Whatnot’s Post

10 years ago today, I won $15K in a business competition for my sock company, Fly Feet. With all the excitement around sneaker culture, I thought a pair of matching socks to match your kicks was the perfect pairing, and the market agreed. This moment was the first of many special moments for me and FlyFeet - it became a top 12% highest traffic Shopify store, one of the top sellers on Etsy, became the official merch supplier for one of Florida’s biggest music festivals, raised thousands for charity, secured a utility patent, supplied the socks for some of my favorite artists' tours, and the list goes on... So why did I move on from the business, especially right when we were FINALLY becoming profitable? In the end of the day, selling socks just wasn't something that energized me anymore, BURNOUT is a very real thing. I was young, naive, and arrogant to think I could do everything on my own as long as the cash was still coming in. I strongly believe when an entrepreneur is out of gas, then the only thing pushing the ship forward is PASSION. Once I realized selling socks wasn't my passion and did NOT fulfil my "why" in life, I just couldn't proceed. With all that said, I have not one single regret. The skills and lessons I learned from the #startuplife have helped guide me throughout my career and given me a mental toughness that was earned through blood, sweat, and tears. So cheers to anyone who's had an idea and brought it to life, and good luck to anyone who has an idea they still have yet to show the world. Don't be scared of failure, because if this experience taught me one thing, it's that we never actually fail, we just LEARN!

12 things that I do when hired to sell your home. And to be completely honest, this is just the tip of the iceberg – I work hard for my clients! #homesellers #sellyourhome #starterhome #foreverhome #upsizing #downsizing #relocation #ChicagolandRealEstate #ChicagoSuburbsRealEstate #TheBremerTeam #KellerWilliamsSuccessRealty

I built a multi-million $ brand quick but got burned out and lost: I started a consumable product company in 2018 completely with #passion. In the beginning, the product was made by me because of a specific need I had that other companies simply didn't care about. After several months a few customers later, I found that A LOT more people had this need and revenue shot to the moon with a quickness. Our product had profit margins hovering around 52% so we were set. We made it. There is a ton of hard work that is being left out but the biggest #problem we always ran into could be summed up in two words: Red Tape. Everything was a war, not a battle. To get a bank we had to call hundreds. To get a merchant account to process payments that didn't go out of business after a month was almost impossible. We couldn't use Shopify or Wix because our product was banned. We couldn’t run ads (that was not allowed and still isnt), couldn’t say our company name on social, couldn’t even put a # with what we sell on any social media site. It was Red Tape that crushed me. At the end of the day, I couldn’t live every day waking up to fight yet another war. At first, It was my customers that kept me going but even my dedication to them wasn’t enough. It's sad to admit. Profit was still amazing and we kept fueling the business but no matter how much firewood we would add, it never stopped the intense winds trying to put us out. That being said, try to avoid starting a #company that you know has a lot of Red Tape. There might be a reason there isn't a lot of competition. Passion can take you far, no doubt, but be prepared to fight wars...not battles. If you want to see how I learned from my #mistakes, please give SEAMEN a follow. It's my #startup and the best tasting Horchata you will ever have 🫡

Of all the responses they could say. This was not what I expected... I had just recommended my site to an Etsy seller as a new, cost-free marketplace for their products. Their response? "Hi, thanks! Let me know once you have a couple of similar shops than mine on your platform. At such a point in time, I might be interested in joining!" Wait, what? 🤔 They were waiting for their competition to join first? This was a seller with nearly 50,000 sales, yet they couldn't see the benefit of being the first to join a new platform. It got me thinking. 🧐 How many people are struggling to be seen on Etsy because they didn't jump on board when it first launched? Being early to a platform can be a game-changer. You get to set the tone, the standard. You are the trendsetter, not the follower. Sure, there's a risk. But isn't that what entrepreneurship is all about? However on our platform there is no risk as there is no way for us to take money from your bank account unless you buy someone else's product on our site. So, here's to the early adopters, the risk-takers, the trendsetters. 🥂 Because without them, we'd all still be waiting for someone else to make the first move. P.S. Ready to be a trendsetter on our platform? Yes/No?

