um, but for myself, I’m, I’m a definitely a watch collector, um, a watch lover, watch enthusiast. Um, but the business itself right now really centers around, uh, handmade leather goods that we’re trying to source, you know, manufacturer, um, for all the raw materials and then, you know, manufacture them here in San Diego, uh, within the USA obviously.

So that’s a big part of our business, uh, is kind of keeping it within the usa, uh, and by hand. And then, um, another, I would. Kind of big, uh, feature that, that we have versus some of our competitors is our, uh, turnaround time for the custom work. Um, you know, it could be four to six business days, four to eight business days.

I’ve seen some that are, you know, 12 weeks, 14 weeks plus ship time. Um, so there’s definitely a competitive edge there for us since we’re, um, so hands on with everything. Um, we have full control from start to finish, and so we can kind of really knock that down to a much quicker, um, turnaround time for, for custom, uh, leather, good products.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: And do you find that manufacturing these products yourself or, you know, um, did you say that it’s, uh, hand hand or is it like, uh, created through machines and is it, uh, is it like, is it easier and more profitable to create it yourself rather than, as you said, you know, source it, uh, or, you know, uh, and get it pre-made or something 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: and just telling it?

Yeah. Yeah, definitely. We, um, it’s really kind of our, um, uh, our business model, I guess is just to keep it, uh, handmade here in San Diego. So we, we tinkered a long time ago with trying to outsource it and, um, be a part of it in some ways or totally outsource it, but it just never really, um, it, it kind of changed.

The whole business itself from what we really wanted to send around, and that was manufacturing in the USA versus, you know, buying somebody else’s product and then stamping our, our logo on it. So, um, we do as much as we possibly can with, with manufacturing here and, um, doing everything the, the hard, long way.

So, um, I always joke around, I say if the power went out, um, we could still pretty much be in business except for shipping and maybe the hot stamps for, for our logo. So it’s, it’s kind of, that’s kind of how basic our manufacturing is. Uh, and hand done. It’s, you know, cutting it all by hand, uh, shaving it, gluing it, uh, hand stitching it, it’s completely hand done when we say hand done.

So it’s, um, that’s definitely I’d say one of the big factors of, um, why people purchase from us versus somebody else. Okay. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Um, so you said that you started in nine and you were looking fors for yourself and it, but now looking back, you know what, 12, 13, now I’m assuming that because the eCommerce has so much, there’s like, there’s a lot of options out there on Amazon and basically, uh, you know, not just leather straps, but all different kinds of straps.

What do you find, like, how has your business grown, uh, uh, on your own and also what do you find about the competition out there? How, how does, how do you, uh, keep your business going while there’s so many different options? 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: Yeah, that’s a great question. Um, that’s definitely one of the things that I noticed from early on.

Um, there was, there was much less competition early on, so maybe 2009 to maybe even 2013, 14, um, much less competition on Amazon. Um, organic search, you know, via Google. Um, used to be able to, um, like for Panerai straps, that was definitely one of our, um, big keywords early on. Um, because the target market of Panerai owners, um, were looking for Panerai straps, and so they would type it into Google and literally it might be panerai.com, uh, maybe a competitor and then us, you know, Top two or three or four, depending on what people are searching.

If it was watch straps or just straps after Panerai or whatnot, or bands. Um, so that eventually changed to like Panerai and then there would be like Amazon, Etsy, um, eBay, even eBay was starting to kind of buy up those keywords. And so we noticed, you know, even if you were like the first, um, essentially real, um, click or a link there, you’d still have like three or four ahead of you.

So you’d barely be on the bottom of the first page of Google and then if not you were second or third or, or whatever page. So, uh, it got way more competitive with the, the big marketplaces. They started kind of, at least from my perspective, really, um, taken those kind of niche keywords and um, spending money on ’em.

And so the little guys like us, uh, it just kind makes it harder to compete. And so, To kind of weather the storm of, uh, more competition. China, I think was even directly selling on some marketplaces. Um, so some people were, are going to China or wherever they’re going for manufacturing and those people would kind of cut them out of it and sell direct.

So, um, it’s definitely been tough. But, um, the, the one thing that we’ve tried to always do is, is make our version of a watch strap for what we want. It’s usually very simple. Um, it’s the highest quality materials possible, and then it’s made by hand, so there’s not really much to go wrong. It’s almost like an old vehicle or old, uh, truck or something with a very simple motor and, you know, there’s no electronic gadgets to go bad and you have to bring it in or get them to service, you know, one little microchip kind of thing.

It’s, it’s just very basic. It, it’s made to to last a very long amount of time. And, uh, I, I think. Probably get bored of our watch straps before they actually wear out. That’s kinda a joke. I always, um, you know, tell people. So, um, but, um, to weather that we, we’ve really, um, taken really good care of our customers.

So our customer service has always been extremely centric for us as well as like I admitted, uh, as well as I mentioned, uh, earlier, um, uh, the, the quality of the product. So we have a very quality, uh, product that we offer. The customer service. We, we do our best to, um, help out in any way we can. Um, and then I, I think through that we get a lot of repeat business and then we also get a lot of, uh, referral business.

And those are very critical for us because it’s expensive to, to acquire. Customers, but if you can obviously keep the same customers and they’re coming back and then they’re telling their friends, uh, that’s always been really important. Uh, and the higher end, um, watch world is, it’s pretty good size, but it’s definitely, you kind of get to know a lot of people pretty early on.

Um, so that’s what we did. And some, some clients you just, you know, you almost see ’em on a monthly basis. They’re always coming back, uh, swap a new watches, you know, need a new strap, getting bored of stuff, trying to match with different outfits, different times of the year, um, that type of thing. So, um, it’s, it’s been very, very interesting to see that progression over the years.

But I’d say that’s really what’s kind of kept us, um, afloat, especially over the last two years that was very, very challenging. And, um, uh, so that’s kinda what we did at the core to, to weather that storm. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: So a little bit about your target audience, it seems like. I don’t, um, to be honest, I don’t know much about the watch.

