How Dr Grillz Turned a Passion Project into a Profitable Ecommerce Business
Probably the most common ecommerce story starts with a spreadsheet.
This one starts backstage at a DJ gig, a fresh dentistry degree, and a question that wouldn’t leave: why is it so hard to get grillz done properly in Australia?
In this episode of Add To Cart, Bushy chats with Maheer Shah, founder of Dr Grillz, a.k.a a dentist who turned a cultural obsession into a global, made-to-order ecommerce business. What began as a passion project quickly became something much bigger: a brand sitting at the intersection of self-expression, trust, and technology, built without a typical target market or ecommerce playbook.
It’s a conversation about visibility, belief, and what happens when you stop trying to sell to “everyone” and instead build something for the people who get it.
You need your 5000 really good loyal fans. And you have an amazing brand and business
Dr. Maheer Shah | Founder
Today, we’re discussing…
- Building visibility for a product that doesn’t fit a traditional ecommerce persona
- Why psychographics matter more than demographics when your audience is everywhere
- Turning a high-trust, bespoke product into a scalable ecommerce system
- The role of culture, emotion, and status in purchase decisions
- Using technology like 3D printing and AR to remove friction, not add hype
- Why passion-led ideas aren’t “too niche”; they’re often the most defensible
Chapters
6:26 Understanding Grillz: The Art and Science
7:50 Target Market: Who Wears Grillz?
9:34 Building Trust: The Dentist’s Credibility
11:22 Capturing Transformation: The Customer Experience
15:15 Customisation and Fitment: The Grillz Process
18:18 Pricing and Perception: The Real Value of Grillz
22:00 Overcoming Self-Doubt
24:12 Grillz and Acceptance
27:42 The Revolution of 3D Printing in Dentistry
31:33 Overcoming Customer Objection
39:18 Building a Healthy Dental Journey
40:31 Status Quo in Traditional Professions
Join us!
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