CaliConnected
About the Company
CaliConnected is an online headshop that offers a wide array of smoking accessories, including bongs, pipes, dab rigs, and vapes. Co-founded by Nassir Silwany and his business partner, the company emerged from a need to provide a reliable and well-stocked marketplace for cannabis enthusiasts. With a focus on e-commerce, the company has set itself apart by offering quality products and exceptional customer support. It holds over $40 million in stock, sourced from its warehouse and connected vendors. CaliConnected stands as one of the few major players in a niche market largely untouched by giant retailers like Amazon due to the fragile nature of its products.
Idea Behind Company
CaliConnected is an online headshop that offers a wide array of smoking accessories, including bongs, pipes, dab rigs, and vapes. Co-founded by Nassir Silwany and his business partner, the company emerged from a need to provide a reliable and well-stocked marketplace for cannabis enthusiasts. With a focus on e-commerce, the company has set itself apart by offering quality products and exceptional customer support. It holds over $40 million in stock, sourced from its warehouse and connected vendors. CaliConnected stands as one of the few major players in a niche market largely untouched by giant retailers like Amazon due to the fragile nature of its products.
Creating the Company
After acquiring the headshop, Nassir and his partner redesigned the business from the ground up. They revamped the logo, color scheme, and branding to better align with their vision. CaliConnected was built on Shopify, and they initially bootstrapped their inventory while seeking partnerships with larger online headshops to offer drop shipping. This enabled them to significantly increase their product offerings without holding large amounts of stock upfront. One major challenge they faced was securing a payment processor, as many financial institutions consider the cannabis industry high-risk. They also opted to implement a costly 3rd-party age verification system nationwide, which, although expensive, set them apart by ensuring compliance with emerging laws.
Launching the Business
CaliConnected officially launched after securing key partnerships and putting its processes in place. They reinvested profits into warehousing and inventory, while learning SEO techniques to drive organic traffic, as paid advertising is restricted in their industry. The team grew its domain authority, becoming one of the most trusted sources for smoking accessories online. Despite limited marketing options, the company focused on building strong SEO foundations and implemented customer retention strategies, including personalized handwritten thank-you cards for first-time buyers, facilitated by robots to maintain scalability as the business grew.
Earnings
Since its inception, CaliConnected has seen consistent growth, averaging $70,000 in monthly revenue and achieving $2 million in lifetime sales. The company operates with a gross margin of 31%, primarily through its online store, with 96% of sales generated via direct website traffic. CaliConnected partners with over 25 vendors and manages a vast inventory using DuoPlane, which enables it to offer a wide range of products without holding them all in-house. The business focuses on SEO and affiliate marketing, avoiding paid ads to keep customer acquisition costs low while maintaining steady profitability.