Um, Industry or, you know, people who are enthusiast for wearing watches and things like that. Can you share a little bit about, you know, the people who buy from you? Uh, and, and you could be one of, one of that persona, right? I mean, because you’re a watch collector, you probably understand quite a bit. Can you share like what, what is the charm of collecting watches?

Is it really about, you know, having a kinda brand, um, or, or a watch, you know, watch made by a certain watchmaker that is, you know, that gives a bit of pride of collecting? Or is it more of, you know, once you have a certain brand, it will, um, increase in value over time? And, you know, the goal is really to sell that watch in the future and, and, um, and, and make a profit.

Um, can you, can you take me into the mindset of, you know, a watch collector and specifically you mentioned one brand, um, is it this brand and, and other brands? Like how do you, how do you even personally. Think about watches and watch collection and is it really an investment? Is it really something that looks good on your hand?

And, um, and yeah. And yeah, a little bit about your customers also. 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: Yeah, I mean, our customers are, are literally zero to a hundred as far as, um, you know, on the, the scale of, of watch collectors, you’ll get some people that buy one watch. Um, they have it their entire life. They wear it every single day. They just need a utilitarian, um, essentially a watch strap that, that they can use.

And once it wears out, they’ll, they’ll come back and x number of years. Uh, then you have these collectors on the other side of the scale of, you know, they could have a hundred plus watches. They could have, you know, a million plus dollars in watches easily. Um, they could have FPU or Patek Philippe or, you know, lots of other kind of micro niche brands that they just made one of, or five of, or 10 of, and they’re, you know, hundred plus thousand type watches.

So you get that full scale. Um, then you get, um, Um, sorry, Eddie call coming in there. Um, so yeah, then, then you get the, um, you know, collectors that might have two or three watches have, you know, a g shock is their daily watch. They’ll have a, a luxury dress watch. Then they might have a, um, you know, like a third watch.

It’s just kind of like a, a omega or something. So you, you kinda get different collectors with different goals. And then you also get some collectors that, you know, have 15, 20 watches. Um, Perpetually buying watch straps. They’ll have a drawer full of watch, uh, straps or watch bands, maybe a hundred, 150 watch bands, and they’ll just swap ’em out two or three or four times a day, um, depending on their, their outfit.

And it’s just kind of a, a lifestyle type of, um, uh, thing for them. So, uh, there, there’s, we don’t judge. We just, we love, you know, all of our customers the same way, but we’re there to, um, help them in whatever their goal is. And that’s what’s really important for us. Uh, so we have to kind of learn what, what they want, what they’re going for, and then cater to their needs and, um, help, you know, if they need a, a basic brown or black watch strap, or if they want to go for something a little more fun with, you know, red or orange or yellow or something like that.

Uh, there’s different materials and, you know, if they’re in a different climate that’s real, um, hot, humid, sometimes leather’s a little bit tougher for them. They, they want more of an nylon or rubber. Um, so there’s little vari variations like that depending on who the client is. But I’d say for us, we have to kind of get to know our clients, um, help them for their specific.

Watch collecting or strap collecting needs and, uh, kind of go from there. But at the end of the day, it’s a really fun thing, uh, to be a watch collector, watch strap collector. Um, and so we try to keep, you know, that level of fun in purchasing it. And so having a quick turnaround time for, for the custom made products is, is one aspect of kind of getting them something where they’re still excited to receive it when they get it, uh, or, you know, working through that process where we might be 3000 miles away, but you can kind of really get to narrow things down pretty quickly over a call or uh, email.

So we’ve been pretty good at that as well. Um, but I, I would just say to summarize it, um, each person is different and, um, That’s really the big thing for collectors, you know, and like, I guess to touch on one other note, some people do collect watches for, um, you know, investment purposes. So they’ll purchase watches, you know, like for Rolex example as an example, you know, if you get it at retail right now, the market’s very hot for them.

So, um, that those type of, uh, purchases will be worth it instantly. More money protect Felipe, some of the other brands as well. So there’s some people that just purchase those solely for investments. While there’s other people, um, I’d say more myself, I really purchase for the love of it. Um, little, you know, one offhand made watches all the way, you know, to Rolex or Omega or Panai or whatever brand it might be.

Um, so I, I, I collect stuff that I, I wanna wear and really love and share shit, and, um, if I make money on it, that’s nice. If I lose a little bit of money, it doesn’t matter. It’s really just kind of, that’s my personal goal. But you get some people that are left or right of that and it’s all good, you know, whatever they, um, whatever they wanna kind of go for.

Um, that’s, that’s really the, um, uh, The thing that we’re there to help with is whatever their goal is. So hopefully 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: that answers that. Yeah, definitely. Um, I mean, it almost seems like that, you know, some people who collect like paintings and things like that, you know, they may have, some people would just want different paintings to, for, for their home or, you know, place those business to look good, but other people of course buy it as an investment.

Um, and definitely seems like some of these watch brands are very, um, high quality and high priced. And so there’s definitely a business aspect. There could be a business aspect to it also. I mean, similarly, like, there’s some people who actually collect sneakers and there’s actually a, you know, sneaker business out there.

You know, there’s an aftermarket, you know, you buy a branded sneaker and you sell it, uh, you know, afterwards, and there’s a big market for those kinda things. I’m very curious to know, like when you started this business, uh, you know, you should mentioned a little bit before that you were a, you’re also a musician and, you know, uh, what kind of investment, uh, you know, did you make your own personal investment to start the business?

Or, um, uh, you know, did, did it require a, a large investment? How do you learn about, you know, the whole, uh, you know, handwork of creating these, uh, scraps and, and, 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: and these product. Yeah, definitely. Um, I, while I have a love for music, um, I’m not technically a, you know, musician per se. I can bang on the drums and kind of, you know, have a, a basic beat, but that’s about it.

