Ash & Hickory business plan

Ash & Hickory is an in-person event retailer with an e-commerce fallback offering premium, luxury and mid-tier home office furnishings, adjustable-height desks, office chairs, office stools and home office accessories.

Our build strategy is deliberately lean: we start small, turn inventory at regional retail home shows, and operate out of storage units until sales volume supports larger purchases and a bigger footprint. That keeps fixed costs low while we prove product-market fit on the floor, reinvest show proceeds into the next buy, and scale facilities and inventory only as revenue justifies it.

Our target customer is the upwardly mobile professional aged 30–50 with incomes above $80,000. In 2020, the U.S. was the most prominent home office furniture market in North America, and is projected to reach $691.2 million by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 8.3% from 2021 to 2030 according to Allied Market Research.

Our marketing and customer acquisition plan will leverage a premier e-commerce website and pop-up booths at home shows and conventions.

Ash & Hickory is founded by Jeff Petersen, a 20-year veteran in the e-commerce industry. He is a software engineer and furniture designer with experience in small business and enterprise e- commerce. He has a BFA in Industrial Design. Ash & Hickory is located in the North Fork Valley of western Colorado. The north fork valley is home to a workforce featuring many skilled designers, craftsmen and cabinet makers.

Ash & Hickory is committed to enhancing home offices with functional and stylish furniture.

Hybrid work made the home office permanent for millions of professionals, but the furniture that fills those rooms still falls into two weak extremes: disposable e-commerce sit-stand desks, or expensive office-dealer systems that most households never see or try. Ash & Hickory sits in the gap – design-forward, mid-to-premium adjustable furniture sold where buyers already invest in their homes.

Problem

Professionals aged 30–50 with strong household income are building multi-monitor, accessory-heavy workspaces, yet the market makes it hard to buy the right desk with confidence.

• Commodity online desks race to the bottom on price: thin tops, weak frames, poor cable management, and little ability to see or try the product before purchase.
• True premium options exist but are poorly marketed to mid-tier and luxury home buyers; they often live in B2B dealer channels, not in front of homeowners at the moment of remodel intent.
• Big-box and mass e-commerce treat the adjustable desk as a one-size SKU, not as the centerpiece of a workspace system (monitor arms, docks, mics, speakers, cable routing).
• Home-show attendees spend on remodeling and furniture but rarely meet a focused, design-led office brand that can close a high-ticket sit-stand sale on the floor.

Solution

Ash & Hickory designs and sells premium adjustable-height desks and complementary office pieces through a dual channel: high-touch home-show booths and a premier e-commerce site that continues the conversation after the floor closes.

• Product: Design-forward sit-stand desks and accessories positioned for mid-tier and luxury home offices – durable, ergonomic, and ready for multi-monitor setups.
• In-person proof: Pop-up booths at screened home shows so buyers can see finish, adjust height, and understand the system before they buy.
• Always-on storefront: E-commerce with QR-to-cart, post-show follow-up, and the same configurations shown on the floor.
• Regional then extended reach: Founder-led Rocky Mountain shows first; independent distributors and sales reps later to scale show coverage without proportional founder travel.

Ash & Hickory sells to professionals who are upgrading a home office or workplace setup – typically ages 30–50, household income above $80,000, and willing to pay for durable, design-forward sit-stand furniture rather than commodity desks.

We reach those buyers primarily in person. Home-show audiences skew toward homeowners investing in the house they already live in (remodel, furniture, and workspace), which matches our product better than general craft or outdoor markets.

Within that audience, tech professionals are especially inclined to invest in an organized, flexible workspace. They run multi-monitor setups and stack peripherals – monitor arms, microphone arms, speakers, device docks and holders, cable management, and related accessories – so a premium adjustable desk is the centerpiece of a system, not a standalone piece of furniture. That buyer tends to value ergonomics, cable clarity, and room to grow the rig, which supports both higher desk ticket sizes and add-on attachment sales at shows and online.

Targeting the right demographics and locations

Every show we consider is screened before we book. The goal is to put the booth only in markets where attendees are likely to be upgrading office or home-office space – not every available fair on the calendar.

