ITEM 1A. Risk Factors

The following risk factors should be considered in connection with an evaluation of our business:

In addition to other information in this Annual Report, the following risk factors should be carefully considered in evaluating our business because such factors may have a significant impact on our business, operating results, liquidity and financial condition. As a result of the risk factors set forth below, actual results could differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us, or that we currently consider to be immaterial, may also impact our business, result of operations, liquidity and financial condition. If any such risks occur, our business, operating results, liquidity and financial condition could be materially affected in an adverse manner. Under such circumstances, if and when a trading market for our various securities (besides our Common Stock and certain Common Stock Purchase Warrants) is established, the trading price of these securities could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment. Under such circumstances, if and when a trading market for our securities is established, the trading price of our securities could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

OUR SECURITIES INVOLVE A HIGH DEGREE OF RISK AND, THEREFORE, SHOULD BE CONSIDERED EXTREMELY SPECULATIVE. THEY SHOULD NOT BE PURCHASED BY PERSONS WHO CANNOT AFFORD THE POSSIBILITY OF THE LOSS OF THE ENTIRE INVESTMENT.

RISKS RELATED TO THE BEER INDUSTRY

We face substantial competition within the beer industry.

The beer categories within the United States are highly competitive due to the participation of large domestic and international brewers in the categories and the increasing number of craft brewers and craft distilleries, who distribute similar beers we sell and that have similar pricing and target drinkers.

The two largest brewers in the United States, AB InBev and Molson Coors, participate actively in mass appeal beer offerings as well as the High End and Beyond Beer categories, through numerous launches of new hard seltzers, flavored malt beverages and spirit RTDs from existing brands or new brands, importing and distributing import brands, and with their own domestic specialty beers, either by developing new brands or by acquiring, in whole or part, existing brands. Imported beers, such as Corona®, Heineken®, Modelo Especial® and Stella Artois®, continue to compete aggressively in the United States and have gained market share over the last ten years. All of these brands and companies have substantially greater financial resources, marketing strength and distribution networks than we do. We anticipate competition to be strong as some existing beverage companies are building more capacity, expanding geographically and adding more SKUs and styles. The potential for growth in the sales of hard seltzers, flavored malt beverages, craft-brewed domestic beers, imported beers and spirits RTDs is expected to increase the competition in the market for beer occasions within the United States and, as a result, we anticipate we will face competitive pricing pressures and the demand for and market share of our products, when introduced, may fluctuate and possibly decline.

Our American Rebel Light Lager, competes generally with other alcoholic beverages. We anticipate competing with other beer and beverage companies not only for drinker acceptance and loyalty, but also for traditional retail shelf, cold box and tap space, as well as e-commerce placement and for marketing focus by our distributors and their customers, when established, all of which are anticipated to distribute and sell other alcoholic beverage products. All of our potential competitors at this point in time have substantially greater financial resources, marketing strength and distribution networks than we do. Moreover, the introduction of new products by competitors that compete directly with our first beer and future products or that diminish the importance of our anticipated products to retailers or distributors may have a material adverse effect on our business and financial results.

Further, the alcoholic beverage industry has seen continued consolidation among brewers in order to take advantage of cost savings opportunities for supplies, distribution and operations. Also, in the last several years, both AB InBev and Molson Coors have introduced numerous new hard seltzers and purchased multiple regional craft breweries and craft distilleries with the intention to expand the capacity and distribution of these brands.

More recently in 2021 and into 2022, large non-alcoholic beverage companies including Coca-Cola Company (“Coke”), Pepsi and Monster Beverage Corporation (“Monster”) have begun to enter these markets through licensing agreements with alcoholic beverage companies to develop alcohol versions of existing traditional non-alcohol brands. Coke has entered into agreements with Molson Coors to develop, market and sell Topo Chico brand Hard Seltzer and Simply Spiked Lemonade. Coke announced agreements with Constellation to develop, market and sell FRESCA™ Mixed, a line of spirits RTDs and with Brown Forman to develop, market and sell Jack Daniel’s® Tennessee Whiskey and Coca-Cola®™ Ready-to-Drink Cocktail. The Boston Brewing Company has entered into an agreement with Pepsi to develop, market and sell alcohol beverages which include Hard Mountain Dew, to take advantage of this trend. Pepsi entered an agreement in late 2022 with FIFCO USA, a New York based brewery, to develop, market and sell Lipton Hard Iced Tea which launched in 2023. Lastly, Monster, acquired CANarchy Craft Brewery Collective (“CANarchy”) in early 2022 and launched the Beast Unleashed, a new brand of flavored malt beverages in early 2023 and in January 2024 Monster announced CANarchy will operate under the name of Monster Brewing Company, another testament to craft breweries and distilleries widespread acceptance.

Due to the increased leverage that these combined operations will have in distribution and sales and marketing expenses, the costs to us for competing is anticipated to be great. The potential exists for these large competitors to increase their influence with their distributors, making it difficult for smaller beverage companies to maintain their market presence or enter new markets. The continuing consolidation could reduce the contract brewing capacity that is available to us. These potential increases in the number and availability of competing brands, the costs to compete, reductions in contract brewing capacity and decreases in distribution support and opportunities may have a material adverse effect on our business and financial results.

The global beer industry and the broader alcohol industry are constantly evolving, and our position within these industries and the success of our products in our markets may fundamentally change. If we do not successfully transform along with the evolving industries, market dynamics and consumer preferences, our business and financial results could be materially adversely affected.

The brewing industry has significantly evolved over the years becoming an increasingly consolidated beer market. The industry has now become increasingly complex and competitive as the consolidation of brewers has resulted in fewer major market participants. As a result of the increased consolidation of brewers and the dynamic of expanding new segments within the industry with new market entrants, including the non-alcohol market, the markets in which we intend to operate, may evolve at a disadvantage to our market position. Ongoing evolution in certain beer markets, together with emerging changes in consumer preferences, have resulted in a significant increase in market entrants, consumer choices and market competition, as well as increased government scrutiny. In addition, local governments may intervene, which may fundamentally accelerate transformational changes to such markets. For example, the beer markets in the U.S. have long consisted of a select number of significant market participants with government-regulated routes to market.

Changes in public attitudes and drinker tastes could harm our business. Regulatory changes in response to public attitudes could adversely affect our business.

The alcoholic beverage industry has been the subject of considerable societal and political attention for several years, due to public concern over alcohol-related social problems, including driving under the influence, underage drinking and health consequences from the misuse of alcohol, including alcoholism. As an outgrowth of these concerns, the possibility exists that advertising by beer producers could be restricted, that additional cautionary labeling or packaging requirements might be imposed, that further restrictions on the sale of alcohol might be imposed or that there may be renewed efforts to impose increased excise or other taxes on beer sold in the United States.

The domestic beer industry, other than the market for High End beer occasions and Beyond Beer occasions, has experienced a decline in shipments over the last ten years. We believe that this decline is due to declining alcohol consumption per person in the population, drinkers trading up to drink high quality, more flavorful hard seltzers. beers and spirts RTDs, health and wellness trends and increased competition from wine and spirits companies. If consumption of our products, when introduced, in general were to come into disfavor among domestic drinkers, or if the domestic alcohol beverage industry were subjected to significant additional societal pressure or governmental regulations, our business could be materially adversely affected.

Additionally, certain states are considering or have passed laws and regulations that allow the sale and distribution of marijuana. Currently it is not possible to predict the impact of this on sales of alcohol, but it is possible that legal marijuana usage could adversely impact the demand for our products.

We are dependent on distributors.

In the United States, where our beer is currently sold only in a limited number of states, we are selling most of our beer to independent beer distributors for distribution to retailers and, ultimately, to drinkers. Although we have engaged multiple distributors, sustained growth will require us to maintain such relationships and possibly enter into agreements with additional distributors. Changes in control or ownership within the distribution network could lead to less support of our products.

Contributing to distribution risk is the fact that our distribution agreements, when entered into, are anticipated to be generally terminable by the distributor on relatively short notice. While these distribution agreements are anticipated to contain provisions giving us enforcement and termination rights, some state laws prohibit us from exercising these contractual rights. Our ability to maintain distribution arrangements may be adversely affected by the fact that many distributors are reliant on one of the major beer producers for a large percentage of their revenue and, therefore, they may be influenced by such producers. If our distribution agreements are terminated, we may not be able to enter into new distribution agreements on substantially similar terms, which may result in an increase in the costs of distribution.

No assurance can be given that we will be able to establish or maintain a distribution network or secure additional distributors on terms favorable to us.

Failure of our distributors to distribute our products adequately within their territories or any “under-investment” by our distributors in our brands could result in deteriorating operating performance.

We currently distribute our American Rebel Light Lager in eleven states, with the ability to sell in 40 states online. We are required by law to use state-licensed distributors or, in 17 states known as “control states,” state-owned agencies to sell our products to retail outlets, including liquor stores, bars, restaurants and national chains in the United States. We have established relationships for our brand with a limited number of wholesale distributors. We continue to engage new distributors on a regular basis, however this rate of growth may not continue in the future.