Um, okay, so I, I just have an extreme love of music from, um, having a little music studio when I was young to, to collecting vinyl and, you know, some tube gear, vintage gear, that type of, that type of stuff. Um, but for the, Uh, starting, you know, the, the starting cost of DeLuca, it was literally like a couple hundred dollars, bought the tools needed, um, spent a lot of time.

Time was really the, the big thing to learn the process of making, you know, leather goods and watch straps, kind of learning what I needed to learn, you know, to make the end quality products that, that we were going for. Um, so I would say not much, not much money. It was, you know, definitely my own money there, uh, when I was pretty young.

And, um, that kind of just slowly, slowly grew, you know, into what it is now. Um, but it was very organic, kind of slow in the beginning. I, I would say, cuz it was really just a hobby. And then that kind of, um, blossomed into, uh, to the, the business where it’s at now. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: So did you start selling, like initially, like the first grab that you sold, was it like through eBay et sea, or did you like create a website from the very.

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: Yeah, I, I, um, I didn’t have many, um, web skills, uh, HTML skills, you know, css, any of that. So I, I went for this, uh, free platform back then in 2009 called Weebly. They, they might still be around, uh, W E E B L Y. And so I took, um, I think it was very basic coding from PayPal, integrated that into like a homepage, um, on Weebly.

And then I would take, you know, pictures of our, our straps. They’re all one of a kind, and I would literally edit them very basically, uh, put ’em on the site, um, have whatever price they were and then people could just use PayPal, uh, to check out using PayPal or I think a creditor debit card at the time.

So it’s like, we didn’t really have any fees until something sold, but um, the website was I think free as well, and I made it myself. So it was about as bare bones as you could possibly get. We didn’t really get, um, you know, uh, all the data that we get now, um, for collecting all that. So it was a really.

Somebody places an order and you never really have any way to contact them again. Um, maybe there’s a phone number, an email or something, but it’s pretty bare bones. So now, um, you know, if people wanna join our newsletter or stay in touch, we try to really make, make an emphasis, uh, emphasis of that versus, you know, just kind of a checkout and that’s it, you know, a one and done kind of deal.

So, um, that, that was kind of the start. Really, really basic and, and bare bones. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: And, uh, in terms of marketing, can you share a little bit about how has your marketing evolved from the beginning? I’m assuming in the, initially it was really just organic. You put your product out there and anyone who was searching for it, you know, your, your website came up through seo and, and, you know, people ended up buying your product because high quality looks good and so forth.

But now obviously, uh, as you mentioned, there’s a lot more competition out there. Do you, are you spending money in advertising, like buying, uh, media or, you know, ads on Google Meta other places? Or is it still really completely organic and, um, so what, what is working really well for you in terms of customer acquisition?

And then once you have the customer acquisition, what are some of the things that you do to really 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: keep the. Yeah, so, um, we used to, oh, I mean, we, we had our, our physical location. We, um, we we’re spending thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars a month, um, for, you know, Google AdWords for Facebook ads.

Um, you can do lookalike customers on Facebook, um, funnel it down into sales. We, we got pretty deep into it at one point for a few years. And, um, we were even using a company called Ad Roll. Um, they retarget. So it was kind of all of that mixed in with blogs. Uh, some videos, uh, posted on, you know, very specific watch strap forums.

So we, we had a little, our fingers kind of dipped into a lot of different places. Um, but at the end of the day, um, we. We’re having so much overhead and it took so many sales just to kind of get our, our, um, head above water that, um, it kind of made sense for us to really look deep into everything and, and really get to, um, kind of an in-house production, um, more organic, take a little more time since we’re established, you know, really get the blogs rolling, um, post on different, you know, watch forums.

So we’ve kind of gone more towards an organic, um, approach lately, but there was a point where it was just money. A lot. A lot of money was flown out per month and, um, it kind of seemed good at the time, but once you really, um, dove deep into that, it was, it made more sense for us to kind of cut a lot of that overhead and really focus on what was giving us a good roi.

And it, it’s hard because it, it’s a niche market, almost like a niche of a niche market. Watches in general are, you know, pretty big like the Apple Watch and, you know, some of the other brands. But once you go to like these, you know, niche higher end watches, that’s already kind of. You know, small, and then we’re doing like handmade aftermarket watch straps for these smaller brands and models of watches.

So it’s, um, it’s always been an uphill battle, especially doing it in, you know, in San Diego and SoCal. Um, it’s a pretty tough place to be in business to be a, you know, small business at. So, um, it’s kind of a combination of all of that. I would, I would say. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: So at this point, is your business, um, I’m assuming it’s a, it’s a, a profit generating business, is it like, for the most part, you know, you have built your organic reach, you know, you’ve created, you know, your content and you’re getting consistent traffic organically, so you don’t have to worry, worry too much about doing advertising and so forth.

And so is it, at this point, is it really everything is kinda. Uh, automated, you know, you have your, you know, uh, workshop that builds this product and you have the website that brings, you know, consistent orders, whatever that number is. Uh, and you’re, you’d really don’t have to do much. Is it kinda a passive for you now, or require like a lot of still, and if yes, what, what kind of things you focus on as the entrepreneur, business owner, 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: uh, on your business?

Yeah. Yeah, I’d say, um, we, we definitely have things a little bit on autopilot for the most part, just cause, you know, we’ve been doing it for so long. But, uh, every day we’re, we’re, you know, advertising, doing posts on, on different watch forums. Um, we’re involved in some Facebook groups for, for various, you know, watch brands.

Um, and then also, um, uh, what else? Um, you know, answering emails, uh, following up with.

Hello. Just reaching out to you wanna kinda keep in touch with them and it almost goes past the, the business, you know, side of things where you, you’re really genuine and friends with some customers, it kind of turns into that. Um, which, which is really cool. Um, so yeah, we we’re kind of, kind of on autopilot, so to speak.