• City & metro fit: Prefer growing Rocky Mountain metros and suburbs (e.g. Denver metro, Colorado Springs, Castle Rock, Northern Colorado, Grand Junction, Salt Lake, St. George) with strong homeownership and professional employment.
• Show type: Prioritize home shows, home & garden, and remodeling expos over craft, art-only, or outdoor festivals where premium office furniture is a poor fit.
• Audience demographics: Favor events that attract homeowners and higher-income households in the 30–50 professional band; deprioritize shows whose draw is primarily bargain, kids, or non-home categories.
• Upgrade intent: Look for remodeling, furniture, and lifestyle positioning that signals spend on home improvement and workspace – the buyer shopping for a better office, not a disposable desk.
• ROI gate: Run show costs, product mix, and projected sell-through in Retail Circus; only commit when the plan is a clear Go after fees and booth load-in costs.

This screen keeps acquisition spend focused on cities and rooms where our mid-tier and premium desks convert, and it feeds the in-person show slate summarized in Section 6.

The sit-stand and home-office category is crowded online and fragmented offline. Buyers can choose mass e-commerce marketplaces, specialist desk brands such as DeskHaus, big-box floor sets, or commercial dealer systems. Ash & Hickory competes by owning a clear lane: premium, complete workspace setups for the home office and executive space – not a single commodity desk SKU.

Competitive landscape

Differentiation

Ash & Hickory is a company focused on premium and complete workspace setups for the home office and executive space– the desk as the centerpiece of a designed system, not a standalone commodity.

• Complete setups: Desks paired with the attachments professionals actually use – monitor arms, cable management, docks, seating, and related accessories – so the sale is a workspace, not only a top and base.
• Premium finish and durability: Mid-to-luxury positioning against marketplace frames and big-box sets; quality that belongs in a home office or executive room.
• Home office + executive space: Same product story for residential hybrid work and elevated executive rooms – not pure commercial contract furniture and not disposable “WFH starter” desks.
• In-person proof at home shows: Buyers experience height, finish, and layout before they buy; e-commerce continues the same configuration after the show.
• Show-led brand in the Rocky Mountains: Systematic home-show GTM where general e-commerce and pure DTC competitors under-invest.

Versus DeskHaus and other specialist desk brands, we compete less on “another online desk” and more on complete premium rooms sold where homeowners already shop for the house. Versus general e-commerce, we refuse the race to the bottom: fewer SKUs, higher design intent, and a relationship that starts on the floor and finishes online.

While there are many cheap options for adjustable-height desks there are few premium options. And the few premium options are not marketed in a way to capture the mid-tier or luxury market.

Our strategy will be to focus on in-person engagement at the 40 home shows in the Rocky Mountain region. Attending shows will allow the company to quickly create a low-investment sales channel that will also build brand awareness.

In-Person marketing strategy

Primary customer acquisition is face-to-face at regional home shows (CO/UT), planned in Retail Circus with full ROI steps (show data, costs, products, go/no-go). Near-term cadence guesstimate: 1 show/month in Y1 (12/yr), 2/month in Y2 (24/yr), and 3/month in Y3 (36/yr). Economics scale from the Castle Rock pilot mix (14 units · $21,704 retail · $3,500 show cost each).

Source: Castle Rock Summer Home Show ROI (Appendix) rolled at the cadence above. Figures are planning guesstimates, not audited results. Example early slate still planned in Retail Circus (Salt Lake, St. George, Colorado Springs, Castle Rock, Denver, Northern Colorado, Grand Junction, etc.).

Customer Acquisition & E-commerce marketing

The website is the always-on storefront that continues the conversation after the show. In-person booths feed e-commerce with warm leads and one-tap paths to buy or configure the same products they saw on the floor.

• Hand out print and digital materials at every show with clear links to the Ash & Hickory website.
• Capture emails and phone numbers at the booth for post-show follow-up (quotes, restocks, and nearby delivery).
• Offer QR codes that open pre-filled carts or product configurations on the visitor’s phone so they can complete purchase later without re-entering the mix.
• Run disciplined lead follow-up: same-week outreach, show-specific offers, and CRM tagging by event so show traffic converts online after the floor closes.

Extended customer acquisition

Founder-run booths can only cover a limited number of shows each year. To grow beyond that calendar, Ash & Hickory will onboard independent distributors and sales representatives to run A&H product at home shows in their own territories.

We will recruit vendors who already work regional shows and negotiate commercial terms so they earn by selling A&H desks and accessories where they already have relationships and booth capacity. That extends brand presence and sell-through nationwide without requiring the founding team to travel every market, while keeping show economics tied to partners who are motivated to close sales in person.

Ash & Hickory will design premium adjustable-height desks and source complementary office furnishings, selling primarily through regional home shows with e-commerce as a supporting channel.

