Twelve months with zero sales. Then Peter Nelson II rewrote the sauna playbook.

FOC monthly community call recap · Founder Feature · Featuring Peter Nelson II, founder of SISU Sauna

Peter Nelson II came to saunas through basketball, the Army, and CrossFit. After a medical discharge ended the military career he had planned, he became a personal trainer, then a gym owner, and started digging into recovery. On our August 25 member call, he told the Founders Only community how a side hustle that went a full year without a sale became a sauna brand with a $10,200 average order value.

The year of no sales

SISU started as a dropshipping side hustle. It sold a sauna every month or two, and then nothing at all.

"hitting a period where we had no sales for 12 straight months. And it was it it really felt like the biggest waste of time in the entire world. But I'm so grateful for it because it taught us so much about patience, persistence"

In March 2022 the team stopped dropshipping and asked what a great sauna brand would look like if they rewrote the rules.

"What if we uh what if we improved lead times from 12 months that the sauna space was experiencing to four weeks? What if we made uh DIY sauna kits that anybody could uh assemble in their backyard with a couple friends?"

They launched their own US sourced, Amish made production in August 2022, sold 10 units in the first month, and hit their 10 year target of 40 sales per month after month 10.

Simplicity as a strategy

"So, for us, I would continue to double down on simplicity. It let us be able to scale the business, let us understand the customer better"

Saunas still drive 85% of revenue. Every add-on, from cold plunges to showers to electrolytes, has to support the sauna lifestyle. Electrolytes in particular became a low price entry point that brings new customers into the brand before they buy a sauna.

Why paid ads did not work at a $10K AOV

"So, we have a our AOV is $10,000, like $10,200. So, uh the reality of us doing brand awareness uh campaigns via ads on Meta or Google is really not the highest best use for us."

Instead, ambassadors, athletes, Peter's own founder content, and natural UGC became the top of the funnel. The company split marketing into a brand and creative team and a bottom of funnel conversion team.

"having an extremely fine-tune uh abandoned cart and browse abandonment flow is some of the highest ROI you could possibly have when it comes to marketing."

Know your blended numbers

SISU runs a negative cash conversion cycle: customer payments fund inventory and shipping. That makes return on marketing spend the number that matters most.

"This is where it's super important as an owner of a business to understand what your blended customer acquisition cost is, your blended return on ad spend, your blended uh return on marketing spend."

Peter said their ROMS normally runs between 9 and 11. Because sauna demand is seasonal, he stressed not getting over your skis in the slow months.

Gut, data, and grit

Peter admitted most early decisions were gut based. The team now leans on data, but he and Eric agreed grit and resilience matter more than any dashboard.

Building for the life you want

"It's my faith, my family, my fitness, and then my work and then finance in that order every single day."

Peter works about 25 to 30 hours a week on the business. If he is working more, he takes it as a sign he is in the weeds where his team should be. He also builds one to two units a month himself, with partners, to check product quality, create content, and build trust.

Community with real impact

Peter's charity race, Hell on Hogsback, raises money for local cancer patients and has grown to 425 participants with its own nonprofit. SISU, he explained, is the Finnish idea of never giving up.

"like we're not just creating community events because we want to create a brand like we're creating community event community events because we want to create an impact"

His advice to a member building a coffee brand applied to everyone: hyperfixate on the product, build community first, and let content follow.

"Like you're better off just talking to your iPhone. Um, and and you don't need something crazy polished."

What we took away

• A brutal stretch can be the best teacher. Twelve months of no sales forced a complete rethink.
• Fix the industry's real pain point. Cutting lead times from 12 months to four weeks became the brand promise.
• Keep the catalog simple. Every new product should support the core product.
• At a high AOV, top of funnel paid ads may not pay back. Ambassadors, founder content, and email can.
• Abandoned cart and browse abandonment flows can be your highest ROI marketing.
• Know your blended CAC, ROAS, and return on marketing spend, especially with a seasonal business.
• Design the business around the life you want to live.
• Community first, content second, and always a great product.

This recap is from our FOC monthly community call. Peter Nelson II is the founder of SISU Sauna. Find SISU at sisulifestyle.com.

Want founder conversations this honest every month? Explore Founders Only membership at foundersonlyclub.com.