Um, just cause we’re so established, but we we’re always working in marketing and, um, you know, the work never ends. So I would definitely say there’s, there’s a good amount of work each day. Um, in, in that regard. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: In terms of sales channel, is your website, the primary sales channel? Do you also sell on marketplaces, Amazon, uh, other places And which are you selling all over the world or just North 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: America?

Yeah, so we, we ship, um, every day, uh, internationally, I would say, um, most of our orders are domestic here in the us. Uh, Canada is probably second, and then, um, maybe UK and, and parts of Europe would be third. Um, even Australia and Japan and other places like that, we get, we get orders as well from them. Um, but um, for sales channels, I’d say our website is, is definitely our strongest.

Um, at one point Amazon was, was pretty strong for us. Um, they have a program called FBA, fulfilled by Amazon, that you’re a Prime member, you can get stuff the same day, next day, two days. So, um, that, that was really good. But that’s gotten really competitive and there, there’s so many different sellers on there.

Um, but we are selling our own.

We’re the only ones that make our product. So that’s kind of the competitive advantage we have there. Um, so we, we definitely like our orders to go through our website because, you know, we’re, we’re not supporting one of the, the bigger, uh, you know, marketplaces where they’re getting a cut of it. We can obviously get the full amount, uh, for ourselves, which is, you know, better for, for the small businesses.

Um, but yeah, we, we sell, uh, Amazon, us, uh, Canada, uk, um, a little bit on Japan. Um, those are kinda the main ones. There’s so many new ones now that, you know, you can really, um, try to do ’em all if you want, but it’s just, it’s too much for little business to, to kind of handle all that. So we really focused on the us some in Canada, and then some in the uk.

So kinda our, our three main ones. Um, we also sell on Etsy, so, um, we have a little, you know, storefront or whatever you wanna call it there for, um, for. And then, um, at one point, you know, here locally in San Diego and we had our, our shop for about seven years. We’d have walkup customers to that. Um, but we also, um, there, there was farmers farmer markets or farmer’s markets here.

Um, so at one point we were doing five a week and having shop hours and manufacturing and, you know, employees were coming in and it just got pretty, pretty tough to handle. So we, we really scaled a lot of that down to, for many reasons, but almost for maintaining sanity at one point, . So, um, 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: so that was lot.

If you don’t mind me asking, how, how big, because I haven’t, in my research, I didn’t, I couldn’t find, you know, um, the, the side of your business. Uh, of course you’re talking about, you know, you have a workshop and employees and things like this. Um, if, if you don’t mind me asking, like, is it like. Uh, six figure business, seven figure business figure business.

Uh, would you be willing to share or like a volume to get a general idea of what, what kinda volume do you do? 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: Yeah. Um, we, I guess we keep our numbers, um, private, so, um, there’s not really, I guess much there, but we, we’ve always, um, kind of kept, um, um, sorry, another phone call was coming in there. Um, yeah, we, we’ve, we’ve always been under like 10 employees, so I would say, you know, we’ve never been a big business.

It’s always pretty small. Um, so, uh, maybe that’ll give you a little bit of an idea. Um, okay. You know, where we’re at. So we’re, we’re definitely a, a legitimate, uh, small business for sure. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: I mean, 10 employees still pretty decent. I would say a decent side, side business. It’s, uh, yeah. Um, what does your team look like?

Who, who, who is in the team? Who does what, what are you responsible for? What are other people doing? Can you share a little bit about 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: that? Yeah, definitely. Um, yeah, we, um, we have, uh, shipping and manufacturing. Um, and then I, I’ve always been, it’s been really a passion of myself for, um, staying as hands on as possible.

So I, I still try to answer calls and answer emails and, um, do the customer service side of things, so I get to know our, our clients really, really well. Um, and, and that’s a big deal for me. So, um, I, I’m definitely trying to do that. Um, yeah, we, we, we keep things pretty simple. I, I would say, um, and I meant, um, not that we have 10 now.

At one point we were getting close to there, and then now we’ve kind of, you know, not having our, um, physical shop anymore. We’ve kind of scaled it back a little bit. So, um, so we’re, we’re definitely, um, under there now, I would say kind of keeping things nice and tight with the. Sure it sense to, to keep on and all that.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Uh, now one interesting thing about your website is of course you offer free shipping, uh, $75 all over us, uh, um, and over one 50 is three global shipping, which is I guess really great. Cause, you know, given your, uh, products price point, it’s probably makes it easier for people to get free shipping. Can you share a little bit about your warehousing and shipping and, um, I’m assuming that given that these products are small, you know, you’re able to ship them in an envelope rather than a, a package.

Can you, can you talk a little bit about, you know, um, your shipping strategy and, and 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: warehou. Yeah, definitely. We, um, uh, I’d say most of our orders, uh, you know, you get one strap, it’s about two or three ounces, so it’s very, very, um, small. Uh, we get very heavy discounts with FedEx, so we, we tend to use FedEx for, um, anything expedited, whether it’s, you know, next day like standard or over, uh, standard or priority overnight or, uh, FedEx two day or, um, you know, go an international course as well.

So, uh, that, that’s kind of our, our main. Anything besides, you know, s p first class is really, uh, handed over to FedEx. Um, beyond that it’s really 2, 3, 4 ounces of, uh, weight for us p first class. So that’s, we keep things really simple for the shipping. Um, and then with the discounts we’re, we’re, it still costs us money and, you know, not making as much, but, um, we we’re gonna try to keep the free shipping as long as we can, just because, you know, you have to kinda stay competitive.

But, um, it, the shipping prices have definitely gone up, uh, over, you know, the past, um, few years especially, I’d say. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Definitely, um, how do you market to existing customers? Uh, so you acquired a customer. Do you find that, you know, a lot of your customers buy, you know, do repeat purchases and, you know, over time, how do you keep on engaged in your brand?

Uh, do you, do you do like email marketing, SMS marketing? You know, do you have new, kinda new designs of bands that come out and that, that you, uh, promote to your existing customers? And so, 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: Yeah, we, um, um, we, we definitely keep, keep the data as far as, um, you know, trying to get them over to our newsletter if they’re interested.

