Brady Kirkpatrick began his professional journey as a self-taught SEO specialist in the affiliate marketing space. Now, he’s scaled his firearm business to thousands of stores. Here’s a closer look at how he leveraged his entrepreneurial skills, passion for technology, and deep understanding of the firearm industry to build a successful business.
Hobby Sparks Unique Business
Raised in Nebraska among friends who counted hunting and firearms as hobbies, Kirkpatrick drew from his knowledge of affiliate marketing and firearms culture to create Gun Made, a dynamic search engine and all-in-one site that helps connect firearms enthusiasts with local merchants. “Using our tech,” Kirkpatrick explains, “our users can see what local stores sell guns-and-ammo products and which items are available for purchase online.”
Kirkpatrick’s goal for Gun Made is to turn the platform into the most trusted and comprehensive firearms resource available to consumers. The platform is designed to bring greater transparency and clarity to the firearm purchasing process, whether buyers want to support a local shop or find a reputable seller at a competitive price. Gun Made provides the information and tools shoppers need to make informed and confident purchasing decisions. More about Kirkpatrick and his entrepreneurial journey can be found at www.bradykirkpatrick.com.
Data Driven Strategies
Gun Made leverages consumer data and marketplace insights to connect shoppers with retailers through manufacturer-supported inventory visibility. Its proprietary search engine allows users to browse thousands of stores and find available products—whether new, collectible, or specialty—while prioritizing accuracy and availability. Users can search by location to see which licensed retailers have specific products in stock, helping them make informed purchasing decisions.
The platform earns revenue through affiliate marketing, premium advertising, and manufacturer partnerships. Kirkpatrick emphasizes Gun Made’s diversified monetization strategy, which includes charging retailers for featured placement, thereby helping to keep the core platform accessible to smaller, independent stores while supporting long-term scalability.
Kirkpatrick was a math and business major who also studied sales, and his entrepreneurial path wasn’t always straightforward. He graduated with a general idea of what he wanted to do, ultimately entering wealth management as a practical starting point. “I was basically running my own practice,” Kirkpatrick recalls. “I was working with a team of wealth managers for five years. I definitely had a lot of potential there, but I didn’t love the corporate office vibe. It’s stressful to be in charge of hundreds of households, and you’re controlling each of their life savings.”
Building a Platform for Gun Stores and Shoppers
Kirkpatrick began teaching himself SEO during the COVID pandemic and noticed how prevalent and competitive gun-related content had become online. “I saw an opportunity and wanted to do something innovative that could scale,” Kirkpatrick says. He quotes entrepreneur Alex Hormozi: “Make it better. Make it free. Monetize another way that your competition can’t.”
By closely examining competitors’ shortcomings, Kirkpatrick developed a platform to address industry gaps, eventually amassing more than 1.5 million users. He started learning about search engines, specifically within the firearms industry, and began calculating the cost of hiring developers to build a larger, more sophisticated platform.
Managing developers without a technical background proved to be a valuable learning experience. Kirkpatrick eventually met a developer who had been coding since he was eight years old, and quickly realized this individual was capable of building exactly the type of site he envisioned.
“A lot of gun stores didn’t have sufficient tech to showcase what they had online. Plenty of gun owners want to buy local, to support their local store,” says Kirkpatrick. “Gun Made helps firearm aficionados do just that: customers can search for local inventory, not just on the big online gun and ammo brand platforms.” Gun Made is a “one-stop shop” that allows customers to find what they’re looking for within their budget and connect with licensed retailers to complete transactions in compliance with applicable regulations.
Kirkpatrick compares his site to Priceline.com in terms of personalization and search flexibility, rather than transaction simplicity. “No one was doing what we were doing,” Kirkpatrick explains. “Every other site was charging retailers $500 a month just to get listed. For our retailers, Gun Made is essentially a no-cost platform.” Compared to the high pay-per-click costs common across the industry, Gun Made offers a more accessible alternative for retailers seeking visibility.
Kirkpatrick emphasizes the importance of staying agile in the face of Google’s evolving algorithms, which increasingly incorporate AI to assess content relevance and user intent. He acknowledges that SEO updates can pose challenges for businesses, including Gun Made. Rather than relying solely on SEO, Kirkpatrick advises merchants to diversify their traffic sources through email marketing, social media engagement, and brand promotion. “Figure out a good vertical to monetize and don’t rely on one source,” says Kirkpatrick.
Partnering with PaymentCloud
Kirkpatrick eventually connected with PaymentCloud’s VP of Sales, Jesse Spears. Spears suggested that Gun Made would be an ideal fit for the PaymentCloud model and introduced Kirkpatrick to the company’s CMO, Neal Hoffman. From there, Kirkpatrick started working with PaymentCloud sales representative Faith Travis, who manages Gun Made’s merchant account and serves as his primary point of contact.
“When we first partnered with Brady, he was navigating the challenges of operating in a high-risk space, but had a very creative business model and a unique vision. We’ve worked with hundreds of gun merchants, and Gun Made stood out for its distinct approach and thoughtful business model. We tailored their account to handle volume fluctuations and implemented robust risk controls,” says Travis. “Today, not only are they processing at scale, but they’re also expanding into new markets. It’s been rewarding to support their evolution.”
Kirkpatrick adds that PaymentCloud has helped immensely with interface-related issues, whether sending invoices or verifying payments. “Once Faith got me set up, everything’s been incredibly easy to use,” he elaborates. “The support team’s been great too.”
By supporting Gun Made with tailored underwriting, scalable processing, and hands-on account management, PaymentCloud has enabled the company to grow and scale within the constraints of a highly regulated, high-risk industry.
“It’s made me confident in the whole process. I get responses quickly. PaymentCloud is the first merchant services provider that we’ve ever used. It’s been really smooth. I would recommend them to anyone currently looking in the high-risk industry…It’s a no-brainer.
Growth for Gun Made
Gun Made’s growth continues to accelerate. In just six months, the platform scaled to nearly 5,000 stores, forging industry partnerships with mom-and-pop operations, big box retailers, online outlets, and auction sites. “What we’ve built is gaining serious traction and is on track to continue shaking up the industry,” says Kirkpatrick.
Looking ahead, Gun Made’s biggest priority is expanding manufacturer partnerships and continuing to enhance the platform’s search capabilities. “Our biggest focus is continuing to acquire more manufacturing partners,” Kirkpatrick says. “We want to grow the search engine and attract more users.” With Brady Kirkpatrick at the helm, gun owners can rest assured that there will always be a one-stop shop ready to address all their firearm-related needs. Gun Made remains focused on transparency, responsibility, and informed decision-making for firearm consumers.
PaymentCloud is proud to support businesses like Gun Made that operate in complex, regulated industries. By providing customized payment solutions, risk management expertise, and responsive account support, PaymentCloud allows merchants to focus on building sustainable, compliant businesses without being hindered by payment challenges.
