This Reg CF offering is made available through Community Bond, LLC.
This investment is speculative, illiquid, and involves a high degree of risk, including the possible loss of your entire investment.
About
Combat Flip Flops - Business, Not Bullets
Veteran-owned footwear and lifestyle brand using manufacturing to turn areas of conflict into places of hope and prosperity
We are a Veteran-Owned business turning areas of conflict into places of hope and prosperity. With every product we craft, we're changing the narrative – fighting against the 'Forever Wars' by creating lasting jobs and peace. We are a positive example of America in today’s conflict areas. We share the stories of success that are contrary to main stream media. Combat Flip Flops demonstrates the most upstanding examples of those that live the mantra, “Be a Better Human.” Small business owners in conflict zones are THE leaders in their communities. Over the past 12 years of operations, these leaders perpetually improve the quality of their products, commitment to inclusion of the oppressed, and relentlessly work through problems to deliver. |
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Use of Proceeds
The number one historical problem for Combat Flip Flops has been inventory due to available operating capital. Due to the manufacturing locations and focus on direct-to-consumer web sales, financing institutions were unwilling to support our inventory needs. Without that kind of financial backing, Combat Flip Flops used all available cash to fund production and ship to the Combat Flip Flops warehouse. Products quickly sold through, then Combat Flip Flops had to wait another 30-60 days for a delivery. During this period of zero inventory, Combat Flip Flops would heavily discount product with a “pre-sale” model–securing the sale, yet sacrificing profit margin. |
Ownership Structure & Rights of Securities
The Company is authorized to issue two classes of Interests, Common Units and Series Seed Preferred Units, with each Unit representing an equal share in the Company. Series Seed Preferred Units were created in March of 2016 to facilitate the investment by Shark Tank’s Mark Cuban (as seen on Shark Tank Episode 719). Preferred Units are designed to represent the same interest in the Company as Common Units, but have certain enhanced rights in other areas, including but not limited to on liquidation (Series Seed Preferred Units receive their original investment back first), the right to appoint a director to the Company’s board, and enhanced rights to information from the Company and inspection of Company records. The Company is also required to get majority written consent from the Series Seed Preferred Unit Holders prior to engaging in various major actions, including but not limited to the raising of additional capital, and issuing of additional units (including options), liquidation of the Company, declaring of distributions, changing the officers of the Company or their compensation, engage in certain transactions with Affiliates of the Company. The Company’s total authorized units consist of 10,555,565 total Units (just under 20% of which are Series Seed Preferred Units) of which 10,312,500 Units are currently issued and outstanding. As of the date of this offering, our largest members, Matthew Griffin, Andy Sewrey, and Donald Lee collectively own 6,650,145 Common Units or approximately 63.76% of our units currently outstanding. The Common Units being sold in this offering will constitute up to 1.2% of the Company (if the Maximum Offering Amount is sold). Each investor’s stake in a company will be diluted in the future due to the company issuing additional units. |
Risks & Disclosures
A crowdfunding investment involves risk. You should not invest any funds in this offering unless you can afford to lose your entire investment. In making an investment decision, Investors must rely on their own examination of the issuer and the terms of the offering, including the merits and risks involved. These Securities have not been recommended or approved by any federal or state securities commission or regulatory authority. The Securities should only be purchased by persons who can afford to lose all their investment. Before making an investment decision with respect to the Securities, we urge you to carefully consider the risk factors described set forth in the Section entitled “Risk Factors” in our Form C. For example, the Company’s business model involves intentionally manufacturing its products in unstable war zones, which creates substantial supply chain challenges which the Company may not be able to overcome. These products are at an unusually high risk of being stolen, set on fire, lost in transit, or held indefinitely. Products which are destroyed or held up cannot be sold, which may negatively impact the profitability of the Company and may also restrict the Company’s ability to purchase new products from its manufacturers, resulting in fewer products for sale, higher manufacturing costs, and longer wait times for consumers, all of which would negatively impact the Company, and which could cause an Investor to lose all or a portion of their investment. |
Previous Funding
Combat Flip Flops previously raised funding for operations starting in 2014. |
2014: Two (2) Angel investors for $18,000. Common Shares |
2015: TA Group, veteran-owned VC firm, $82,355, Preferred Series Seed Shares |
2016: Shark Tank, Mark Cuban's Radical Investments for $100,000, Preferred Series Seed Shares |
2022: Two (2) Private investors for $125,000, Preferred Series Seed Shares |
2023: One (1) Private investor for $100,000, Convertible Note for Preferred Series Seed Shares |
View our
Offering Documents
Meet the Combat Flip Flops - Business, Not Bullets team
Business, Not Bullets.
