Hey Followers,
Well last night I made another contact. I was able to use twitter to make a contact with an individual that lives in L.A. and owns a clothing line. If you ever look at my "Tweets" you will see that I send tweets to everyone! The way I look at twitter is like this... If I saw a celebrity out I would probably try to talk to them. Twitter is kind of like having every celebrity at your finger tips! And just like in real life 99% of the time they ignore you. But, on some occasions you can get responses. I figure I have nothing to lose by doing this because I don't expect "Diddy" to respond to my tweets. But what if one day he is in a good mood and decides to respond? I have done nothing but gain. Pretty much it is a win-win situation. Unless you are a psycho and try to take it too far then you step into stalker stage and I would suggest that you never get Twitter.
Back to the conversation last nite. The owner of this clothing line allowed me to pick his brain for about forty five minutes. It was a really informational forty five minutes too. He was so helpful. His line is "Super Fresh Clothing" I am sure he won't mind me giving him a shout out on here so check out his website I will post the link at the bottom of this blog. After the conversation I felt really inspired because he pretty much let me know some more of the steps that I need to take in order to be taken seriously in the fashion industry.
I am hoping that people that read this will realize that this is not a joke. I am so sincere about making this thing work. I am sure that people are still gonna talk shit about me and how stupid I am for trying this. To hell with them though. I guess people tend to get mad when you don't do what is expected of you.
"Don't be distracted by criticism. Remember the only taste of success some people have is when they take a bite out of you." -Zig Ziglar
After the conversation it made me realize how much that I do want this to work because I want to be in the position five years from now to be able to help some young kid that is chasing a dream. I want to be the one receiving a call from some kid that used social networking to get my phone number and help him through the stuff that he doesn't have experience in. Keep chasing your dreams people. If you shoot for the moon and miss you will still land among the stars!!
Thanks for reading.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Venture Capitalists
Woot Woot! Ten followers, look out here I come!!
As usual I like to think that people give a shit about what my company is up to and where exactly we are in our steps towards becoming the coolest clothes since those Tommy Hilfiger socks that had the logo on them. Remember those?
As of right now my company is in the process of trying to write up a business plan and expense sheets and all of that goodness. I am three months into this idea and have read about needing to write a business plan if you want your business to be a success but, I am yet to do so.
Future entrepreneurs take note, this is not the way any conversation you have about your business should go:
"What is your company?"- Curious Friend
"A clothing line"- Me
"What kind of clothes though?"- CF
"Like athletics and stuff like that. You know, shirts and hoodies and what not."-Me
"What is your goal? Like where do you see yourself in five years?"- CF
"Our goal is world domination"- Me
World domination is not in any way, shape or form a business plan. No joking at all if you want your business to be taken seriously at all by anyone, even your friends and family you must be able to make a lasting impression on them within five minutes of them asking you what your plans are and what you are about. This is all advice I have recently gotten from a friend of mine that has experience in the particular field of Business Management. I knew that writing a plan was going to be necessary at some point if we ever wanted investors or to get a bank loan but I was kind of trying to avoid it because the thought of writing a business plan kind of intimidated me, and to be honest it still kind of does. But, it is very necessary and pivotal to the future success of my business. So, I am going to suck it up and get my ass busy writing one. My friend gave me a couple of really good sites and a couple templates to look out for writing my plan which I am oh so appreciative of. Like I told you in the last post you better use all of the free sources that you can and friends with college course experience in Business Management are golden!
I had heard from some people that I needed to do this plan but I didn't take it seriously because I am the type of person that doesn't like to listen to other people when they just tell me something and don't give me the reasons as to why. The Business Management guy told me that I should write up the plan and expense/potential income spreadsheets and what not and try to pitch my idea to some venture capitalists. I hadn't even thought of venture capitalists. Up until I had spoke to my friend the only thing I thought of when I heard venture capitalists was "Hey, that is what the guys in Wedding Crashers posed as... Holy Shirts and Pants." After doing a little bit of research I found out that venture capitalists are basically groups of guys and or girls that pool a bunch of money together and take calculated risks on different types of companies. They, for the most part, don't invest in clothing lines but I figure this gives me some motivation to do the shit that I need to do for my business anyways. I read somewhere online that 98% of ideas pitched to venture capitalist are turned away. After I read that I was like "Damn, I could be in that two percent and then be on the way to world domination!". Ok, I am joking obviously. I look at it as an opportunity to speak with individuals about something I love, my clothing line. If nothing else it will be a great experience and potentially the financial break that my company needs.
“When you’re trying to raise an investment for your venture, every ‘no’ gets you closer to a ‘yes’ only if you know why you've been rejected.”
Thanks for reading guys and gals and thank you all for your support!
