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Graham Stephan Went Bankrupt?!

Picture of Geoffrey Schultz By  Geoffrey Schultz  ·  2 minute read

Graham Stephan just shut down his own creator brand of coffee, Bankroll. In a new video he said, “I’m going out of business.” Fans were shocked.

 

What Happened

  • Sales were steady at $30-$40K per month—with almost no ads or hype.

  • The costs of coffee beans, boxes, and shipping shot up fast.

  • Facebook and Google ads got pricey

  • The brand was losing money on each new customer.

  • He raised prices once to break even. A second hike felt risky.

  • He didn’t want to post coffee promos every week.

  • Making videos is his real joy, not slinging coffee ads.

Add all of that up and it makes sense why he'd shut it down. Still, if a big time YouTuber like Graham, who is known for his love of coffee, can't make his creator brand work, is there any hope for smaller creators?

Big Questions for Creators

Graham did all creators a favor by pulling back the curtain on his creator brand experience. Think about what he said and ask yourself these questions:

  1. What makes your product special? “Just another coffee” is tough to sell. Do you have a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)?

  2. Will you push it every day? Brands need attention to grow. You can buy ads or you can use your videos to promote it organically. It's going to be tough if you don't want to do either.

  3. Do you love running a shop—or do you love making videos more?

If any answer feels shaky, you may face the same squeeze Graham felt.

Why Apps Beat Beans

One thing that Graham didn't say explicitly is that physical products are hard. You have to deal with raw materials, storage space, shipping delays, recalls, shortages, labor. It gets expensive fast.

On the other hand, apps ship themselves. No bags, no boxes, no broken mugs. Prices don’t swing with droughts or fuel spikes. Updates travel online, so you serve the whole world while you sleep.

Most of all, you can still be the face on YouTube without being the warehouse manager.

Perhaps Stephan would have had a better experience if he had developed some kind of finance app instead.

Your Next Step

While we wait for Graham to drop us a line, we'd love to help you bring your vision to life, while avoiding the pitfalls that doomed Bankroll.

Octo helps creators turn bright ideas into simple, money-making apps. We handle the code, the launch, and even the updates. You keep telling stories.

Want to skip the shipping drama and build something digital?
Book a free chat with Octo now. Let’s build the app your fans will love—and that you’ll love running.

Extra Credit:

Check out the video below, which Graham posted a year before shutting down Bankroll Coffee, to learn more about the challenges he faced.

 

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