Shore Buddies Achieves Best First Quarter with Help from The Brink

"No matter at what stage of your business you are, the Brink SBDC is here to help you. The tremendous knowledge you will learn at the workshops and programs as well as the huge support from the mentors and access to plenty of resources." - Malte Niebelschuetz, Founder and CEO of Shore Buddies

April may be Earth month and a time to focus on preserving the environment, but for Shore Buddies, it’s a lifestyle.

Shore Buddies focuses on sustainability and ocean life preservation by creating stuffed animals composed of 6 recyclable plastic bottles per toy. Founded by Malte Niebelschuetz in 2014, Shore Buddies business model was mainly brick and mortar retail stores until COVID-19 required them to pivot their business. Shore Buddies went from 90% revenue in brick and mortar to 80% e-commerce while still growing revenue by 85%. 

To improve their business plan, Shore Buddies turned to The Brink Small Business Development Center at USD for guidance. “They went the extra mile to find help and resources at a time where we felt we had our backs to the wall, and made things happen,” states Niebelschuetz.

It was not until the COVID-19 pandemic that their e-commerce efforts began to rise significantly. Niebelschuetz expresses, “We are excited to have pivoted the business and almost doubled our overall revenue in times of a global pandemic.” 

The pandemic impacted many businesses negatively, but for Shore Buddies, this was a time to improve their business. “Not only have we survived a time that has been hard for many toy manufacturers our size, we grew and further developed the business model, and have also tremendously increased our presentation and product for retailers when they come back,” affirms Niebelschuetz. And they are coming back; Shore Buddies has the best first quarter on record in 2021 with retailers opening up doors again and lockdown restrictions easing up.

With the guidance of The Brink SBDC advisors and connections to resources, Shore Buddies has been able to tighten their business plan and gain exposure to funding opportunities. Through one on one consulting sessions, they gained valuable insight into polishing their pitch deck.

In addition to consulting from The Brink, Niebelschuetz has attended various Brink SBDC events such as the Lean Essentials Sprint (LES), Office Hours, and the San Diego Angel Conference Entrepreneurship Track. 

“Through the LES program, Benton and Jon helped us redefine our business mission and values in a format that relates with investors and tells a compelling story about a sustainable toy brand that is set up to improve the world,” Niebelschuetz states.

Shore Buddies has expanded internationally and even became a finalist for the 2021 Toy of the Year award only beaten by the winner: Mattel’s Star Wars’ Baby Yoda.

The Brink enjoys working with Malte Niebelschuetz and Shore Buddies in their continued efforts to save the ocean and make sustainability a second language through play; one toy at a time.

More About Shore Buddies

Shore Buddies is a toy brand that creates stuffed animals from recycled plastic bottles. Their mission is simple, to save marine life and prevent plastic from entering the ocean and devastating marine life and sea birds. Inspired by clothing produced from recyclable soda bottles, Malte Niebelschuetz founded Shore Buddies in 2014. Beyond selling stuffed animals, Shore Buddies supports ocean minded non-profit organizations that have programs such as beach clean ups and educational outreach for local schools, in order to make sustainability a habit from an early age. By 2020, Shore Buddies saved over 500,000 plastic bottles from entering the oceans.