Showpo's Jane Lu Launched Her Biz With a Social Media Contest—Now It's Hitting $100m+

Jane Lu was 24 when she felt like she'd hit rock bottom. She had quit her safe corporate job to start a business that failed, leaving her $60,000 in debt. This was mid-GFC and a hard time to find a job, so she felt her only option was to start business #2.

Showpo, her second biz, did more than $63 million in sales in 2019, and is now hitting over $100 million. Today, she's one of Australia's most successful entrepreneurs.

In the beginning, instead of telling her parents she quit her stable job to start a business, Jane would got dressed for work every day and caught the bus to the "office". She instead went to coffee shops and libraries and worked on what would soon become Showpo, an affordable online fashion retailer. When the business was doing so well she could pay off her parents' mortgage, she finally told them about it.

Jane was $60,000 in debt and says she and her business partner invested "literally nothing" to start Showpo, purchasing clothes on consignment to sell online, which meant she didn't pay for it until it had sold.

"When I look at a lot of small businesses, I see people spending on websites and things—it's unnecessary. That's what dries up a business' funds. For me [your budget] should be all marketing and inventory."

Sales were slow for the first six months, and Jane was starting to have some major doubts.

Then, while watching America's Next Top Model (who else remember Tyra Mail!?) Jane had a lightbulb moment that changed the trajectory of her business. The show had a segment where you could vote for your favorite contestant. Jane thought doing that for Showpo could build hype, and held a 'Face of Showpo' modeling comp on Facebook.

Within a month of launching the contest, Showpo grew from 3,000 followers on Facebook to 20,000. And this was back when most fashion brands didn't even sell online—let alone post on Facebook.

Jane knew leaning into social media would be Showpo's superpower, so she did. And it worked. Today Showpo has over 3 million followers across its social media accounts.

Jane's business partner quit the business soon after it started, back when they were hitting around $5,000 in monthly sales. The next month, working on the business alone, Jane doubled revenue. Within two years, Showpo had its first million-dollar month.

To hit that growth, Jane bought more inventory, figured out Google ads, added free shipping, improved customer service speed, and posted more on social media. Eventually she added new categories; workwear, bridal, extended sizing. All with Showpo's affordable, trendy vibe.

Jane hasn't relied on influencers to grow Showpo. Instead, she prefers to get usage rights from content creators who make UGC-style content with Showpo product, and boosts the post with an ad budget.

"I'm not fully convinced on influencer marketing as a whole for everyone... I just have seen so many small businesses waste money on influencer marketing and it's gone nowhere."