Over the past decade, there has been increasing consolidation in production, distribution, and retail (the three tiers of the current system) that challenges the growth of small businesses in the marketplace. Our distributors also distribute competitive brands for much larger companies with significant pricing power. The ultimate success of our products depends in large part on our distributors’ ability and desire to distribute our products, as we rely significantly on them for product placement and retail store penetration. The inability to obtain sufficient quantities of raw materials and components, including those necessary for the production of our products could result in reduced or delayed sales or lost orders. In many key states, we have signed contracts that greatly limit our ability to replace and pursue recourse with distributor partners that fail to meet their obligations. We cannot assure you that our U.S. distributors will commit sufficient time and resources to promote and market our brand and product lines. If they do not, our sales will be harmed, resulting in a decline in our results of operations.

The success of our business relies heavily on brand image, reputation, product quality and protection of intellectual property.

It is important that we maintain and enhance the image and reputation of our brand and products, including our corporate purpose, mission and values. Concerns about product quality, even when unsubstantiated, could be harmful to our image and the reputation of our brand and products. While we have quality control programs in place, in the event we or our third-party brewers and suppliers experience an issue with product quality or if any of our products become unsafe or unfit for consumption, are misbranded or cause injury, we may experience recalls or liability in addition to business disruption which could further negatively impact our brand image and reputation, negatively affect our sales and cause us to incur additional costs. A widespread product recall, multiple product recalls or a significant product liability judgment could cause our products to be unavailable for a period of time, which could further reduce consumer demand and brand equity. We also could be exposed to lawsuits relating to product liability, labelling, marketing or sales practices or intellectual property infringement. Our brand image and reputation may also be difficult to protect due to less oversight and control as a result of entering new or different product lines. If we are unable to address and uphold our plans with respect to our sustainability initiatives or actions by and attitudes of regulators and the public health community, our image and brand equity may deteriorate, which may be difficult to combat or reverse and could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial results.

In addition, our brand image, reputation and financial results may be negatively impacted by our ability to navigate social media campaigns and trends in pursuit of various dynamic issues facing society on regional and global levels across the markets in which we operate.

Further, our success is dependent on our ability to protect our intellectual property rights, including trademarks, patents, domain names, trade secrets and know-how. We cannot be certain that the steps we have taken to protect our intellectual property rights will be sufficient or that third parties will not infringe upon or misappropriate these rights or that other parties may claim that our brands infringe on their intellectual property rights. If we are unable to protect our intellectual property rights, it could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial results.

Loss, operational disruptions or closure of a major brewery or other key facility, including those of our suppliers, due to unforeseen or catastrophic events or otherwise, could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial results.

Our business could be interrupted and our financial results could be materially adversely impacted by physical risks such as earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, floods, other severe weather events, acts of war, terrorist attacks, cyberattacks and other disruptions in information systems, disease outbreaks or pandemics and other natural disasters or catastrophic events that damage, disrupt or destroy one of our contracted breweries or key facilities or the key facilities of our significant suppliers. Such significant losses or disruptions could be due to, among other things, the loss or disruption of the timely availability of adequate supplies of essential raw materials for our suppliers, including single-source suppliers; our ability to effectively integrate new suppliers into our operations; material financial issues facing our suppliers, such as bankruptcy or similar proceedings; transportation and logistics challenges, including as a result of governmental restrictions and the availability and capacity of shipping channels as customers may shift to increased online shopping; the loss or disruption of other manufacturing, distribution and supply capabilities; labor shortages, strikes or work stoppages; the loss or disruption of the supply of carbon dioxide gas; acts of war and terrorism; or natural disasters, pandemics, public health crises, or other catastrophic events and the associated impacts of such events, including impacts on our employees, their families, or our suppliers.

If any of our contracted breweries or the key facilities of our significant suppliers experience a significant operational disruption or catastrophic loss, it could delay, disrupt or reduce production, shipments and revenue, and result in potentially significant expenses to repair or replace these properties. Certain catastrophes are not covered by our general insurance policies, which could result in significant unrecoverable losses. Our business and results of operations could also be adversely impacted by under-investment in physical assets or production capacity, including contract brewing and impact the priority of our brands if production capacity is limited. We regularly review our supply chain network in an attempt to ensure that our supply chain capacity is aligned with the needs of the business. Such reviews could potentially result in further closures and the related costs could be material.

Failure to maintain adequate inventory levels would negatively impact operational profitability.

We maintain inventories of our product aging in barrels, as well as inventory needed to meet customer delivery requirements. We have used our barreled spirits inventory at market value as collateral in the Company’s financing. If we do not make timely payments on our financing obligations, or we breach our covenants in any financing document, including maintaining loan-to-value ratios, the lenders may foreclose and take possession of our inventory. In addition, this inventory is always at risk of loss due to theft, fire, evaporation, spoilage, or other damage, and any such loss, whether insured against or not, could cause us to fail to meet our orders and harm our sales and operating results. Also, our inventory may become obsolete as we introduce new products, cease to produce old products or modify the design of our products’ packaging, which would increase our operating losses and negatively impact our results of operations.

RISKS RELATED TO THE SAFE INDUSTRY

As a significant portion of our revenues is derived by demand for our safes and personal security products for firearms storage purposes, we depend on the availability and regulation of firearm/ammunition storage, as well as various economic, social and political factors.

Our performance is influenced by a variety of economic, social, and political factors. General economic conditions and consumer spending patterns can negatively impact our operating results. Economic uncertainty, unfavorable employment levels, declines in consumer confidence, increases in consumer debt levels, increased commodity prices, and other economic factors may affect consumer spending on discretionary items and adversely affect the demand for our products. In times of economic uncertainty, consumers tend to defer expenditures for discretionary items, which affects demand for our products. Any substantial deterioration in general economic conditions that diminish consumer confidence or discretionary income could reduce our sales and adversely affect our operating results. Economic conditions affect governmental political and budgetary policies. Economic conditions also affect governmental political and budgetary policies. As a result, economic conditions can have an effect on the sale of our products to law enforcement, government, and military customers. As a result, economic conditions also can have an effect on the sale of our products to law enforcement, government, and military customers.

Political and other factors can affect our performance. Concerns about presidential, congressional, and state elections and legislature and policy shifts resulting from those elections can affect the demand for our products. As most of our revenue is generated from sales of safes, which are purchased in large numbers for firearms storage, speculation surrounding control of firearms, firearm products, and ammunition at the federal, state, and local level and heightened fears of terrorism and crime can affect consumer demand for our products. Often, such concerns result in an increase in near-term consumer demand and subsequent softening of demand when such concerns subside. Inventory levels in excess of customer demand may negatively impact operating results and cash flow.

Federal and state legislatures frequently consider legislation relating to the regulation of firearms, including amendment or repeal of existing legislation. Existing laws may be affected by future judicial rulings and interpretations firearm products, ammunition, and safe gun storage. Existing laws may also be affected by future judicial rulings and interpretations firearm products, ammunition, and safe gun storage. If such restrictive changes to legislation develop, we could find it difficult, expensive, or even impossible to comply with them, impeding new product development and distribution of existing products.

A majority of our safes are built in Mexico. Our financial results may be affected by new tariffs or border adjustment taxes or other import restrictions. Our financial results may be affected by tariffs or border adjustment taxes or other import restrictions.

A material percentage of our safes are built in Mexico, along with a majority of our soft goods. We also depend on imports from Canada and other parts of the world. The imposition of tariffs or border adjustment taxes may affect our financial results. The current political climate is hostile to companies manufacturing goods outside of the U.S. Restrictions on trade with foreign countries, imposition of customs duties or further modifications to U.S. international trade policy have the potential to disrupt our supply chain or the supply chains of our customers and to adversely impact demand for our products, our costs, customers, suppliers and/or the U.S. economy or certain sectors thereof, potentially leading to negative effects on our business and financial condition. Significant changes to the U.S. federal government’s trade policies, including new tariffs or the renegotiation or termination of existing trade agreements and/or treaties, may adversely affect our financial performance. In recent years, the U.S. federal government has altered U.S. international trade policy and has indicated its intention to renegotiate or terminate certain existing trade agreements and treaties with foreign governments. The U.S. federal government’s decision to implement new trade agreements, and/or withdraw or materially modify other existing trade agreements or treaties may adversely impact our business, customers and/or suppliers by disrupting trade and commercial transactions and/or adversely affect the U.S. economy or specific portions thereof.

Shortages of components and materials, as well as supply chain disruptions, may delay or reduce our sales and increase our costs, thereby harming our results of operations.

The inability to obtain sufficient quantities of raw materials and components, including those necessary for the production of our products could result in reduced or delayed sales or lost orders. Any delay in or loss of sales or orders could adversely impact our operating results. Many of the materials used in the production of our products are available only from a limited number of suppliers. We do not have long-term supply contracts with any suppliers. As a result, we could be subject to increased costs, supply interruptions, and difficulties in obtaining raw materials and components.

Our reliance on third-party suppliers for various raw materials and components for our products exposes us to volatility in the availability, quality, and price of these raw materials and components. Our orders with certain of our suppliers may represent a very small portion of their total orders. As a result, they may not give priority to our business, leading to potential delays in or cancellation of our orders. A disruption in deliveries from our third-party suppliers, capacity constraints, production disruptions, price increases, or decreased availability of raw materials or commodities could have an adverse effect on our ability to meet our commitments to customers or increase our operating costs. Quality issues experienced by third party suppliers can adversely affect the quality and effectiveness of our products and result in liability and reputational harm. Quality issues experienced by third party suppliers can also adversely affect the quality and effectiveness of our products and result in liability and reputational harm.