CEO
Matthew Griffin
West Point Graduate, Army Ranger, Combat Veteran, Henry Crown Fellow, Entrepreneur, Father, Husband.
President
Andy Sewrey
30 years experience in the construction industry, product design, project management, and logistics.
CMO
Donald Lee
20 years of online marketing experience. Army Ranger. Combat Veteran.
KPIs
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Combat Flip Flops focuses on direct to consumer sales through our website, www.combatflipflops.com. As an online retailer, Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) are reviewed daily and weekly to measure the health of the business. Additionally, advertising expenses for platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter) are required in order to acquire new customers, generate sales, and grow brand awareness. These platforms constantly change algorithms and ads fatigue. To ensure responsible use of advertising dollars, Combat Flip Flops reviews ad KPIs multiple times per day to cut poor performing advertisements and reallocate funds to performing ads. The previous KPIs feed into the overall health of the business measured in revenue, expenses, and profit/loss. These metrics are measured weekly and finalized monthly.
Seasonality plays a large roll in a summer footwear business--metrics rise in the Spring through the end of Summer, decline slightly in the fall, peak at the holiday season, then decline for the early winter headed into Spring. The annual rollup shown below shows the health of the business without ever having a full year's worth of inventory.
Conversion Rate:
A conversion rate is the percentage of the total number of visits to a website that result in a conversion action. It's expressed as a percentage and calculated via a simple formula: Conversion rate = number of specific actions taken in a period of time / total number of visits to your site in the same period of time. An accepted healthy ecommerce conversion rate ranges between 2.5% to 3%.
Cart Abandonment Rate:
The Cart Abandonment Rate is the percentage of online shoppers who add items to a virtual shopping cart but then abandon it before completing the purchase. It shows the rate of interested potential customers who leave without buying anything compared to the total number of shopping carts created. An accepted average ecommerce conversion rate is 56%-81%.
Average Order Value:
Average Order Value (AOV) is an ecommerce metric that measures the average total of every order placed with a merchant over a defined period of time. Average order value varies by industry and products.
Return on Ad Spend:
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) is a marketing metric that measures revenue earned for each dollar you spend on advertising. An accepted healthy ROAS is 4:1.
Cost per Acquisition:
Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) is a marketing metric that measures the total cost to acquire one paying customer. It must include the cost of marketing campaigns or other spending to get a new customer. CPA values by industry and product.
Gross Revenue:
Gross revenue is the dollar value of the total sales made by a company in one period before deduction expenses. This means it is not the same as profit because profit is what is left after all expenses are accounted for.
Net Income:
Net income refers to the money left over after business expenses have been paid.
*2020 Was considered a banner year for online businesses. Combat Flip Flops saw the early indicators of shutdowns in 2019 and frontloaded inventory in Q1 to reduce risk of supply chain closure. The decision created a profitable scenario the company.
**2021 Growing on 2020’s success the company was positioned to grow to $1.6MM in Gross revenue, then the Afghan withdrawal caused over $300,000 in product to be stuck in Kabul and loss of our most profitable products during peak sales season.
***2022 The unforeseen loss of holiday inventory in Q4 2021 caused cash shortages for Q1/Q2 2022 Spring inventory. To compensate, Combat Flip Flops cut owner/operator wages, ad spends, and all other expenses to mitigate losses.