Um, uh, you know, in independent emails, um, obviously taking really good care of them, so they wanna come back. And then, uh, if they do send us photos, we can try to repost those on social media. So, um, we, we work really hard to, to try to keep, you know, as many of the customers around and wanting to come back to us as much as possible.

Um, so hopefully that’ll answer that a little bit. I, I was gonna say, um, my, my battery’s about to die. Is it possible to take a quick, um, like minute or two break just to plug it in, if that’s okay? Yeah, 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: definitely. Do you wanna disconnect and reconnect or, 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: oh, um, I might be able to, I think I might have a, um, little portable charger pack I can plug in and see if that helps.

Just to Yeah, yeah. No worries. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: No, take your, take your time. Yeah. 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: And, um, I are Do you edit this out or do you keep it very raw? I dunno. No. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Uh, usually it’s pretty raw. I mean, it’s, it’s not, uh, like, would you like to disconnect or, oh, um, I’m totally fine. Otherwise it’s not an issue. I could probably grab 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: it real fast just to, 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: um, yeah, yeah.

Go, go. I will. Uh, it’s, gimme a minute, so It’s all right. It’s all, yeah, 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: it’s all good. Yeah. I, it gonna last but it’s kind of gotten under 10%, so I’m getting I’ll, I’ll be right back.

Give me just a second. . 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: It’s all good. It’s, it’s,

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: Can you hear me 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: at all? I can hear you, yeah. Yeah. Okay. All good. 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: Um, I’m not able to hear through my, uh, headphones anymore, but, um hmm. Um,

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: so you, you don’t hear me? 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: I can hear you through the phone, but, um, not through the headphones. Okay.

Too. Sure. Well, that works. I can, I can look like I have headphones on. . Okay. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: There we go. I mean, those are, those are unique, unique headphones. Uh, 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: yeah, these are, uh, electrostatic headphones. Very different. Um, they’re made in Japan, I think in the nineties or earlier. So they’re very, um, uh, not on many people’s radars, but since I have a big love for, um, music and for weird sound system stuff, um, these are definitely one of the, um, um, unique things that I’ve, I’ve collected over the years.

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: So this, uh, this has a better audio quality as opposed to, let’s say, I mean, um, iPod is not, not, not really great quality, but uh, in general, like even with the microphone, like the wired microphone, you find that this is a better quality. 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: Yeah, that, that’s a very, uh, that’s a hot debate, you know, there, there’s, there’s so many people that have, uh, opinions on that.

So, uh, I don’t wanna get too detailed into that cause um, you know, it can start worse. But, um, yeah, these have a lot of detail. Um, some people even believe, you know, different cables will, you know, change the sound and the quality and, uh, allow more of the detail to, um, you know, to kind of come, come through.

So, um, I, I find the electrostatics really nice. Um, it’s just the type of headphone, um, and, uh, it’s really good for jazz, blues, classical, uh, that type of stuff, but it’s not super base heavy, so it’s a little more on the. Light, you know, light based side, I would say. But they’re, they’re really fun. If you haven’t tried it out, definitely.

Um, it’s a company called Stacks, SST X and, uh, it’s kind of fun to, uh, to check out the different brands of, of headphones. So this is one of them. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Cool. I’ll, I’ll check it out for sure. So would you, would you say that you’re primarily a dj or is that, that’s your real, the real passion and then this business is kinda supporting that passion or, um, or would you call yourself like an entrepreneur 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: first?

Um, definitely an entrepreneur first, but this is, um, my main,

definitely what I’m. Planning to do, you know, indefinitely. Um, but I, I mentioned earlier, I’m, I’m not sure if that was, you know, before we started or not. Um, I definitely have a new, uh, venture that, that it’s a tech startup, um, in the life sciences space. And I’m looking to, um, raise some capital for that and, and grow that business, see if it’ll take off or not.

But DeLuca will still be, you know, around indefinitely and, um, still a major passion for, for my life. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Would you be able to share like what your project it interesting that someone who’s, uh, you know, an eCommerce business life you don’t hear, uh, very frequently is do you have a background in life sciences or like, would you be able to share a little bit about what you’re doing?

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: Yeah, I, I, um, linked up with, um, uh, my, my business partner and he’s, um, very deep into it. And so, um, he sold a company previously. And so, um, uh, he’s, he’s really, you know, deep into it. I’m, I’m gonna learn, I’ve quickly learned, um, much about it. So, um, I think between us we’re gonna, you know, hopefully do pretty well with it.

But, um, definitely for myself, it’s, you know, I thought at some point I, I didn’t know how to make a leather good or you know, how to do certain things, and so you just, you have to start somewhere and what better time than now? Um, so it’s, it’s definitely gonna be a challenge. But, uh, you know, DeLuca’s, um, been amazing for the last 13 years or so.

Um, but it’s kind of fun to, to push myself as an entrepreneur and really be open to, um, to a new challenge. And so I think, um, I’m open to it. I’m, I’m in my, uh, my thirties and, um, now is a great time to, to try something new. Definitely. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: In terms social media, I see that you do have, uh, Instagram channel, you have, uh, YouTube.

Um, can you share a little bit about your social media strategy? Is it an acquisition channel for you or is it really just an awareness channel? Engagement channel? Do you or do you have as well? 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: Oh, um, yeah, so I guess social media for me personally, uh, you know, we’re, we’re kind of a basic old school, you know, production type company.

So social media to me is like a, you know, it’s like a necessary evil. Um, I personally, Wish it wasn’t there, but it is there and you can really capitalize on it. It just, you know, takes a lot of time. Um, so it, it’s, it’s a necessary, um,

I would say. Um, but yeah, we, we kind of, we focused mostly on Instagram. Uh, we did some videos for YouTube. Um, I think one video on it. We we’re kinda gearing up to, to do more with that, but I wouldn’t say you’ve really done anything with that so far. Um, but Instagram’s nice because, you know, visual, we get some cool photos.