Products and inventory

• Design and sell premium adjustable-height desks, office furniture, and accessories.
• Manufacture desktops in-house; source OEM office chairs, stools, and accessories.
• Source raw materials and maintain inventory synced to the e-commerce site.

Sales channels

• Operate an e-commerce website as the always-on storefront and order channel.
• Deploy the Ash & Hickory pop-up store at regional home shows across the Rocky Mountain region.
• Plan show inventory against projected sell-through; return unsold units to the facility.

Facilities and fulfillment

• Run a combined facility for receiving, storage, desktop production, and distribution.
• Maintain vehicles for show travel and local fulfillment.
• Define shipping and logistics for e-commerce orders and show follow-up fulfillment.

Revenue grows from four channels working together: in-person home shows, e-commerce, accessories and attachment sales, and distribution. We ramp show volume over three years while the online storefront, add-on products, and onboarded distributors extend reach beyond what founder-run booths alone can cover. Figures below are planning guesstimates for that mix.

Revenue

Expenses and costs

Monthly operating expenses come from the Y1 / Y2 / Y3 tables in Operating costs: $6,220 / $12,250 / $17,073 per month. Event / show costs are modeled separately at $3,500 per show.

Profitability

Illustrative view: Castle Rock pilot (14 units · $13,777 GP after fees per show) rolled at Y1 cadence (12 shows). Full multi-year revenue is in the table above; one-time inventory/pop-up is excluded from the operating slice below.

Use of funds

How capital will be deployed. Align dollar amounts with Sources of funds and Funding Requirements (Section 9).

Sources of funds

Where capital comes from. Totals should match Use of funds.

Projected profit and loss

Income statement guesstimate from the revenue model above. COGS starts from the Castle Rock pilot product cost rate (32.6% of retail), then adds a 15% buffer (effective ~37.5%of revenue). Operating expenses use the fixed monthly P&L burn plus show costs at cadence.

Projected balance sheet

Cash: opening is founder equity ($20,000); Y1 adds SBA proceeds ($50,000) less known use of funds ($62,500), then each year adds operating income (approx.) and subtracts SBA debt service ($12,166/yr at 8.0% over 5 years). Long-term debt is remaining SBA principal (opening $0; loan starts Y1). Inventory starts at $40,000 and scales with revenue. PE&V: $0 opening, trailer $15,000 by Y1 end, then +$5,000/yr. Tow vehicle is leased (not capitalized).

SBA debt service (interest + principal): about $1,014/month ($12,166/year). Modeled interest expense: $3,694 / $2,991 / $2,229 in Y1–Y3.

Projected cash flow

Ending cash matches the balance sheet cash line. Y1 includes SBA draw and use-of-funds deployment; each year includes operating income less annual SBA debt service.

Capital is needed to purchase wholesale inventory, acquire vehicles, manufacture desktops, and secure a combined facility for storage and desktop production. Detail amounts under Use of funds and Sources of funds in Section 8; this section is the ask narrative.

• Bootstrap one-time expenses (seed): $65,000 (initial inventory + pop-up build) – finalize in Use of funds
• Monthly burn (seed): $6,220 / month
• Event expenses (seed): $3,500 per show
• Total funding ask: TBD (match Sources of funds)
• Use of proceeds summary: TBD (inventory, ops, shows, facility, working capital)

Modeled from the Ash & Hickory Retail Circus ROI plan for the Castle Rock Summer Home Show (August 14, 2026, Castle Rock, CO). Decision: Go. This pilot underpins the home-show strategy in Section 6 and the 12-show profitability view in Section 8.

Pilot event summary

Product mix at this show

How this connects to the plan

• One modeled show yields $21,704 in retail sales and $10,227 net profit after show cost – home shows are a sales channel, not only awareness.
• Average projected sale is $1,550 per unit, consistent with the $80k+ professional target in Section 1.
• Section 8 scales that mix to 12 / 24 / 36 shows (1→2→3 per month) with total revenue $336,200 / $621,898 / $916,015.
• Non-show streams (e-com, accessories, wholesale) grow +⅓ per year from Y1 seeds; monthly opex is $6,220 / $12,250 / $17,073 from the Y1–Y3 operating-cost tables.
• Rocky Mountain stretch capacity remains higher; this plan uses a deliberate cadence ramp rather than jumping to 40 shows immediately.

Source: Retail Circus event planning – Castle Rock Summer Home Show (97389032-c042-4491-ae8f-438c76eb2620). Figures computed from stored product mix, cost line items, and fee settings (1% platform + 2.9% + $0.30 card processing per projected sale).