The sales of our safes are dependent in large part on the sales of firearms.

We market safes and other personal security products for sale to a wide variety of consumers. Although our customer base is large and diverse, and our products serve our customers’ different needs, our products have been particularly popular among collectors, hunters, sportsmen, competitive shooters, and gun enthusiasts. The sale of safe firearms storage and security components is influenced by the sale and usage of firearms. Sales of firearms are influenced by a variety of economic, social, and political factors, which may result in volatile sales.

We do not have long-term purchase commitments from our customers, and their ability to cancel, reduce, or delay orders could reduce our revenue and increase our costs.

Our customers do not provide us with firm, long-term volume purchase commitments, but instead issue purchase orders for our products as needed. As a result, customers can cancel purchase orders or reduce or delay orders at any time. The cancellation, delay, or reduction of customer purchase orders could result in reduced sales, excess inventory, unabsorbed overhead, and reduced income from operations.

We often schedule internal production levels and place orders for products with third party manufacturers before receiving firm orders from our customers. Therefore, if we fail to accurately forecast customer demand, we may experience excess inventory levels or a shortage of products to deliver to our customers. Factors that could affect our ability to accurately forecast demand for our products include the following:

Inventory levels in excess of consumer demand may result in inventory write-downs and the sale of excess inventory at discounted prices, which could have an adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition. If we underestimate demand for our products, our suppliers may not be able to react quickly enough to meet consumer demand, resulting in delays in the shipment of products and lost revenue, and damage to our reputation and customer and consumer relationships. We may not be able to manage inventory levels successfully to meet future order and reorder requirements.

We face intense competition that could result in our losing or failing to gain market share and suffering reduced sales.

We operate in intensely competitive markets that are characterized by price erosion and competition from major domestic and international companies. Competition in the markets in which we operate is based on a number of factors, including price, quality, performance, reliability, styling, product features, and warranties, and sales and marketing programs. This intense competition could result in pricing pressures, lower sales, reduced margins, and lower market share.

Our competitors include nationwide safe manufacturers and various smaller manufacturers and importers. Most of our competitors have greater market recognition, larger customer bases, and substantially greater financial, technical, marketing, distribution, and other resources than we possess and that afford them competitive advantages. As a result, they may be able to devote greater resources to the promotion and sale of products, to invest more funds in intellectual property and product development, to negotiate lower prices for raw materials and components, to deliver competitive products at lower prices, and to introduce new products and respond to consumer requirements more quickly than we can.

Our competitors could introduce products with superior features at lower prices than our products and could bundle existing or new products with other more established products to compete with us. Certain of our competitors may be willing to reduce prices and accept lower profit margins to compete with us. Our competitors could gain market share by acquiring or forming strategic alliances with other competitors. Our competitors could also gain market share by acquiring or forming strategic alliances with other competitors.

Finally, we may face additional sources of competition in the future because new distribution methods offered by the Internet and electronic commerce have removed many of the barriers to entry historically faced by start-up companies. Retailers also demand that suppliers reduce their prices on products, which could lead to lower margins. Any of the foregoing effects could cause our sales to decline, which would harm our financial position and results of operations.

Our ability to compete successfully depends on a number of factors, both within and outside our control. These factors include the following:

Because we believe technological and functional distinctions among competing products in our markets are perceived by many end-user consumers to be relatively modest, effectiveness in marketing and manufacturing are particularly important competitive factors in our business.

RISKS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY

Our success depends upon our ability to introduce new products that track customer preferences.

Our success depends upon our ability to introduce new products that track consumer preferences. Our efforts to introduce new products into the market may not be successful, and new products that we introduce may not result in customer or market acceptance. We develop new products that we believe will match consumer preferences. The development of a new product is a lengthy and costly process and may not result in the development of a marketable or profitable product. Failure to develop new products that are attractive to consumers could decrease our sales, operating margins, and market share and could adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition.

Our advertising and promotional investments may affect the Company’s financial results but not be effective.

The Company has made and expects to continue to make, significant advertising and promotional expenditures to enhance its brand. These expenditures may adversely affect the Company’s results of operations in a particular quarter or even for the full year, and may not result in increased sales. Variations in the levels of advertising and promotional expenditures have in the past caused, and are expected in the future to continue to cause, variability in the Company’s quarterly results of operations. While the Company attempts to invest only in effective advertising and promotional activities, it is difficult to correlate such investments with sales results, and there is no guarantee that the Company’s expenditures will be effective in building brand equity or growing long term sales.

Our business depends on maintaining and strengthening our brand, as well as our reputation as a producer of high-quality goods, to maintain and generate ongoing demand for our products, and any harm to our brand could result in a significant reduction in such demand which could materially adversely affect our results of operations.

The “American Rebel” name and brand image are integral to the growth of our business, as well as to the implementation of our strategies for expanding our business. Our success depends on the value and reputation of our brand, which, in turn, depends on factors such as the quality, design, performance, functionality and durability of our products, e-commerce sales and retail partner floor spaces, our communication activities, including advertising, social media and public relations, and our management of the customer experience, including direct interfaces through customer service. Maintaining, promoting, and positioning our brand are important to expanding our customer base and will depend largely on the success of our marketing and merchandising efforts and our ability to provide consistent, high-quality consumer experiences. To sustain long-term growth, we must continue to successfully promote our products to consumers, as well as other individuals, who value and identify with our brand.

Ineffective marketing, negative publicity, product diversion to unauthorized distribution channels, product or manufacturing defects, and those and other factors could rapidly and severely diminish customer confidence in us. Maintaining and enhancing our brand image are important to expanding our customer base. If we are unable to maintain or enhance our brand in current or new markets, or if we fail to continue to successfully market and sell our products to our existing customers or expand our customer base, our growth strategy and results of operations could be harmed.

Additionally, independent third parties and consumers often review our products as well as those of our competitors. Perceptions of our offerings in the marketplace may be significantly influenced by these reviews, which are disseminated via various media, including the Internet. If reviews of our products are negative, or less positive as compared to those of our competitors, our brand may be adversely affected and our results of operations materially harmed.

We have a limited operating history on which you can evaluate our company.

We have a limited operating history upon which an evaluation of our business plan or performance and prospects can be made. Our business and prospects must be considered in the light of the potential problems, delays, uncertainties and complications encountered in connection with a newly established business and creating a new line of products. The risks include, in part, the possibility that we will not be able to develop functional and scalable products, or that although functional and scalable, our products and will not be economical to market; that our competitors hold proprietary rights that preclude us from marketing such products; that our competitors market a superior or equivalent product; that our competitors have such a significant advantage in brand recognition that our products will not be considered by potential customers; that we are not able to upgrade and enhance our technologies and products to accommodate new features as the market evolves; or the failure to receive necessary regulatory clearances for our products. To successfully introduce and market our products at a profit, we must establish brand name recognition and competitive advantages for our products. There are no assurances that we can successfully address these challenges. If it is unsuccessful, we and our business, financial condition and operating results could be materially and adversely affected.

The current and future expense levels are based largely on estimates of planned operations and future revenues. It is difficult to accurately forecast future revenues because our business is relatively new, and our market is rapidly developing. If our forecasts prove incorrect, the business, operating results and our financial condition will be materially and adversely affected. Moreover, we may be unable to adjust our spending in a timely manner to compensate for any unanticipated reduction in revenue. As a result, any significant reduction in revenues would immediately and adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

We are highly dependent on Charles A. Ross, our Chief Executive Officer. The loss of our Chief Executive Officer, whose knowledge, leadership and industry reputation upon which we rely, could harm our ability to execute our business plan. The loss of our Chief Executive Officer, whose knowledge, leadership and industry reputational upon which we rely, could harm our ability to execute our business plan.

We are highly dependent on Charles A. Ross, our Chief Executive Officer, Chairman of our board of directors (the “Board” or “Board of Directors”) and largest stockholder. Our success depends heavily upon the continued contributions of Mr. Ross, whose leadership, industry reputation entrepreneurial background and creative marketing skills may be difficult to replace at this stage in our business development, and on our ability to attract and retain similarly positioned prominent leaders. If we were to lose the services of our Chief Executive Officer, our ability to execute our business plan may be harmed and we may be forced to limit operations until such time as we could hire suitable replacements.

We cannot predict when we will achieve profitability.

We have not been profitable and cannot predict when or if we will achieve profitability. We have experienced net losses since our inception in December 2014.

We cannot predict when we will achieve profitability, if ever. Our inability to become profitable may force us to curtail or temporarily discontinue our research and development programs and our day-to-day operations. Furthermore, there can be no assurance that profitability, if achieved, can be sustained on an ongoing basis. As of December 31, 2024, we had an accumulated deficit of $64,491,550.

We have limited financial resources. Our independent registered auditor’s report includes an explanatory paragraph stating that there is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.

We have recorded net losses since inception and have significant accumulated deficits. We have relied upon loans and equity financings for operating capital. Total revenues will be insufficient to pay off existing debt and fund operations. We may be required to rely on further debt financing, further loans from related parties, and private placements of our common and preferred stock for our additional cash needs. Such funding sources may not be available, or the terms of such funding sources may not be acceptable to us.

