Entrepreneur from Kells is the business in USA

A Kells entrepreneur has launched his very own outdoor brand in the USA, only to see it become the number one selling brand in its market, thanks to support from the Go For It programme, in association with Mid and East Antrim District Council.
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Darren Campbell (31) launched his Amazon FBA business, Commerce DC, less than a year ago during lockdown and has gone on to launch his own outdoor brand, Outlantis, that quickly became one of the top selling products in its marketplace in a matter of weeks.

The fiancé and dad of one had been working for a government office and was working from home due to Covid when he heard about the idea of Amazon FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon), a programme that allows participant businesses to store their products at its fulfilment centres and undertakes to pick, pack, ship and provide customer care for those products.

Darren said: “We were house bound and was spending a lot of time on social media and that’s when I came across Amazon FBA. I was using TikTok and it kept coming up. I thought to myself this looks too good to be true, but the more I investigated it, the more I got heavily invested. Instead of having a workforce, I pay Amazon a fee per unit for what I want to sell. Since I originally started doing it, I’ve been able to upscale my orders very quickly.”

Darren Campbell (31), from Kells(centre) who launched his Amazon FBA business, Commerce DC, less than a year ago during lockdown and has gone on to launch his own outdoor brand pictured with Business Adviser Mark Donald and William McCaughey, Mayor of Mid an East Antrim Borough Council.Darren Campbell (31), from Kells(centre) who launched his Amazon FBA business, Commerce DC, less than a year ago during lockdown and has gone on to launch his own outdoor brand pictured with Business Adviser Mark Donald and William McCaughey, Mayor of Mid an East Antrim Borough Council.
Darren Campbell (31), from Kells(centre) who launched his Amazon FBA business, Commerce DC, less than a year ago during lockdown and has gone on to launch his own outdoor brand pictured with Business Adviser Mark Donald and William McCaughey, Mayor of Mid an East Antrim Borough Council.

At first, Darren ran Commerce DC from home, but soon realised he needed a better solution and applied for a unit in Ballymena Business Centre, where he was able to store his products, including toys, Covid masks and kitchen supplies.

“I ended up building up enough capital to build my own brand in the US called Outlantis, which is a mixture of ‘outdoor’ and ‘Atlantis’. We made $23,600 in our first 30 days after launch and we’re now the number one selling brand in our category.”

Outlantis is an outdoor adventure brand, and its first product was a casting net, Darren said: “It’s an American fishing net - you basically throw the net out into the water with a rope attached to it and when you pull the rope in, it closes and catches the fish because they can’t get out. It’s now the number one selling brand in the fishing category - we are shocked to have done these sorts of numbers so early, but it has given the business such an amazing boost.”

After Darren began working from his unit at Ballymena Business Centre, a staff member advised him to look into the Go For It programme to help the business off the ground - and that proved to be a valuable experience.

Entrepreneur Darren Campbell from Kellslaunched his very own outdoor brand in the USA, only to see it become the number one selling brand in its marketEntrepreneur Darren Campbell from Kellslaunched his very own outdoor brand in the USA, only to see it become the number one selling brand in its market
Entrepreneur Darren Campbell from Kellslaunched his very own outdoor brand in the USA, only to see it become the number one selling brand in its market

He said: “Now I intend to launch more Outlantis products for rope climbing, fishing, surfing kayaking, things like that - it’s exciting. If it hadn’t been for Covid, it never would have happened, so that is the silver lining for me.”

Business Adviser, Mark Donald said: “It’s fantastic for me, as someone who was there with Darren on the ground floor to see his quick rise and I’m genuinely happy for him.

Mayor of Mid & East Antrim Cllr. William McCaughey said: Entrepreneurs like Darren are going to drive the economic growth of the Borough for years to come.”

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