Uh, we like to post them on there. Uh, let our, our customers kind of see what we’re doing. Um, the, the little 24 hour stories, I think they’re called, um, we like to post on there quite often just to kind of keep people engaged. But, um, mostly, you know, mostly it’s just taking care of our customers with good customer service.

That’s really the, the basic, um, aspect of, of things for us. But, um, we, we definitely have done the social media, but. It’s, we’re kind of hit or miss on it. We used to do it a lot, especially for Instagram, but been so busy lately that just haven’t kind of kept up with it as much as, as we wanted. Um, our blog though, really is, um, something that we’ve, we’ve tried to keep pretty consistent over.

Uh, it had a little bit of a slip maybe over the last year, but before that, and, and currently we’re, we’re trying to keep regular, um, posts there. So they’re, they’re kind of fun with different watch reviews and, um, things of that nature. Uh, sometimes just weird, you know, weird things will pop up in there too for, for different topics.

Um, try to get some more music, uh, type topics in there too for audio files, since that’s a passion of mine. But, uh, mostly watches and, you know, some watch straps, leather goods, things of that nature in the blog. Um, so cool. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: In every entrepreneur’s journey, there’s always mistakes made, lessons learned, uh, failures.

Um, what are one or two big, uh, lessons learned for you in your own entrepreneurship journey? Maybe you felt like, you know, something was a big failure and you learned something outta it. What can other entrepreneurs learn from your mistakes? 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: That’s a good one. Um, I think, I think early on, um, I’m not sure if it’s a mistake per se, but, um, I thought, you know, I, I was doing everything for manufacturing, the, the, every single product.

And then I was shipping it, I was doing customer service, I was ordering supplies, you know, et cetera, et cetera. I thought nobody, you know, I can’t trust anybody. Nobody can make a watch trap. Like I can’t. And so that kind of we’re still growing then very nicely, um, quite a bit. And, um, um, I just was kinda wearing myself.

Um, not being able to hire. Cause cuz I’m like, you know, mentally thinking nobody can really make a strap like I can. So once I was able to kind of let go of that call it maybe control, maybe, you know, whatever it might be, um, and really trust the process of, of hiring and training, um, et cetera, I thought that really allowed us to grow well, well beyond a one or two person kind of, um, company.

And, um, so I would definitely say find good people and then from there kind of build and, you know, keep ’em incentivized enough and find the right people that wanna be there for the right reason to, to stick with you and grow as a company through the ups and downs. And, um, I, I think that’s very important.

Um, so once I kind of let go personally with my issues, I was able to really grow and, um, I felt, you know, I could really focus on customer service or, you know, different aspects and really focus on that versus trying to wear 10 different hats. Doing everything myself. Cause I thought, you know, nobody can do what I can do.

So I, I think that’s probably, um, one of the things early on that I would kind of give as a tip to, to other entrepreneurs out there thinking nobody else can do it. Like you there, there’s some people that can do stuff, um, really well. And one other, one other thing I’d say is definitely find your weaknesses as an entrepreneur.

Um, nobody is 10 outta 10 on everything. So, you know, you might be 10 outta 10, eight outta 10, six outta 10, whatever. And then some things you’re like, one outta 10. Whatever those, those things are, uh, definitely find somebody to fill in those gaps who’s really strong at that, to 10, outta 10 for them. And then you can really, you know, be as strong as your, uh, weakest point.

And, um, that, that probably helps, you know, um, finding quality people’s well to, you know, if I’m not good at marketing, find somebody who’s. Really get in there and do that. Or photography. Or photography or whatever it might be. Um, somebody who’s really good at that to kind of jump in and, and, uh, do that if, you know, if the entrepreneur’s not 10 outta 10 on that.

So, 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: yeah. By the, by the way, your, your connection was like, was in and out. Can me, me? 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: Yeah, I can hear you now. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Okay. It’s better now. So now we’re going to move on to, um, by the way, a great point about delegation and finding the right people. Uh, we’re gonna now move on our rapid fire round. And in this round I’m gonna ask you a few quick questions and you have to answer them maybe in one word, two words, or a sentence.

So the first one is one book recommendation for entrepreneurs or business professionals and why? 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: Yeah, I saw that question.

Um, while I do like to read, um, I haven’t read as much. I was able to, um, a long time ago in my college days, I was able to, uh, go out to Zappos. Um, I had the pleasure of meeting Tony, um Oh, wow. Yeah. When he was still, still alive. So, um, when I was out there, he, he had books that he personally recommended. He had about, you know, a full book, book case of, um, bookshelf of them.

And there’s, you know, 20 or 30 copies of each book. And, um, I, I packed my bag with as many, uh, as I could. Um, but one of. But I, I read part of, not all of it was the, uh, art of the Start, um, but kinda a big book I think that people should read. I, I didn’t finish it all, so kind of recommending it, um, without finishing it, but it seems like a good book that people should read.

There’s so many other books. Um, I, I kind of just read for fun when I do read more than business books, um, I, I guess I’ve learned the hard way for, for business. You know, for the most part the school of hard knocks. More than reading about it, I’m more of a let’s go out and do it. Get your hands dirty type, uh, entrepreneur versus reading and thinking about it 20 different times and then doing something.

I’m more of a just jump right in. Let’s go try it. Oh, it fails, you know, pivot, move, smoke philosophy. But, um, you know, each person is, is different. And I know this is a horrible answer for a, a rapid fire question session, so I apologize. Apologize for No, no, 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: that’s, that’s, that’s good. There’s no, I mean, there’s no right or wrong answer and I, I kind agree with you.

I think there’s always, um, For entrepreneurs, you know, doing is always the way more than reading. You know, a true entrepreneur definitely, uh, does things, but I sometimes find that, you know, if you’re doing something and you’re trying to optimize a process of something like that, sometimes by reading, you know, an idea that you may not have thought about you, you’re trying to find a solution to a problem and you’re not able to find.

