Today we’d like to introduce you to Derek Tillotson.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Summer of 2018 I was lying in a regular hammock, trying to get comfortable, when I had this idea… “What if my head and feet were lower, and I didn’t have pressure on my sides?” I opened a notebook and started to sketch what ultimately became the Haven Tent.
My professional life to that point had been spent in marketing and sales. A year earlier my wife and I had sold our house to travel full-time with our 3 young children (ages 6, 4, and 1). We visited 38 countries in 54 weeks, creating content for hotels and activity companies under the handle @fivetakeflight. It was the busiest and best year of my life.
With our big trip coming to an end, here I was with an idea for a hammock! With no experience in product design, I almost quit right there. But each New Year my wife and I pick a theme, and 2018 was our Year of Creativity. With that in mind, I committed myself to make a prototype.
And… it worked! The design would have to be improved but right from that first prototype, I knew we had something special. The Haven Tent wasn’t just comfortable for a hammock or a tent, it brought the comforts of home to the outdoors. As the product developed, I became more and more excited to introduce it to the world.
We launched Haven Tents on Kickstarter in September 2019 where we found our first 300 customers and committed to our first production run. When the first pallets of tents arrived at our warehouse, I panicked thinking, “We’re never going to sell this many tents…” Then the pandemic hit.
Ironically, as the world locked down, the outdoor industry took off and Haven Tents was caught in excitement. Our product was unique, the message resonated, and people started buying our hammocks. As tents started to ship, I became nervous that with my background in marketing I had oversold our product. That reality wouldn’t match their expectations. But people loved it, and I started to see my design pop up on social media all over the world.
This summer marks 4 years on this journey. We now have three versions of our patented hammock tent which are being sold all over the world. It has been so rewarding to see this idea out making sleep the highlight of camping.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Every step of this process has been new and has required growth. This is my first experience building a product or business from the ground up. Every day has an unexpected challenge.
Weeks after launching our first Kickstarter campaign I started seeing our images and videos show up in scam ads. Someone was claiming to sell our product at a fraction of the price. At first, I thought they somehow knocked off our tent and were somehow shipping before I could!
After a closer look, I learned that it was actually a bait and switch scam. They were using our marketing materials to collect orders. Then, they would ship a cheap regular hammock or something else that was not our product. And it wasn’t just one site.
In the first year, I personally reported and shut down more than 200 websites running the same scheme. It took a lot of time and energy and unfortunately, a lot of people were caught up in the scam.
At the same time, the scammers were putting thousands of dollars (that we didn’t have) into advertising. Many people saw the scams for what they were and came looking for us. It was a hardship but we turned it to our advantage.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I think a lot of people who love the outdoors dream about ways to make their passion their day job. Although there is a lot of office, email, and warehouse work to be done, Haven Tents has absolutely created opportunities for me to enjoy the outdoors.
I’ve done Haven adventures in Yellowstone, Iceland, Hawaii, and all over Utah. Every trip gives me an opportunity to create content for Haven Tents while enjoying these beautiful places. I am always the first to use and abuse our products so my customers can explore with confidence.
hyperlinks for the locations above:
Yellowstone – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTP0ASFsSJg
Iceland – https://youtu.be/1gHNlB-0qes
Hawaii – https://youtu.be/DrZtYonhjI4
Utah – https://youtu.be/G0v6Esgm-3I
How do you define success?
This is a great question. It is easy to lose sight of what is really important when you are doing everything you can to grow a business. In my professional life, my focus has always been on family. My kids are growing so fast and I want to hold onto these moments for as long as I can.
I’ll always be a dad and husband first. My business should support me in that role. My kids are still too young for the big Haven adventures but soon they’ll be right there with me. Creating moments, I’ll treasure forever.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.HavenTents.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haventents/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/haventents