As usual I like to think that people give a shit about what my company is up to and where exactly we are in our steps towards becoming the coolest clothes since those Tommy Hilfiger socks that had the logo on them. Remember those?
As of right now my company is in the process of trying to write up a business plan and expense sheets and all of that goodness. I am three months into this idea and have read about needing to write a business plan if you want your business to be a success but, I am yet to do so.
Future entrepreneurs take note, this is not the way any conversation you have about your business should go:
"What is your company?"- Curious Friend
"A clothing line"- Me
"What kind of clothes though?"- CF
"Like athletics and stuff like that. You know, shirts and hoodies and what not."-Me
"What is your goal? Like where do you see yourself in five years?"- CF
"Our goal is world domination"- Me
World domination is not in any way, shape or form a business plan. No joking at all if you want your business to be taken seriously at all by anyone, even your friends and family you must be able to make a lasting impression on them within five minutes of them asking you what your plans are and what you are about. This is all advice I have recently gotten from a friend of mine that has experience in the particular field of Business Management. I knew that writing a plan was going to be necessary at some point if we ever wanted investors or to get a bank loan but I was kind of trying to avoid it because the thought of writing a business plan kind of intimidated me, and to be honest it still kind of does. But, it is very necessary and pivotal to the future success of my business. So, I am going to suck it up and get my ass busy writing one. My friend gave me a couple of really good sites and a couple templates to look out for writing my plan which I am oh so appreciative of. Like I told you in the last post you better use all of the free sources that you can and friends with college course experience in Business Management are golden!
I had heard from some people that I needed to do this plan but I didn't take it seriously because I am the type of person that doesn't like to listen to other people when they just tell me something and don't give me the reasons as to why. The Business Management guy told me that I should write up the plan and expense/potential income spreadsheets and what not and try to pitch my idea to some venture capitalists. I hadn't even thought of venture capitalists. Up until I had spoke to my friend the only thing I thought of when I heard venture capitalists was "Hey, that is what the guys in Wedding Crashers posed as... Holy Shirts and Pants." After doing a little bit of research I found out that venture capitalists are basically groups of guys and or girls that pool a bunch of money together and take calculated risks on different types of companies. They, for the most part, don't invest in clothing lines but I figure this gives me some motivation to do the shit that I need to do for my business anyways. I read somewhere online that 98% of ideas pitched to venture capitalist are turned away. After I read that I was like "Damn, I could be in that two percent and then be on the way to world domination!". Ok, I am joking obviously. I look at it as an opportunity to speak with individuals about something I love, my clothing line. If nothing else it will be a great experience and potentially the financial break that my company needs.
“When you’re trying to raise an investment for your venture, every ‘no’ gets you closer to a ‘yes’ only if you know why you've been rejected.”
Thanks for reading guys and gals and thank you all for your support!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
My Business Angel
Hey World (aka my four followers!),
So last night I was able to have an in depth conversation with the fashion girl that I spoke of in my most recent post. She is nothing short of amazing! We spoke for about an hour and I feel like within that hour I learned more about the fashion industry than I have over the past three months reading on the internet. Up until last night all of my fashion sense had come by way of "Google" and it has been hard because the internet doesn't speak back to me when I say "Well, what does that mean?" This girl does answer my questions and she does it without a condescending attitude or wise remarks. She is without a doubt my business angel, she is kind of like our manager minus the paycheck. She doesn't feel the need to have her hands all over any of the designs which is amazing to me, she just lets me spit my ideas to her and she says that is good or that isn't gonna work. I appreciate her honesty as well as her time.
As I said before she is willing to do all of this for free right now! Emphasis on free. I was speaking with a co owner about my conversation with her and the first thing out of his mouth after I told him how helpful she was...
"Yeah, but how much is she gonna cost us"- Co Owner
"That's just it dude she said she would do it for free"- Me
"Dude, that is fucking awesome"- Co Owner
"Yes it is. I told her once we blow up we are putting her on the payroll"- Me
"Duh"- Co Owner
After about forty five minutes on the phone last nite she finally told me that I have to buckle down and draw some stuff that I want because she needs to get a better idea of what we want. Me just explaining it on the phone was starting to get a little confusing to her and rightfully so.
So, I want to let everyone know what point we are at for the company. Right now I have to draw up my designs, which will probably resemble finger paintings from when I was in First Grade. After I email "The Angel" my amazing drawings she will then make them look a bit more professional on the computer, from there we will send the designs out to manufacturers and after we get bids, we will choose the bidder with the best quality for the lowest cost obviously. Once that is done we pretty much have to get photos of pretty/handsome people wearing our gear up on our website and then the clothing line will be in full swing... Sort of.
Thanks again to "The Angel" I don't know if you will read this or not, but if you do thank you so much!!
Thanks for reading.