We have identified several material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting. If we are unable to remediate these weaknesses, or otherwise fail to maintain proper and effective internal controls, our ability to produce timely and accurate financial statements could be impaired, which could adversely affect our operating results, our ability to operate our business, our stock price and access to the capital markets. We are limited, however, in our ability to fully respond to competitor price discounting because we cannot market our products at prices that may produce adverse relationships with our customers that operate brick and mortar locations as they may perceive themselves to be at a disadvantage based on lower e-commerce pricing to end consumers.

We have identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting and those weaknesses have led to a conclusion that our internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of December 31, 2024 or 2023. Our inability to remediate the material weaknesses, our discovery of additional weaknesses, and our inability to achieve and maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting, could adversely affect our results of operations, our stock price and investor confidence in our company.

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 requires that companies evaluate and report on the effectiveness of their internal control over financial reporting. As disclosed in more detail under Item 9A, “Controls and Procedures” above, we identified material weaknesses as of December 31, 2023 in our internal control over financial reporting, which continues to exist as of December 31, 2024. Due to the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, we have also concluded our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of December 31, 2024.

Failure to have effective internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures can impair our ability to produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis and has led and could again lead to a restatement of our financial statements. For example, the identified material weaknesses resulted in material adjustments to the consolidated financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022. If, as a result of the ineffectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures, we cannot provide reliable financial statements, our business decision processes may be adversely affected, our business and results of operations could be harmed, investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information and our ability to obtain additional financing, or additional financing on favorable terms, could be adversely affected.

Our management has taken action to begin remediating the material weaknesses; however, certain remedial actions have not started or have only recently been undertaken, and while we expect to continue to implement our remediation plans throughout the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025, we cannot be certain as to when remediation will be fully completed. In addition, we could in the future identify additional internal control deficiencies that could rise to the level of a material weakness or uncover other errors in financial reporting. During the course of our evaluation, we may identify areas requiring improvement and may be required to design additional enhanced processes and controls to address issues identified through this review. In addition, there can be no assurance that such remediation efforts will be successful, that our internal control over financial reporting will be effective as a result of these efforts or that any such future deficiencies identified may not be material weaknesses that would be required to be reported in future periods.

If we fail to remediate these material weaknesses and maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures or internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to rely on the integrity of our financial results, which could result in inaccurate or additional late reporting of our financial results, as well as delays or the inability to meet our future reporting obligations or to comply with SEC rules and regulations. This could result in claims or proceedings against us, including by stockholders or the SEC. The defense of any such claims could cause the diversion of the Company’s attention and resources and could cause us to incur significant legal and other expenses even if the matters are resolved in our favor.

We restated certain of our previously issued consolidated financial statements, which resulted in unanticipated costs and may affect investor confidence and raise reputational issues.

We reached a determination to restate our consolidated financial statements and related disclosures for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 in our Form 10-K/A filed on January 29, 2025. The restatement also included other adjustments to historical periods. As a result, we have incurred unanticipated costs for accounting, professional and legal fees in connection with or related to the restatement, and have become subject to a number of additional risks and uncertainties, which may affect investor confidence in the accuracy of our financial disclosures and may raise reputational issues for our business. Failure to achieve and maintain an effective internal control environment could cause us to face regulatory action and also cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, either of which could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition, results of operations and future prospects.

Absent relief, as a result of our failure to timely file a periodic report with the SEC, we are currently ineligible to continue to use or file short form shelf registration statements on Form S-3, which may impair our ability to raise capital on terms favorable to us, in a timely manner or at all.

Form S-3 permits eligible issuers to conduct registered offerings using a short form registration statement that allows the issuer to incorporate by reference its past and future filings and reports made under the Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). In addition, Form S-3 enables eligible issuers to conduct primary offerings “off the shelf” under Rule 415 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). The shelf registration process, combined with the ability to forward incorporate information, allows issuers to avoid delays and interruptions in the offering process and to access the capital markets in a more expeditions and efficient manner than raising capital in a standard registered offering pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-3. The ability to newly register securities for resale may also be limited as a result of the loss of Form S-3 eligibility with respect to such registrations.

As a result of our failure to timely file a periodic report with the SEC in connection with our reaudit of the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, absent a waiver of the Form S-3 eligibility requirements, we are ineligible to use or file new short form registration statements on Form S-3. In the event of the absence of a waiver, our inability to use or file new registration statements on Form S-3 may significantly impair our ability to raise necessary capital to run our operations and progress our business and product development programs. If we seek to access the capital markets through a registered offering during the period of time that we are unable to file a new registration statement on Form S-3, we may be required to publicly disclose a proposed offering and the material terms thereof before the offering commences, we may experience delays in the offering process due to SEC review of a Form S-1 registration statement, and we may incur increased offering and transaction costs and other considerations. Disclosing a public offering prior to the formal commencement of an offering may result in downward pressure on our stock price. If we are unable to raise capital through a registered offering, we would be required to conduct our equity financing transactions on a private placement basis, which may be subject to pricing, size and other limitations imposed under the Nasdaq Stock Exchange (“Nasdaq”) rules, or seek other sources of capital. In addition, we will not be permitted to conduct an “at the market offering” absent an effective primary registration statement on Form S-3.

Our failure to timely file certain periodic reports with the SEC and our prior restatements have had, and may in the future have further, material adverse consequences to our business, our financial condition, results of operations and our cash flows.

As previously publicly disclosed, we have failed to timely file our quarterly report for the nine months ended September 30, 2024.

Also as previously publicly disclosed, we have restated previously issued financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022.

Our failure to timely file certain periodic reports with the SEC and our prior restatements have had, and may in the future have further, material adverse consequences to, and pose significant risk to, our business, which could materially and adversely affect our business, our financial condition, our results of operations and our cash flows. These adverse consequences include, but are not limited to, the potential delisting of our Common Stock on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange (“Nasdaq”), stockholder litigation, SEC investigations, stockholder activism, violations of our obligations under our existing material arrangements, including our credit agreements and the terms of our other financing agreements, our ability to raise capital on attractive terms, or at all, significant fluctuations in the value of our Common Stock, among others.

Our failure to timely file the September 30, 2024 Form 10-Q with the SEC and our prior restatements may subject us to stockholder litigation or governmental or regulatory investigations. We have incurred, and may be required in future to incur further, significant accounting, consulting, professional and legal fees and other expenses related to the late filing and the restatements.

We also may fail to be timely on our future filings, which, in addition to the risks and consequences described above, may create further harm to us. For example, we may incur penalty or other default fees owed to holders of our debt instruments as a result of our failure to timely file our periodic reports. In addition, the holders of these debt instruments may raise additional claims resulting from the Company’s inability to timely and accurately report its financial information, which could cause further harm to the Company and its stockholders, all of which could materially and adversely affect to our business, our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

We will need additional capital and continued access to operating lines of credit in the future to finance our planned growth, which we may not be able to raise or it may only be available on terms unfavorable to us or our stockholders, which may result in our inability to fund our working capital requirements and harm our operational results.

We have and expect to continue to have substantial working capital needs. Our cash on hand, together with cash generated from product sales, cash equivalents and short-term investments will not meet our working capital and capital expenditure requirements for the next twelve months. Throughout 2024 and continuing into 2025, we have raised a substantial amount of debt to fund our operations. In addition, we will need to raise additional funds to fund our operations and implement our growth strategy, or to respond to competitive pressures and/or perceived opportunities, such as investment, acquisition, marketing and development activities.

If we experience operating difficulties, lose access to important operating lines of credit or other factors, many of which may be beyond our control, cause our revenues or cash flows from operations, if any, to decrease, we may be limited in our ability to spend the capital necessary to complete our development, marketing and growth programs. We require additional financing, in addition to anticipated cash generated from our operations, to fund our working capital requirements. Additional financing might not be available on terms favorable to us, or at all. If adequate funds were not available or were not available on acceptable terms, our ability to fund our operations, take advantage of unanticipated opportunities, develop or enhance our business or otherwise respond to competitive pressures would be significantly limited. In such a capital restricted situation, we may curtail our marketing, development, and operational activities or be forced to sell some of our assets on an untimely or unfavorable basis.

Our financial results may be affected by tariffs or border adjustment taxes or other import restrictions.

Our current backpack and apparel suppliers have facilities both in China and Mexico and the imposition of tariffs or border adjustment taxes may affect our financial results. The current political climate is hostile to companies manufacturing goods outside of the US. At the current manufacturing levels, it is impractical to seek manufacturing facilities in the United States as US manufacturers are unable to meet or even approach the cost of manufacturing small quantities of custom-made goods. We are in the process of locating an alternative supplier which will have the capacity to produce commercial volumes of our backpacks and apparel to meet our expected demands. However, we have not yet located a suitable supplier and, even if we are able to do so, there is no guarantee that our manufacturing process will scale to produce our products in quantities sufficient to meet demand.

An inability to expand our e-commerce business and sales organization to effectively address existing and new markets that we intend to target could reduce our future growth and impact our business and operating results.

Consumers are increasingly purchasing products online. We operate a direct-to-consumer e-commerce store to maintain an online presence with our end users. The future success of our online operations depends on our ability to use our marketing resources to communicate with existing and potential customers. We face competitive pressure to offer promotional discounts, which could impact our gross margin and increase our marketing expenses. We are limited, however, in our ability to fully respond to competitor price discounting because we cannot market our products at prices that may produce adverse relationships with our customers that operate brick and mortar locations as they may perceive themselves to be at a disadvantage based on lower e-commerce pricing to end consumers. There is no assurance that we will be able to successfully expand our e-commerce business to respond to shifting consumer traffic patterns and direct-to-consumer buying trends.