But some, someone else has thought about it a little bit better and you know, so it’s like in those kinda situations where you already have a very well defined problem, let’s say you’re trying to, you know, manage employees better or build a company culture or something like that, it’s like you can get an idea.

I think, I think it’s very difficult to translate an idea from a book to the real world, but sometimes if you get a. And you test on it, like you implement something you, you know, um, and you iterate on it over time, you can probably improve the processes. So I think personally, I think that, you know, you can probably get some new ideas from books that you may not have thought that, and then you can, uh, execute them.

Um, next question. An innovative product or idea in the current eCommerce retail or tech landscape that you feel excited about. 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: Um, and it was company too, right? 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Innovative product or idea? 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: Oh, product idea. Um hmm.

There, there was, um, it, it’s different I guess than that just cause I’m not, um, Thinking off the top of my head. But, uh, there, there’s a company I like that does some leather goods out of France that it’s, it’s nothing really innovative per se, but they’re kind of taking old, uh, styles and, um, redoing them.

And I, I, I kind of, I find it refreshing, um, even though it’s kind of vintage, old, really cool stuff that they’re doing. Um, but they’re, they’re kind of doing what we’re doing kind of on a, um, a different level and more for like bags and things like that. So it’s, it’s a little company called Blue Toof, uh, I think, let’s say pronounce it, um, somewhere in France.

So I, I bought a couple bags from them. I thought they’re pretty cool. Not innovative, really, you know, it’s just kind of doing stuff the old school way. But, um, I, I appreciated their, um, um, quality and everything quite a bit. So that’d be one of ’em, 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: definitely. Uh, a business or productivity tool or software that you would recommend or a productivity tool?

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: Um,

For me, I’m, I’m kind of simple. Um, my, when I feel overwhelmed with, with certain things, um, I like to get a ballpoint pen out and a piece of paper and write down a to-do list. And then every time I do something, I physically check it off and it kind of shows me, um, progress. And so instead of doing it on the phone or on the computer, I’ll literally have a printout of, of to do, you know, my to-do list.

And that really helps me get through, you know, when, when I have 50 different things to do, um, I can, I can really start seeing all the things I’ve, you know, done, the progress I’ve made. And, um, that’s just my little personal kind of quirky thing that, that I, I like to do. Um, you know, some people would think that’s, you know, kind of silly, but, um, that, that really helps me.

Productive, I would say. Cause sometimes I just get overwhelmed. I’m looking around and there’s a mountain of, you know, a pile of stuff that I need to do, and I’m like, where do I start? How do I get through all this? Um, so sometimes just keeping it simple and having a little to-do list is kind helpful, but hopefully helps.

I’m sure it’s a, 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: I think, I think I’ve heard a lot of successful entrepreneurs do that. Like, uh, just write down a list on a piece of paper. Like, do you, do you write a list down every day or the day before that you, that you’re trying to do the things for next day? Do you have a process 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: around that? Or, I, I should be doing that.

I really should be having a, like a to-do list every day. But I, I kind of, I kind of use it as my way to get out of feeling overwhelmed. So I’ll kind of break down what needs to be done. Sometimes I’ll just sit in a chair, uh, lounge it back, and then as things pop into my. Of things I need to do. I’m always kind of constantly thinking, this needs to be done.

Oh, I need to go do this. Oh, this needs to be done. And as those ideas kind of pop up organically, that’s when I write ’em down. And then instead of trying to remember 25 different things to do, you literally have, you know, 10 of ’em written down. Uh, maybe the other 10 or 15 will pop up, you know, over the next couple of hours.

And then as they do, I’m very conscious of writing ’em down. So it’s a very simple thing, but for me personally, it’s very effective. And, um, it’s kinda silly mentioning it, but it really helps. It kind of, you know, gets me out of feeling, uh, over, um, burden with, with tasks kind of breaks them down. And then as I finish one, I’ll just check it right off.

And then after, you know, four or five or six of ’em, I’m like, wow, I, I actually really have got a lot done and it kind of validates. You’re making progress versus deleting it, you know, in a digital format where you never see it again. And it’s, it’s kind of like, it’s just totally mike quirky little thing, but it, it is effective for myself.

So maybe, maybe someday somebody else will find, you know, some value in that. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Definitely. Uh, a startup or a business and e-commerce, retail tech that you think is currently doing great things. Uh, I know, I know you already mentioned that French, French business, but any, any other start of 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: business? There’s probably lots.

Um,

I, I’d say I, I think maybe that, that answer would kind of really fall into that one. I, I like, they haven’t been around that long and I really like their, their bags and, you know, little stuff they make. It’s, it’s just kind of a different leather company that, that’s kind of doing some cool stuff. Um, there’s so many cool companies out there.

Um, So I, I’d probably the, um, probably butchering the name. It’s French,

but, um, yeah, it’s a cool little company. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Okay. Uh, your, your internet keeps on going in and out, but last question, best business advice you received or you would give to other entrepreneurs? 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: Um, I recently, uh, I went to SDSU here in,

so, um, I had the pleasure, um, through, um, my, my business partner for the, the new, um, adventure. And he, he does kinda give my, uh, perspective on being an entrepreneur and, um, you know, just some little things. But the, the one thing I would have to say for entrepreneurs in general is, Maybe the two things would be, uh, the definition of every entrepreneur’s, you know, you know, some people it might be passing down a generation type business and that’s a success to them is longevity of that.

Some other people wanna start a tech startup and gonna become a billionaire. Other people just wanna, you know, own their own business or for themselves. So I’d say, um, pretty early on it, it would really help to define your own definition of success. Um, I think that’s, that’s really empowering for the, uh, individual entrepreneur cuz everybody’s really is different.

You know, I, I know, I know people that are, you know, high net worth all the way down to low, lower net worth and, you know, they all have different goals and, uh, definitions of success. So for, uh, for me, that’s really, um, pretty important. Um, I, I would say, um, and then, uh, also the path for each entrepreneur kind of goes with that is gonna be different too.