So last night I was able to have an in depth conversation with the fashion girl that I spoke of in my most recent post. She is nothing short of amazing! We spoke for about an hour and I feel like within that hour I learned more about the fashion industry than I have over the past three months reading on the internet. Up until last night all of my fashion sense had come by way of "Google" and it has been hard because the internet doesn't speak back to me when I say "Well, what does that mean?" This girl does answer my questions and she does it without a condescending attitude or wise remarks. She is without a doubt my business angel, she is kind of like our manager minus the paycheck. She doesn't feel the need to have her hands all over any of the designs which is amazing to me, she just lets me spit my ideas to her and she says that is good or that isn't gonna work. I appreciate her honesty as well as her time.
As I said before she is willing to do all of this for free right now! Emphasis on free. I was speaking with a co owner about my conversation with her and the first thing out of his mouth after I told him how helpful she was...
"Yeah, but how much is she gonna cost us"- Co Owner
"That's just it dude she said she would do it for free"- Me
"Dude, that is fucking awesome"- Co Owner
"Yes it is. I told her once we blow up we are putting her on the payroll"- Me
"Duh"- Co Owner
After about forty five minutes on the phone last nite she finally told me that I have to buckle down and draw some stuff that I want because she needs to get a better idea of what we want. Me just explaining it on the phone was starting to get a little confusing to her and rightfully so.
So, I want to let everyone know what point we are at for the company. Right now I have to draw up my designs, which will probably resemble finger paintings from when I was in First Grade. After I email "The Angel" my amazing drawings she will then make them look a bit more professional on the computer, from there we will send the designs out to manufacturers and after we get bids, we will choose the bidder with the best quality for the lowest cost obviously. Once that is done we pretty much have to get photos of pretty/handsome people wearing our gear up on our website and then the clothing line will be in full swing... Sort of.
Thanks again to "The Angel" I don't know if you will read this or not, but if you do thank you so much!!
Thanks for reading.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Making Some Connections
Hello Again,
I finally feel like I am starting to make some progress. I have become a networking guru all of a sudden. I have been using Twitter and Facebook as a means to make contact with people in the fashion industry. Through tweeting to random people and using Facebook I have been able to talk with some people that are already in the fashion business. I spoke with an individual going to school for fashion this evening on the phone and she has agreed to do some sketches for us to be sent out to manufacturers to see about pricing. The best part of talking to this person is the fact that she is young and willing to do the sketches for free. I have learned that using all of the free resources you can get your hands on is a must since you will be spending an unreal amount of money on things such as getting the business license, getting a trademark, getting a domain name, paying someone to design your site (if you are an idiot with computers like me this is very necessary).
Due to the fact that I want to keep everything here within the US borders we will be spending a little bit more on manufacturing but I don't feel like that is a bad thing... If you read my first post you understand that I am trying to do everything against the grain here. I feel like I would be willing to pay an extra 2 or 3 dollars on a shirt if I knew it was made here in America as opposed to China like everything else. I hope that the customers agree. With our country in the shape that it is in I feel like the least I can do is try to keep my business here in the United States.
As I said before I really hope that this will be used as inspiration to someone out there... Thank you for your time and I will be posting more shortly.
I finally feel like I am starting to make some progress. I have become a networking guru all of a sudden. I have been using Twitter and Facebook as a means to make contact with people in the fashion industry. Through tweeting to random people and using Facebook I have been able to talk with some people that are already in the fashion business. I spoke with an individual going to school for fashion this evening on the phone and she has agreed to do some sketches for us to be sent out to manufacturers to see about pricing. The best part of talking to this person is the fact that she is young and willing to do the sketches for free. I have learned that using all of the free resources you can get your hands on is a must since you will be spending an unreal amount of money on things such as getting the business license, getting a trademark, getting a domain name, paying someone to design your site (if you are an idiot with computers like me this is very necessary).
Due to the fact that I want to keep everything here within the US borders we will be spending a little bit more on manufacturing but I don't feel like that is a bad thing... If you read my first post you understand that I am trying to do everything against the grain here. I feel like I would be willing to pay an extra 2 or 3 dollars on a shirt if I knew it was made here in America as opposed to China like everything else. I hope that the customers agree. With our country in the shape that it is in I feel like the least I can do is try to keep my business here in the United States.