In addition, e-commerce and direct-to-consumer operations are subject to numerous risks, including implementing and maintaining appropriate technology to support business strategies; reliance on third-party computer hardware/software and service providers; data breaches; violations of state, federal or international laws, including those relating to firearms and ammunition sales; online privacy; credit card fraud; telecommunication failures; electronic break-ins and similar disruptions; and disruption of Internet service. Our inability to adequately respond to these risks and uncertainties or to successfully maintain and expand our direct-to-consumer business may have an adverse impact on our business and operating results.

We sell products that create exposure to potential product liability, warranty liability, or personal injury claims and litigation.

Our products are used to store, in part, items that involve risk of personal injury and death. Our products expose us to potential product liability, warranty liability, and personal injury claims and litigation relating to the use or misuse of our products, including allegations of defects in manufacturing, defects in design, a failure to warn of dangers inherent in the product or activities associated with the product, negligence, and strict liability. If successful, any such claims could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition. Defects in our products may result in a loss of sales, recall expenses, delay in market acceptance, and damage to our reputation and increased warranty costs, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition. Although we maintain product liability insurance in amounts that we believe are reasonable, we may not be able to maintain such insurance on acceptable terms, if at all, in the future and product liability claims may exceed the amount of insurance coverage. In addition, our reputation may be adversely affected by such claims, whether or not successful, including potential negative publicity about our products.

Despite our indebtedness levels, we are able to incur substantially more debt. This could further increase the risks associated with its leverage.

We may incur substantial additional indebtedness in the future, although certain terms of current debt agreements prohibit us from doing so. To the extent that we incur additional indebtedness, the risks associated with its substantial indebtedness described above, including its possible inability to service its debt, will increase.

At this stage of our business operations, even with our good faith efforts, investors in our company may lose some or all of their investment.

Because the nature of our business is expected to change as a result of shifts in the industries in which we operate, competition, and the development of new and improved technology, management forecasts are not necessarily indicative of future operations and should not be relied upon as an indication of future performance. Further, we have raised substantial debt and equity to fund our business operations, which to date have generated insufficient revenue to support our working capital needs.

While management believes its estimates of projected occurrences and events are within the timetable of its business plan, our actual results may differ substantially from those that are currently anticipated. If our revenues do not increase to a level to support our working capital needs, we will be forced to seek equity capital to fund our operations and repay our substantial debt balances, which may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all.

Product defects could adversely affect the results of our operations.

The design, manufacture and marketing of our products involve certain inherent risks. Manufacturing or design defects, unanticipated use of our products, or inadequate disclosure of risks relating to the use of our products can lead to injury or other adverse events. We may not properly anticipate customer applications of our products and our products may fail to survive such unanticipated customer use. The Company may not properly anticipate customer applications of our products and our products may fail to survive such unanticipated customer use. If our products fail to adequately perform to meet the customer’s expectations, the customer may demand refunds or replacements which will negatively affect our profitability. If the Company’s products fail to adequately perform to meet the customer’s expectations, the customer may demand refunds or replacements which will negatively affect the Company’s profitability.

We could be exposed to significant liability claims if we are unable to obtain insurance at acceptable costs and adequate levels or otherwise protect ourselves against potential product liability claims.

Our products support the use and access to firearms and if our products are ineffective, we could require protection against potential product liability claims.

We will not be profitable unless we can demonstrate that our products can be manufactured at low prices.

To date, we have manufactured our products in limited volume. As we create demand for our products, our projections require the benefit of volume discounts as we increase the size of our order. As the Company creates demand for its products, our projections require the benefit of volume discounts as we increase the size of our order. We can offer no assurance that either we or our manufacturing partners will develop efficient, automated, low-cost manufacturing capabilities and processes to meet the quality, price, engineering, design and production standards or production volumes required to successfully mass market our products. Even if we or our manufacturing partners are successful in developing such manufacturing capability and processes, we do not know whether we or they will be timely in meeting our product commercialization schedule or the production and delivery requirements of potential customers. A failure to develop such manufacturing processes and capabilities could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial results.

Our profitability in part is dependent on material and other manufacturing costs. We are unable to offer any assurance that either we or a manufacturing partner will be able to reduce costs to a level that will allow production of a competitive product or that any product produced using lower cost materials and manufacturing processes will not suffer from a reduction in performance, reliability and longevity.

War, terrorism, other acts of violence or natural or manmade disasters such as a pandemic, epidemic, outbreak of an infectious disease or other public health crisis may affect the markets in which we operate, our customers, our delivery of products and customer service, and could have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations, or financial costs condition.

Our business and supply chain may be adversely affected by instability, disruption or destruction in a geographic region in which it operates, regardless of cause, including war, terrorism, riot, civil insurrection or social unrest, and natural or manmade disasters, including famine, food, fire, earthquake, storm or pandemic events and spread of disease (including the pandemics similar to the outbreak of COVID-19).

Such events may cause customers to suspend their decisions on using our products and services, make it impossible to access some of our inventory, and give rise to sudden significant changes in regional and global economic conditions and cycles that could interfere with purchases of goods or services and commitments to develop new products and services. These events pose significant risks to our personnel and to physical facilities, transportation and operations, which could materially adversely affect our financial results. These events also pose significant risks to the Company’s personnel and to physical facilities, transportation and operations, which could materially adversely affect the Company’s financial results.

Any significant disruption to communications and travel, including travel restrictions and other potential protective quarantine measures against pandemics similar to COVID-19 or other public health crisis by governmental agencies, could make it difficult for us to deliver goods services to its customers. War, riots, or other disasters may increase the need for our products and demand by government and military may make it difficult for use to provide products to customers. Further, travel restrictions and protective measures against pandemics similar to COVID-19 could cause us to incur additional unexpected labor costs and expenses or could restrain our ability to retain the highly skilled personnel we need for our operations. Further, travel restrictions and protective measures against COVID-19 could cause the Company to incur additional unexpected labor costs and expenses or could restrain the Company’s ability to retain the highly skilled personnel the Company needs for its operations. Due to the substantial uncertainty related to the effects of the pandemic, its duration and the related market impacts, including the economic stimulus activity, we are unable to predict the specific impact the pandemic and related restrictions (including the lifting or re-imposing of restrictions due to the Omicron variant or otherwise) will have on our results of operations, liquidity or long-term financial results.

The costs of being a public company could result in us being unable to continue as a going concern.

As a public company, we are required to comply with numerous financial reporting and legal requirements, including those pertaining to audits and internal control. The costs of maintaining public company reporting requirements could be significant and may preclude us from seeking financing or equity investment on terms acceptable to us and our stockholders. We estimate these costs to be in excess of $1,000,000 per year and may be higher if our business volume or business activity increases significantly. Our current estimate of costs does not include the necessary expenses associated with compliance, documentation and specific reporting requirements of Section 404 as we will not be subject to the full reporting requirements of Section 404 until we exceed $700 million in public float market capitalization.

If our revenues are insufficient or non-existent, or we cannot satisfy many of these costs through the issuance of shares or debt, we may be unable to satisfy these costs in the normal course of business. This would certainly result in our being unable to continue as a going concern.

Any acquisitions that we potentially undertake will involve significant risks, and any acquisitions that we undertake in the future could disrupt our business, dilute stockholder value, and harm our operating results.

Part of our growth strategy is to expand our operations through strategic acquisitions to enhance existing products and offer new products, enter new markets and businesses, strengthen and avoid interruption from our supply chain, and enhance our position in current markets and businesses. Acquisitions involve significant risks and uncertainties. We cannot accurately predict the timing, size, and success of any future acquisitions. We may be unable to identify suitable acquisition candidates or to complete the acquisitions of candidates that we identify. Increased competition for acquisition candidates or increased asking prices by acquisition candidates may increase purchase prices for acquisitions to levels beyond our financial capability or to levels that would not result in the returns required by our acquisition criteria. Unforeseen expenses, difficulties, and delays frequently encountered in connection with expansion through acquisitions could inhibit our growth and negatively impact our operating results.

