The business
Uno Casa was my Amazon private-label kitchenware business. I founded and operated it during 2012–2018 and sold the business and its assets to SBL Digital in August 2018. It was separate from my later roles at Darton.
The product range included ramekins, bowl sets and kitchen canisters. Uno Casa’s current website belongs to the business after my exit; this case study describes my period of ownership.
My responsibilities
I managed the operation from supplier sourcing through to the marketplace:
- Identifying manufacturing partners in China and negotiating product costs and commercial terms.
- Coordinating product development, prototypes, tooling, production, packaging and quality control.
- Managing inventory and planning stock for the US-focused business.
- Arranging freight forwarding, ocean shipping, US customs clearance coordination and Amazon FBA delivery.
- Managing Amazon listings, pricing and marketplace operations.
- Owning the P&L and the decisions connecting product cost, inventory and profitability.
I also exhibited products at trade shows in Chicago, Las Vegas and Toronto.
The work connected across functions
The sourcing work could not be separated from the selling operation. Product specifications influenced production cost and packaging. Packaging affected shipping requirements. Lead times and international freight influenced when stock would be available for sale.
My role brought these decisions together under one owner. That is the part of this experience most relevant to the work I do now: understanding what a supplier, freight forwarder or marketplace decision means for the rest of the business.
Scale and exit
Peak annual revenue was approximately $350,000, based on my personal recollection. It is an approximate historical figure, not an audited financial statement or a current revenue claim.
The business and its brand assets were sold in August 2018. I do not attribute the exit to a specific advertising improvement, and I am not presenting the sale as a consulting-client result.
Relevant work today
This experience informs my supplier sourcing and quotation evaluation and Amazon operations review work. It provides a founder’s perspective on the practical handoffs between product development, manufacturing, logistics and marketplace management.
View the Uno Casa product gallery or contact me about a similar operational challenge.