You’re going from A to B, you know, some people it’s gonna be a little more straight line. Other people, it’s gonna be the singing route. Very up and down, um, as far as, you know, daily, weekly, monthly, just on emotions and good things happening, and bad things happening. So, um, each person’s, you know, path to success is gonna be different and, um, it’s not, it’s not, you know, starting something and, you know, it gets successful overnight.

It’s really a grind that you’re just working and doing every single day, always thinking how you can improve. You know, the little things eventually add up to the big things. So, um, if you keep chipping away at it and, uh, working really hard, keep your head down and being genuine. You know, that, that would be another little thing.

I would say, um, be honest. Be honest to yourself, be honest to other people. Um, when you make connections with people, they should be from those I possibly can. Um, I believe in karma, so I think, uh, you do good things for other people that’ll eventually, hopefully come back to. Um, so I’m always, anyway I can help, uh, through advice or, um, other things.

I definitely try to do that as much as possible to be a good human 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: being. Definitely, I think are all great, uh, for entrepreneurs. I have, uh, just to one of the, that you said about initially about, you know, what that entrepreneurs think about which ideas to pursue, because I’ve been recently speaking with, uh, a lot of entrepreneurs.

I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit, and I think that. Every idea, you know, whether it’s a good idea or a bad idea, or, you know, whether it’s a half a million business, you know, half a million dollar business idea, or a 500 million business idea, or a 5 million business idea. I think, um, I see many times that entrepreneurs for whatever reason select the first idea that comes to them.

And, and maybe that’s the right thing because ideas, you know, successful business idea are probably not, you know, there, there’s so many ideas and, you know, not every idea is going get successful. I think, you know, a 500,000 business idea, it probably takes as much hard work effort, you know, mental power to get that business idea going and growing, uh, as it probably, you know, kind of an well and time and effort and hard work it takes to build like a really huge, big company.

Um, I mean, maybe I’m, I’m trying to over exaggerate, but I think any business takes so much time and effort and hard work and you know, when I talk to so many different entrepreneurs, I have started thinking about, you know, maybe, maybe it’s worth to think about many different ideas and think, you know, what, you know, what aligns with your values and, you know, what goals, goals in life.

Which, which is what I think what you were trying to say also. Um, but I think one, one of the things that, you know, I also want start a business. One of the things that always stops me is, you know, I think about an idea and I think maybe it’s a good idea, but you know, is it really, what is it, does it really align with my value of, you know, what my vision for life is?

Like, do I wanna to spend the next 10 years of my life building, let’s say a 1 million business, which is a great product business? You know, in a big scheme of things, it’s not really making a big change to, you know, humanity or something like that. So if, if your goal is really to make a difference to the world or something, you know, you’re probably going spend the same lot of time and effort and energy building a much bigger business or a much bigger vision as, as opposed to a smaller vision.

So it’s, it’s worth to think about that a little bit before, before going down a path. I mean, this, this is an idea that I’m, I’ve been thinking about. It would definitely, uh, like to know if you have any thoughts on that or, you know, do you agree, disagree? 

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: Yeah, definitely. Um, I, I would say, um, I’ve always been told, um, to do something you love and then the money will follow.

You know, it’s not always true. Sometimes stuff and money won’t follow. Um, but, you know, if you love, you know, the automotive industry or you love, um, you know, whatever it might be, manufacturing something or, you know, making clothing, uh, designing things, um, if that kind of aligns with what you love to do and you don’t really feel like it’s, you know, work, it’s kind of cliche.

Um, if you do something you love, it doesn’t feel like you worked, you know, a day in your life. But I, I think there’s some truth to that. Um, I also think you really need to find something that, you know, there’s an actual need in the marketplace and try to solve that problem. Um, I think with the, the new tech venture we’re, um, starting up, um, I think that that definitely solves the problem.

Uh, sometimes, you know, over complicating things is a problem, so if you can simplify things, um, I think that can add a lot of value out there. Um, so definitely do something you love, um, and then try to get it validated by people in the marketplace that are. , um, you know, in that, in that industry already, and run it by as many people as you can who you know are, are gonna have something valuable to say and take their opinion, um, you know, to heart.

Um, so I think all those things can definitely help out as well for, you know, that new idea and seeing if it’s good. You can also test the market too, um, as cheap as you can. Hopefully in most cases you can kind of test it. And, uh, maybe that’s more of a philosophy for myself is testing, pivoting, testing, pivoting, um, and keeping the overhead as low as you can.

But, you know, if you’re able to get funded properly and you have, you know, the luxury of not having to, to kind of keep the overhead low, then, then, you know, you can kind of learn things through, through that as well. 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: Definitely. Well, Daniel, thank you so much. We’re, we’re over six. Um, we’re over our time limit, but, uh, yeah, thank you so much for joining me today.

I think, uh, the, the, there were some issues with the audio, but really enjoyed speaking with you. Um, and thank you for sharing your story. Really appreciated it. Thank you for a little bit about your business strategies and tactics. Um, so yeah, thank you so much for joining me today at Trip Talks. If somebody wants to your products or check out your, uh, you know, um, products, what is the best way they can do that?

Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: Yeah, definitely directly through our website. It’s uh, DeLuca straps.com and it’s uh, d l u.com right there and we. Many other products, uh, on, on the website available. Um, so even if you’re not into, uh, to watches or watch straps, there’s, there’s still many other products on there that should be able to find, uh, something for yourself or potentially a gift, um, you know, for the coming holidays in a few months.

So, um, 

Sushant Misra of TrepTalks: yeah, definitely. Uh, great, great t-shirt. Uh, thank you. Thank you so much again, Danielle. Really appreciate your time. And thank you again for joining me at Trip Talks. Daniel Luczak of Daluca Straps: My pleasure. Thank you so much. Thank you again.