Our ability to complete acquisitions that we desire to make will depend upon various factors, including the following:

We may have little or no experience with certain acquired businesses, which could involve significantly different supply chains, production techniques, customers, and competitive factors than our current business. This lack of experience would require us to rely to a great extent on the management teams of these acquired businesses. These acquisitions could require us to make significant investments in systems, equipment, facilities, and personnel in anticipation of growth. These acquisitions also could require us to make significant investments in systems, equipment, facilities, and personnel in anticipation of growth. These costs could be essential to implement our growth strategy in supporting our expanded activities and resulting corporate structure changes. We may be unable to achieve some or all of the benefits that we expect to achieve as we expand into these new markets within the time frames we expect, if at all. If we fail to achieve some or all of the benefits that we expect to achieve as we expand into these new markets, or do not achieve them within the time frames we expect, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Unforeseen expenses, difficulties, and delays frequently encountered in connection with future acquisitions could inhibit our growth and negatively impact our profitability. Any future acquisitions may not meet our strategic objectives or perform as anticipated. In addition, the size, timing, and success of any future acquisitions may cause substantial fluctuations in our operating results from quarter to quarter. These interim fluctuations could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

If we finance any future acquisitions in whole or in part through the issuance of common stock or securities convertible into or exercisable for common stock, existing stockholders will experience dilution in the voting power of their common stock and earnings per share could be negatively impacted. The extent to which we will be able or willing to use our common stock for acquisitions will depend on the market price of our common stock from time-to-time and the willingness of potential acquisition candidates to accept our common stock as full or partial consideration for the sale of their businesses. The extent to which we will be able or willing to use our Common Stock for acquisitions will depend on the market price of our Common Stock from time-to-time and the willingness of potential acquisition candidates to accept our Common Stock as full or partial consideration for the sale of their businesses. Our inability to use our common stock as consideration, to generate cash from operations, or to obtain additional funding through debt or equity financings to pursue an acquisition could limit our growth. Our inability to use our Common Stock as consideration, to generate cash from operations, or to obtain additional funding through debt or equity financings to pursue an acquisition could limit our growth.

We may not be able to successfully fund future acquisitions of new businesses due to the lack of availability of debt or equity financing on acceptable terms, which could impede the implementation of our acquisition strategy and materially adversely impact our financial condition, business and results of operations.

In order to make future acquisitions, we intend to raise capital primarily through debt financing, additional equity offerings, the sale of stock or assets of our businesses, and by offering equity in the businesses to the sellers of target businesses or by undertaking a combination of any of the above. Since the timing and size of acquisitions cannot be readily predicted, we may need to be able to obtain funding on short notice to benefit fully from attractive acquisition opportunities. Such funding may not be available on acceptable terms. In addition, the level of our indebtedness may impact our ability to borrow funds on acceptable terms. Another source of capital for us may be the sale of additional shares of common stock, subject to market conditions and investor demand for the shares at prices that we consider to be in the interests of our stockholders. Another source of capital for us may be the sale of additional shares of Common Stock, subject to market conditions and investor demand for the shares at prices that we consider to be in the interests of our stockholders. These risks may materially adversely affect our ability to pursue our acquisition strategy successfully and materially adversely affect our financial condition, business and results of operations.

The industries in which we operate are competitive, price sensitive and subject to risks of governmental regulations or laws. If our competitors are better able to develop and market products that are more effective, less costly, easier to use, or are otherwise more attractive, we may be unable to compete effectively with other companies.

The safe and personal security industry is characterized by intense competition. We will face competition on the basis of product features, reliability, price, apparent value, and other factors. Competitors may include large safe makers and other companies, some of which have significantly greater financial and marketing resources than we do, and firms that are more specialized than we are with respect to particular markets. Our competition may respond more quickly to new or emerging styles, undertake more extensive marketing campaigns, have greater financial, marketing and other resources than ours or may be more successful in attracting potential customers, employees and strategic partners.

Our industry could experience greater scrutiny and regulation by governmental authorities, which may lead to greater governmental regulation in the future.

The rapidly growing interest in new concealed carry products that this rapidly growing market may attract the attention of government regulators and legislators. The current trend in legislation is to roll back or minimize access to firearms restrictions, but there can be no assurance that this trend will continue.

RISKS RELATED TO OUR LEGAL AND REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT

Failure to comply with applicable laws and changing legal and regulatory requirements could harm our business and financial results.

Our policies and procedures are reasonably designed to comply with applicable laws, accounting and reporting requirements, tax rules and other regulations and requirements, including those imposed by the SEC, and foreign countries, as well as applicable trade, labor, safety, environmental, labeling and gun safety related laws, such as the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act as well as state laws. The complexity of the regulatory environment in which we operate and the related cost of compliance are both increasing due to additional or changing legal and regulatory requirements, our ongoing expansion into new markets and new channels, and the fact that foreign laws occasionally conflict with domestic laws. In addition to potential damage to our reputation and brand, failure by us or our business partners to comply with the various applicable laws and regulations, as well as changes in laws and regulations or the manner in which they are interpreted or applied, may result in litigation, civil and criminal liability, damages, fines and penalties, increased cost of regulatory compliance and restatements of our financial statements and have an adverse impact on our business and financial results.

Our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes may be limited.

As of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, we continue to have net operating loss carryforwards, or “NOLs”, for federal and state income tax purposes of $64,393,753 and $46,789,389, respectively, which begin to expire in 2032. Net operating loss carryforwards are available to reduce future taxable income. Federal net operating losses generated before 2018 will begin to expire in 2032. Federal net operating losses generated in and after 2018 may be carried forward indefinitely. The federal net operating losses generated before 2018 will begin to expire in 2032. The federal net operating losses generated in and after 2018 may be carried forward indefinitely. The expiration of state NOL carryforwards vary by state and begin to expire in 2024. It is possible that we will not generate sufficient taxable income in time to use the NOLs before their expiration, or at all. The expiration of state NOL carryforwards vary by state and begin to expire in 2024. It is possible that we will not generate taxable income in time to use NOLs before their expiration, or at all. Under Section 382 and Section 383 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code, if a corporation undergoes an “ownership change,” the corporation’s ability to use its pre-change NOLs and other tax attributes to offset its post-change income may be limited. In general, an “ownership change” will occur if there is a cumulative change in our ownership by “5 percent (and greater than 5 percent) stockholders” that exceeds 50 percentage points or more in change over a rolling three-year period. In general, an “ownership change” will occur if there is a cumulative change in our ownership by “5 percent stockholders” that exceeds 50 percentage points over a rolling three-year period. Similar rules may apply under state tax laws. Our ability to use NOLs and other tax attributes to reduce future taxable income and liabilities may be subject to annual limitations as a result of prior ownership changes and ownership changes that may occur in the future (which may be outside our control).

Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, or the Tax Act, as amended by the CARES Act, NOLs arising in tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, are subject to an 80% of taxable income limitation (as calculated before taking the NOLs into account). In addition, NOLs arising in tax years 2018, 2019, and 2020 were subject to a five-year carryback along with an indefinite carryforward, while NOLs arising in tax years beginning after December 31, 2020, are subject to indefinite carryforward but cannot be carried back. Our NOLs may be subject to limitations in other jurisdictions. Our NOLs may also be subject to limitations in other jurisdictions. For example, California recently enacted legislation suspending the use of NOLs for tax years 2020, 2021, and 2022 for many taxpayers. In future years, if and when a net deferred tax asset is recognized related to our NOLs, the changes in the carryforward/carryback periods as well as new limitations on use of NOLs may significantly impact our valuation allowance assessments for NOLs generated after December 31, 2017.

If we are unable to protect our intellectual property, we may lose a competitive advantage or incur substantial litigation costs to protect our rights.

Our future success depends upon our proprietary technology. Our protective measures, including patent and trade secret protection, may prove inadequate to protect our proprietary rights. The right to stop others from misusing our trademarks, service marks, and patents in commerce depends to some extent on our ability to show evidence of enforcement of our rights against such misuse in commerce. Our efforts to stop improper use, if insufficient, may lead to loss of trademark and service mark rights, brand loyalty, and notoriety among our customers and prospective customers. The scope of any patent that we have or may obtain may not prevent others from developing and selling competing products. The validity and breadth of claims covered in technology patents involve complex legal and factual questions, and the resolution of such claims may be highly uncertain, and expensive. In addition, our patents may be held invalid upon challenge, or others may claim rights in or ownership of our patents. Company owned trademarks are listed under the heading Intellectual Property.

We are subject to the periodic reporting requirements of Section 15(d) and 12(g) of the Exchange Act that require us to incur audit fees and legal fees in connection with the preparation of such reports. These additional costs could reduce or eliminate our ability to earn a profit.

We are required to file periodic reports with the SEC pursuant to the Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. In order to comply with these requirements, our independent registered public accounting firm will have to review our financial statements on a quarterly basis and audit our financial statements on an annual basis. Moreover, our legal counsel will have to review and assist in the preparation of such reports. The costs charged by these professionals for such services cannot be accurately predicted at this time because factors such as the number and type of transactions that we engage in, and the complexity of our reports cannot be determined at this time and will affect the amount of time to be spent by our auditors and attorneys. However, the incurrence of such costs will obviously be an expense to our operations and thus have a negative effect on our ability to meet our overhead requirements and earn a profit.

However, for as long as we remain a smaller reporting company as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K, we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not smaller reporting companies including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, reduced financial statement disclosure in registration statements, which must include two years of audited financial statements, reduced financial statement disclosure in annual reports on Form 10-K, and exemptions from the auditor attestation of management’s assessment of internal control over financial reporting. We may take advantage of these reporting exemptions until we are no longer a smaller reporting company.

If we cannot provide reliable financial reports or prevent fraud, our business and operating results could be harmed, investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information, and the trading price of our common stock, could drop significantly.

We have identified a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting which could, if not remediated, result in material misstatements in our financial statements.

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over our financial reporting. As disclosed in Item 9A, management identified material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting related to the financial reporting cycle.

A material weakness is defined as a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. As a result of our material weaknesses, management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective. Management has developed a remediation plan in response to the material weakness identified. During 2024, management added additional experienced accounting personnel and continued to leverage external accounting resources to strengthen the financial close and reporting process so as to more effectively detect such misstatements in a more timely fashion. The Company intends to continue strengthening its internal resources while utilizing an external consulting firm to support public reporting requirements. This remediation plan is intended to address the identified material weaknesses and enhance our overall control environment.