2023 Not ones to take a beating, Combat Flip Flops leveraged a small fundraising round in late 2022 to fund 60% web sales growth and 1100% Amazon.com growth. Combat Flip Flops raised an additional $100,000 in cash with a convertible note and secured a $150,000 line of credit to fund 2024 production.
As of December 5, 2023 the Company has $52,866.36 in cash and cash equivalents.
Press Mentions
Shark Tank
TED Talk
Foreign Policy
https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/05/09/afghanistan-start-ups-combat-flip-flops-rumi-spice-development-business/
FOX NEWS
http://video.foxnews.com/v/5786876172001
CBS NEWS
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/combat-flip-flops-veterans-business-uses-profits-to-support-education-for-afghan-girls-2019-12-02/
ABC News
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/army-ranger-hopes-fight-terrorism-flip-flops/story?id=31802903
Stars and Stripes
https://www.stripes.com/news/military-vets-share-hard-earned-lessons-from-investing-in-land-where-they-once-fought-1.582754
Men's Journal
https://www.mensjournal.com/style/the-army-rangers-flip-flops-20130807
Forbes
https://www.forbes.com/sites/danieldamb...
Inc.
https://www.inc.com/magazine/201611/leigh-buchanan/combat-flip-flops.html
Military Times
https://www.militarytimes.com/off-duty/military-culture/2022/04/06/these-limited-time-camo-kicks-go-hard/
New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/30/us/politics/veterans-small-business.html
Advisors
Mark Cuban
is an American billionaire businessman, film producer, investor, and television personality. He is the owner of the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA), co-owner of 2929 Entertainment, and one of the main "sharks" on the ABC reality television series Shark Tank.
Paul Litchfield
was the Vice President of Advanced Concepts at Reebok from 1986 to April 2015. Mr. Litchfield began working in the athletic footwear industry at Reebok more than 30 years ago and is regarded as one of the most influential product creation experts in the industry
Pete Kadens
is a serial entrepreneur and dedicated philanthropist who currently serves as the Chairman of The Kadens Family Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to closing the pervasive wealth and education gaps in the U.S.. Pete was a co-founder and served as CEO of Green Thumb Industries, currently the second largest cannabis company in the world with a current market capitalization of over $6 billion. Green Thumb industries went public in 2018 and transitioned to full time efforts at The Kadens Family Foundation.
Sheryl Tullis
is a success technology leader. From military information systems to tech marketing leader, her career spans P&G, Microsoft, mobile experience agencies, staffing, and technology consulting. Sheryl automated the first decision support system for the Army Directorate of Information Management in Germany, then created and led Procter & Gamble’s first e-commerce business. At Microsoft she served as Chief of Staff to the Chief Marketing Officer, helping transform the company’s shift to digital marketing. She then led the Marketing Excellence group, responsible for talent, training and development for 7,700 marketers, digital capabilities, and World Class Marketing practices.
Key Customers & Partners
Direct to Consumer Website Marine Corps Community Services (Base Exchange) Comcast |
Testimonials
5-STARS EVERY TIME |
Project FAQs
Answer: Hello, A) 2023 Average Monthly Burn Rate (with marketing) : $46,296.44 A2) 2023 Average Monthly Burn Rate (without marketing and commissions): $24,251.72 B) Cash on hand: Ranges around the $35K range depending on sales deposits and ad expenses. We're in the low cash time of year as we're bringing in Spring inventory. C) At the current time, Main Street Bond is our only round. We are talking to a couple angels for investment after this round closes. VC firms have been 100% unsupportive over the last 18 months of fundraising, so we're not going to invest our time there any longer.
Answer: Hi There, Had a couple technical difficulties with the platform (user error) getting the questions sorted. The closing date was moved until the end of February. Combat Flip Flops was the first company to launch on Main Street Bond and we've been getting the bugs shook out. Plus, January is tough as most people are still recovering from holiday spending. Thanks for supporting the mission.
Answer: Hello. We extended the closing date until the end of February. Being new to the platform, it took us a few days to find all the original closing date mentions and get them changed to the new closing date on the Amended Form C.
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