As I said before I really hope that this will be used as inspiration to someone out there... Thank you for your time and I will be posting more shortly.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The First One
Hello All,
Just to start I want to share some things about me, who I am and what I am about. If you read my blog description then you already have some idea as to who I am. Like I said I am a 24 year old young man that came up with an idea for a clothing line, got some friends to pitch in some money and set off on an adventure to give the world good quality athletic clothing at a decent price. The idea for the line hit me one day while I was talking to a friend on the phone and after talking to some other friends this idea just got legs and has been running ever since. I was so sick and tired of sitting around with my friends talking about what we should be doing and never doing it. So, once this idea was born I cut the umbilical cord off of it and took off. I am so tired of seeing people walking around in a shirt that cost 3 dollars to make but they got charged 70 dollars for. I want to be the guy that takes off and doesn't sit back and just reap the benefits. I want to be the guy that takes off and then does the exact opposite of what my friends and I have been sitting around bitching about. "Man, look how much money they have, and they don't do the first thing with it that is good." I can't even tell you how many times those words have come out of our mouth.
The reason why this blog will be entertaining to most is because I am a completely blunt and honest person, with this said... I have no clue what the hell I am doing. I mean I have the website domain name bought, I have the name of the line trademarked and the little catch phrase is trademarked as well. Aside from the basics I am clueless. I was actually on the phone the other day with a clothing manufacturer and she had the nerve to ask me "Um, do you even know what you are doing?". I couldn't help but laugh at the woman because she totally called me out on it. I thought I could just buy some shirts from the local screen printing shop, put my company logo on a "Hanes" shirt and sell it for profit. Wrong. I now know that I must buy the fabric (clueless), find a fashion designer (clueless because apparently I can't just tell a manufacturer I want a green shirt made of polyester and elastane with my logo on it) find a manufacturer (also clueless), and find people to buy my stuff. Now the last part I think that I am kind of savvy on I mean I have been an athlete and purchased athletic goods for a majority of my life and I know what people like when it comes to athletic gear. Now, just because I know that doesn't mean that as soon as I find a designer and manufacturer that my clothes are going to go flying off the shelves, but like I said I have some idea.
Lastly and most importantly I am writing this blog as a means to let young people out there know if they have an idea or a dream that it is OK to chase it. Even if you haven't got the first clue about what it is going to take, chase it. If you want to be a painter but don't know the first thing about water colors who cares? Be a painter. If you want to be a model and your teeth look like you eat rocks who cares? Just don't try to model for Crest. I hope that this blog can actually inspire some people to do something different and go against the grain. I have had people laugh in my face and tell me how stupid I am for trying this... Motivation!
Thanks for reading!
Just to start I want to share some things about me, who I am and what I am about. If you read my blog description then you already have some idea as to who I am. Like I said I am a 24 year old young man that came up with an idea for a clothing line, got some friends to pitch in some money and set off on an adventure to give the world good quality athletic clothing at a decent price. The idea for the line hit me one day while I was talking to a friend on the phone and after talking to some other friends this idea just got legs and has been running ever since. I was so sick and tired of sitting around with my friends talking about what we should be doing and never doing it. So, once this idea was born I cut the umbilical cord off of it and took off. I am so tired of seeing people walking around in a shirt that cost 3 dollars to make but they got charged 70 dollars for. I want to be the guy that takes off and doesn't sit back and just reap the benefits. I want to be the guy that takes off and then does the exact opposite of what my friends and I have been sitting around bitching about. "Man, look how much money they have, and they don't do the first thing with it that is good." I can't even tell you how many times those words have come out of our mouth.
The reason why this blog will be entertaining to most is because I am a completely blunt and honest person, with this said... I have no clue what the hell I am doing. I mean I have the website domain name bought, I have the name of the line trademarked and the little catch phrase is trademarked as well. Aside from the basics I am clueless. I was actually on the phone the other day with a clothing manufacturer and she had the nerve to ask me "Um, do you even know what you are doing?". I couldn't help but laugh at the woman because she totally called me out on it. I thought I could just buy some shirts from the local screen printing shop, put my company logo on a "Hanes" shirt and sell it for profit. Wrong. I now know that I must buy the fabric (clueless), find a fashion designer (clueless because apparently I can't just tell a manufacturer I want a green shirt made of polyester and elastane with my logo on it) find a manufacturer (also clueless), and find people to buy my stuff. Now the last part I think that I am kind of savvy on I mean I have been an athlete and purchased athletic goods for a majority of my life and I know what people like when it comes to athletic gear. Now, just because I know that doesn't mean that as soon as I find a designer and manufacturer that my clothes are going to go flying off the shelves, but like I said I have some idea.
Lastly and most importantly I am writing this blog as a means to let young people out there know if they have an idea or a dream that it is OK to chase it. Even if you haven't got the first clue about what it is going to take, chase it. If you want to be a painter but don't know the first thing about water colors who cares? Be a painter. If you want to be a model and your teeth look like you eat rocks who cares? Just don't try to model for Crest. I hope that this blog can actually inspire some people to do something different and go against the grain. I have had people laugh in my face and tell me how stupid I am for trying this... Motivation!
Thanks for reading!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)