Material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting have previously required us to restate our financial statements and if our remedial measures are insufficient to address the material weaknesses, or if additional material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in our internal control are discovered or occur in the future, our Consolidated Financial Statements may contain material misstatements and we could be required to restate our financial results. We can give no assurance that the measures we have taken and plan to take in the future will remediate the material weakness identified or that any additional material weaknesses or restatements of financial results will not arise in the future due to a failure to implement and maintain adequate internal control over financial reporting or circumvention of these controls. In addition, even if we are successful in strengthening our controls and procedures, in the future those controls and procedures may not be adequate to prevent or identify irregularities or errors or to facilitate the fair presentation of our financial statements.

We may face litigation and other risks as a result of the material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting.

The Company previously restated its consolidated financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022. As a result of material weaknesses that we identified in our internal control over financial reporting, the associated restatement, we may be subject to potential litigation or other disputes which may include, among others, claims invoking the federal and state securities laws, contractual claims or other claims arising from the restatement and material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting and the preparation of our financial statements. We can provide no assurance that such litigation or dispute will not arise in the future. Any such litigation or dispute, whether successful or not, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

RISKS RELATED TO AN INVESTMENT IN OUR SECURITIES

Stockholders’ voting power and ownership interest may be diluted significantly through our efforts to obtain financing and satisfy obligations through issuance of additional shares.

Our Second Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation authorizes our board of directors to issue up to 600,000,000 shares of common stock and up to 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock, of which we have designated 150,000 shares as Series A – Convertible Preferred Stock (“Series A Preferred Stock”) (124,812 of which were issued to three members of management, Messrs. Charles A. Ross, Jr., Doug E. Grau and Corey Lambrecht), and have superior voting rights of 1,000 to 1 over shares of our common stock, resulting in over 98% of the available stockholder votes, and are convertible (subject to vesting requirements) at a ratio of 500 to 1 into shares of common stock. The power of the board of directors to issue shares of common stock, preferred stock, warrants or options to purchase shares of common stock or preferred stock is generally not subject to stockholder approval, except for issuances of more than 20% of the company’s outstanding common stock or its voting power. The Series A Preferred Stock was issued prior to these shareholder approval limitations.

While we have completed several capital raises utilizing multiple financial institutions, we may attempt to raise additional capital by returning to the market to sell shares of common or preferred stock, possibly at a deep discount to the market price of our common stock. These actions may result in dilution of the ownership interests and voting power of existing stockholders, further dilute common stock book value, and may delay, defer or prevent a change of control. While we are currently in a capital raise utilizing our Series C and D Preferred Stock, we do not believe that the terms of the offering are at a deep discount.

Additionally, other series of preferred stock, besides our Series C and D Preferred Stock, currently being offered, may carry the preferred right to our assets upon liquidation, the right to receive dividend payments before dividends are distributed to the holders of common stock, superior voting or conversion rights and the right to the redemption of the shares, together with a premium, prior to the redemption of our common stock.

Our board of directors has the authority, without stockholder approval, to issue additional series of preferred stock with terms that may not be beneficial to Common Stockholders and with the ability to affect adversely stockholder voting power and perpetuate their control over us.

Our Second Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation allow us to issue shares of preferred stock without any vote or further action by our stockholders. Our board of directors has the authority to fix and determine the relative rights and preferences of preferred stock. As a result, our board of directors could authorize the issuance of a series of preferred stock that would grant to holders the preferred right to our assets upon liquidation, the right to receive dividend payments before dividends are distributed to the holders of common stock and the right to the redemption of the shares, together with a premium, prior to the redemption of our common stock.

Our common stock may be affected by limited trading volume and our share price may be volatile, which could adversely impact the value of our common stock.

There can be no assurance that an active trading market in our common stock can be maintained. Our common stock is likely to experience significant price and volume fluctuations in the future, which could adversely affect the market price of our common stock without regard to our operating performance and the market price of our common stock may drop below the price paid by investors. Our Common Stock is likely to experience significant price and volume fluctuations in the future, which could adversely affect the market price of our Common Stock without regard to our operating performance and the market price of our Common Stock may drop below the price paid by investors. In addition, we believe that factors such as our operating results, quarterly fluctuations in our financial results and changes in the overall economy or the condition of the financial markets could cause the price of our common stock to fluctuate substantially. In addition, we believe that factors such as our operating results, quarterly fluctuations in our financial results and changes in the overall economy or the condition of the financial markets, including as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic, could cause the price of our Common Stock to fluctuate substantially. These fluctuations may also cause short sellers to periodically enter the market in the belief that we will have poor results in the future. We cannot predict the actions of market participants and, therefore, can offer no assurances that the market for our common stock will be stable or appreciate over time.

Short sellers of our common stock may drive down the market price of our common stock.

Short selling is the practice of selling securities that the seller does not own but rather has borrowed or intends to borrow from a third party with the intention of buying identical securities at a later date to return to the lender. A short seller hopes to profit from a decline in the value of the securities between the sale of the borrowed securities and the purchase of the replacement shares, as the short seller expects to pay less in that purchase than it received in the sale. As it is therefore in the short seller’s interest for the price of the stock to decline, some short sellers publish, or arrange for the publication of, opinions or characterizations regarding the relevant issuer, its business prospects and similar matters calculated to or which may create negative market momentum, which may permit them to obtain profits for themselves as a result of selling the stock short. Issuers whose securities have historically had limited trading volumes and/or have been susceptible to relatively high volatility levels can be particularly vulnerable to such short seller attacks.

The publication of any such commentary regarding us by a short seller may bring about a temporary, or possibly long term, decline in the market price of our common stock. No assurances can be made that we will not become a target of such commentary and declines in the market price of our common stock will not occur in the future, in connection with such commentary by short sellers or otherwise.

We may not be able to maintain a listing of our common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market.

We must meet certain financial and liquidity criteria to maintain the listing of our common stock on the Nasdaq. If we violate the Nasdaq’s listing requirements or fail to meet its listing standards, our common stock may be delisted. In addition, our board of directors may determine that the cost of maintaining our listing on a national securities exchange outweighs the benefits of such listing. A delisting of our common stock from the Nasdaq may materially impair our stockholders’ ability to buy and sell our common stock and could have an adverse effect on the market price of, and the efficiency of the trading market for, our common stock. The delisting of our common stock could significantly impair our ability to raise capital and the value of your investment.

On February 28, 2024 the Company received a written notice from Nasdaq stating that because the Company has not yet held an annual meeting of shareholders within 12 months of the end of the Company’s 2022 fiscal year end, it no longer complies with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5620(a) for continued listing on The Nasdaq Capital Market. The Company had until April 15, 2024, which was 45 days from the date of the notice, to submit a plan to regain compliance and, if Nasdaq accepted the plan, it may grant an exception of up to 180 calendar days from the fiscal year end, or until June 28, 2024, to regain compliance. The Company held its annual meeting of stockholders on June 27, 2024, thereby regaining compliance with the Nasdaq annual meeting requirement.

As previously disclosed, on April 23, 2024, the Company received notice from Nasdaq indicating that, while the Company had not regained compliance with the Bid Price Requirement, Nasdaq had determined that the Company was eligible for an additional 180-day period, or until October 21, 2024, to regain compliance. On October 2, 2024, the Company effectuated a 1-for-9 reverse stock split, which resulted in its stock price increasing above the Bid Price Requirement. On October 16, 2024, the Company received a written notification from Nasdaq indicating that, as of October 15, 2024, the Company had regained compliance with the Bid Price Requirement.

On November 22, 2024, the Company received a notice from Nasdaq indicating that, as a result of not having timely filed the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, the Company is not in compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rules which require timely filing of periodic reports with the SEC. Pursuant to the Nasdaq Listing Rules, the Company has until January 21, 2025 to submit a plan to regain compliance. If the plan is accepted, an extension may be granted of up to 180 calendar days from the due date of the Initial Delinquent Filing, or May 19, 2025, to regain compliance. The Company submitted a compliance plan on January 20, 2025 and filed its Form 10-Q for the period ended September 30, 2024 on February 7, 2025. On February 10, 2025, the Company received a written notification from the Staff indicating that the Company had regained compliance with the periodic filing requirement under Nasdaq Listing Rules

On February 19, 2025, the Company received a notification letter Nasdaq stating that the Company was not in compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(b)(1) because the stockholders’ equity of the Company as of September 30, 2024, as reported in the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on February 7, 2025, was below the minimum requirement of $2,500,000 (the “Stockholders’ Equity Requirement”). The Notification Letter has no immediate effect on the Company’s continued listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market, subject to the Company’s compliance with the other continued listing requirements. Pursuant to Nasdaq’s Listing Rules, the Company has 45 calendar days (until April 7, 2025), to submit a plan to evidence compliance with the Rule (a “Compliance Plan”). The Company intends to submit a Compliance Plan within the required time, although there can be no assurance that the Compliance Plan will be accepted by Nasdaq. If the Compliance Plan is accepted by Nasdaq, the Company will be granted an extension of up to 180 calendar days from February 19, 2025 to evidence compliance with the Rule. In the event the Compliance Plan is not accepted by Nasdaq, or in the event the Compliance Plan is accepted but the Company fails to evidence compliance within the extension period, the Company will have the right to a hearing before Nasdaq’s Hearing Panel. The hearing request would stay any suspension or delisting action pending the conclusion of the hearing process and the expiration of any additional extension period granted by the panel following the hearing. The Company submitted the Compliance Plan on April 7, 2025, will continue to monitor its stockholders’ equity and, if appropriate, consider further available options to evidence compliance with the Stockholders’ Equity Requirement.

There can be no assurance as to whether the Company will remain compliant with the Nasdaq Listing Rules. A delisting of our Common Stock from Nasdaq (whether or not our Common Stock is subsequently listed on any of the marketplaces of the OTC Markets Group (the “OTC Markets”) thereafter) could have significant adverse impacts on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows by, among other things: reducing the liquidity, public float and market price of our Common Stock; reducing the number of investors, including institutional investors, willing to hold or acquire our Common Stock, which could negatively impact our ability to raise equity; decreasing the amount of news and analyst coverage relating to us; limiting our ability to issue additional securities, obtain additional financing or pursue strategic restructuring, refinancing or other transactions; and impacting our reputation and, as a consequence, our ability to attract new business. In addition, the delisting of our Common Stock from Nasdaq could constitute a breach of many of our existing material arrangements (whether or not our Common Stock is subsequently listed on any of the OTC Markets), including the terms of our credit facilities and the terms of our various debt instruments. If a delisting of our Common Stock were to cause us to violate our obligations under our credit facilities or debt instruments, such occurrence could trigger an event of default, which could have significant adverse impacts on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

If our Common Stock were to be delisted from Nasdaq, we intend to take actions to apply for listing the Company’s Common Stock on one of the OTC Markets. However, we understand that to be eligible for quotation on certain of the OTC Market, issuers must remain current in their filings with the SEC. In addition, even if our Common Stock is listed on the OTC Markets, the OTC Markets are generally regarded as a less efficient trading market than Nasdaq, and being listed on the OTC Markets may not resolve any breaches that may arise under our existing material arrangements, and thus many of the same risks described above would still apply.

Warrants are speculative in nature.

The common stock warrants (“Warrants”) included in our various public and private offerings do not confer any rights of common stock ownership on their holders, such as voting rights or the right to receive dividends, but rather merely represent the right to acquire shares of our common stock at a fixed price for a limited period of time. Specifically, commencing on the date of issuance, holders of the Warrants may exercise their right to acquire the common stock and pay an exercise price of per share, prior to five years from the date of issuance, after which date any unexercised Warrants will expire and have no further value. Specifically, commencing on the date of issuance, holders of the Warrants may exercise their right to acquire the Common Stock and pay an exercise price of per share, prior to five years from the date of issuance, after which date any unexercised Warrants will expire and have no further value. Until holders of the Warrants acquire common stock upon exercise of the Warrants, the holders will have no rights with respect to the common stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants. Until holders of the Warrants acquire Common Stock upon exercise of the Warrants, the holders will have no rights with respect to the Common Stock issuable upon exercise of the Warrants. Upon exercise of the Warrants, the holder will be entitled to exercise the rights of a Stockholder as to the security exercised only as to matters for which the record date occurs after the exercise. Moreover, the market value of the Warrants is uncertain and there can be no assurance that the market value of the Warrants will equal or exceed their public offering price. There can be no assurance that the market price of the common stock will ever equal or exceed the exercise price of the Warrants, and consequently, whether it will ever be profitable for holders of the Warrants to exercise the Warrants. There can be no assurance that the market price of the Common Stock will ever equal or exceed the exercise price of the Warrants, and consequently, whether it will ever be profitable for holders of the Warrants to exercise the Warrants.

Provisions of the Warrants sold in our public and private offerings could discourage an acquisition of us by a third party.

In addition to the discussion of the provisions of our governing organizational documents, certain provisions of the Warrants offered in our various public and private offerings could make it more difficult or expensive for a third party to acquire us. The Warrants prohibit us from engaging in certain transactions constituting “fundamental transactions” unless, among other things, the surviving entity assumes our obligations under the Warrants. These and other provisions of the Warrants could prevent or deter a third party from acquiring us even where the acquisition could be beneficial to our stockholders.

Our executive officers and directors, and their affiliated entities, although they own an insignificant percentage of our common stock, hold super voting preferred stock will allow them to be able to exert significant control over matters subject to stockholder approval.

Our executive officers and directors beneficially own only approximately 1% of our common stock. However, as referenced above, we issued 124,812 shares of the Series A Preferred Stock to three members of our executive management team, Messrs. However, as referenced above, we issued 100,000 shares of the Existing Series A Preferred Stock to two members of our management, Messrs. Charles A. Ross, Jr., Corey Lambrecht and Doug E. Grau, which have superior voting rights of 1,000 to 1 over shares of our common stock, resulting in over 98% of the current available stockholder votes. In addition, these shares are able to be converted into shares of common stock at a rate of 1 share of Series A Preferred Stock into 500 shares of common stock over a three to five-year period under certain circumstances.

Accordingly, these stockholders who are members of management may, as a practical matter, continue to be able to control the election of a majority of our directors and the determination of all corporate actions after these offerings and any future offerings. This concentration of ownership could delay or prevent a change in control of us.

Certain provisions of our second amended and restated articles of incorporation may make it more difficult for a third party to effect a change-of-control.

Our second amended and restated articles of incorporation authorizes our Board to issue up to a certain number of shares of preferred stock. The preferred stock may be issued in one or more series, the terms of which may be determined at the time of issuance by our Board without further action by the stockholders. These terms may include voting rights including the right to vote as a series on particular matters, preferences as to dividends and liquidation, conversion rights, redemption rights and sinking fund provisions. The issuance of any preferred stock could diminish the rights of holders of existing shares, and therefore could reduce the value of such shares. In addition, specific rights granted to future holders of preferred stock could be used to restrict our ability to merge with, or sell assets to, a third party. The ability of our Board to issue preferred stock could make it more difficult, delay, discourage, prevent or make it costlier to acquire or effect a change-in-control, which in turn could prevent our stockholders from recognizing a gain in the event that a favorable offer is extended and could materially and negatively affect the value of our securities.

We do not anticipate that we will pay dividends on our common stock and, consequently, your ability to achieve a return on your investment will depend on appreciation in the price of our common stock.

We have never paid cash dividends on our common stock. We do not expect to pay cash dividends on our common stock at any time in the foreseeable future. We do not expect to pay cash dividends on our Common Stock at any time in the foreseeable future. The future payment of dividends directly depends upon our future earnings, capital requirements, financial requirements and other factors that our board of directors will consider. Since we do not anticipate paying cash dividends on our common stock, return on your investment, if any, will depend solely on an increase, if any, in the market value of our common stock. Since we do not anticipate paying cash dividends on our Common Stock, return on your investment, if any, will depend solely on an increase, if any, in the market value of our Common Stock.

We are a smaller reporting company and will be exempt from certain disclosure requirements, which could make our common stock less attractive to potential investors.

Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act defines a “smaller reporting company” as an issuer that is not an investment company, an asset-backed issuer, or a majority-owned subsidiary of a parent that is not a smaller reporting company and that:

●

had a public float of less than $250 million as of the last business day of its most recently completed second fiscal quarter, computed by multiplying the aggregate worldwide number of shares of its voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates by the price at which the common equity was last sold, or the average of the bid and asked prices of common equity, in the principal market for the common equity; or

●

in the case of an initial registration statement under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act for shares of its common equity, had a public float of less than $250 million as of a date within 30 days of the date of the filing of the registration statement, computed by multiplying the aggregate worldwide number of such shares held by non-affiliates before the registration plus, in the case of a Securities Act registration statement, the number of such shares included in the registration statement by the estimated public offering price of the shares; or

●

in the case of an issuer whose public float as calculated under paragraph (1) or (2) of this definition was zero or whose public float was less than $700 million, had annual revenues of less than $100 million during the most recently completed fiscal year for which audited financial statements are available.

If a company determines that it does not qualify for smaller reporting company status because it exceeded one or more of the above thresholds, it will remain unqualified unless when making its annual determination it meets certain alternative threshold requirements which will be lower than the above thresholds if its prior public float or prior annual revenues exceed certain thresholds.

As a smaller reporting company, we are not required to include a Compensation Discussion and Analysis section in our proxy statements; we may provide only two years of financial statements; and we need not provide the table of selected financial data. We will also be exempt from certain greenhouse gas emissions disclosure and related third-party assurance requirements. We also have other “scaled” disclosure requirements that are less comprehensive than issuers that are not smaller reporting companies which could make our common stock less attractive to potential investors, which could make it more difficult for our stockholders to sell their shares.

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

ITEM 1C. CYBERSECURITY

We have processes to assess, identify and manage risks from cybersecurity threats as a part of our overall risk assessment process. On a regular basis we implement into our operations these cybersecurity processes, technologies, and controls to assess, identify, and manage material risks. We engage certain external advisors to enhance our cybersecurity oversight where necessary.

To manage our material risks from cybersecurity threats and to protect against, detect, and prepare to respond to cybersecurity incidents, we endeavor to undertake the below listed activities:

As of the date of this Annual Report, we have not encountered risks from cybersecurity threats that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, our business strategy, results of operations or financial position.