I was never meant to be the king of car washes. I was in it to buy Game Boy games. Lemme explain… When I was 8, my dad gave me a bucket, sponge, suds + a hose. I got paid $5 to wash/clean cars + $3 to wax. It is a Top 5 most valuable lesson I learned as a kid. The work was unenjoyable, easy, required attention to detail, and process-oriented. I learned: - Trade-offs required to get what I wanted. (Wash -> Games) - The value of money + it’s just a means to an end.  - How to break down tasks into repeatable processes. - Managing a P&L (the Suds + Sponge subsidy dried up). - Seasonal bizs suck.  - Handling Objections. - Impact of external forces on your income. - Pokémon Gold >>>> (don’t @ me) I wasn’t the best car cleaner in the world, but I didn’t need to be at below-market prices. It took me years to unlearn this toxic lesson. I was the discount, race-to-the-bottom option. Inexperience = lower pay as a competitive advantage. It’s a lesson we consistently teach kids. I constantly see Entrepreneurs make the same mistake: 1) Lack of the confidence to charge more. 2) ingrained belief inexperienced products/services charge less. My parents did the right thing. Paying a kid more to unprofessionally clean cars isn’t responsible. But I wish I had the time + resources to Build my unique “offering” If I can adjust this playbook for my kids… I’d pay my kidsless to teach them the lessons + required skills. But the major change: challenging them to think unique differentiation. How to charge others more and improve their offering? I never honestly pursued it/saw the value in it. It didn’t interest me, but I never saw a clear path to make real money. I was doomed to undercut local car washes. It’s time we teach our kids how to create unique value in the world. Not to be the cheaper option. #shopify

Week 6, new business - Nothing to report * Short story: Orders 124 Email subscribers 406 Linked in followers 286 Instagram ones 167 Trade customers 2 Long story: When you look at these numbers, you will see  not much has changed since last week. That’s because we didn’t do much online at all. You can’t push all pedals with only 2 sets of feet. What you can’t see in the numbers >> Met in GAIL's in Cambridge - our weekly meet-up, halfway between us. Face-to-face is best. A friend took some tea to work. The facilities manager saw it and wants to trial it in their offices. Yay. One of their offices happened to be  around the corner from Gail’s, so we went to see them. Face-to-face is best. We found Jersey! Very nice customer emailed to ask if we could ship to him in Jersey - website wasn’t letting him order. Royal Mail covers Jersey.  But Shopify doesn’t think Jersey is in the UK. Still not sure where they think it is, but we did find it somewhere. And off SPILL went to Jersey. Our next run of tea is at the port.  Officially in the UK, nearly through customs. On track. Fingers still crossed. Filled out application forms, hoping to be listed, with a special retailer. All fingers now crossed. * When you look at numbers, it can make you uneasy. That feeling, that you should be going faster, does not go away. Even if you’ve decided, the way you’re going to do things is to play the long game - to not let “busy” win… You have to keep reminding yourself. And each other. Let's! Photo shows Mine and Louise's matching feet. In Gail's. Not this week. A while ago. We pretty much built SPILL tea in Gails. Nice buns. #founders #smallbusiness #startup #tea

Could Rightmove become the next Blockbuster? 💬 Rightmove has been the dominant force in property portals for almost two decades. But the question on everyone’s lips is how much longer this will be the case. Disruptors have been seeking to dethrone Rightmove for several years now with suggestions ranging from class actions or boycotts by estate agents to outspending Rightmove in marketing and offering exclusive listings for a limited time. More recently, however, there has been a significant focus from both the investor community and the industry on Homes.com’s acquisition of OnTheMarket, and it looks like their ambitious marketing plan to displace Rightmove from its top position may hold some traction. ➡ https://lnkd.in/egnEsyXc 🔗 #ukhousing #ukproperty #propertynews #Rightmove #propertyplatform #propertylistings Babek Ismayil OneDome

THE VALUE OF INFORMATION In the book, Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter, 50 cent (Curtis Jackson) shared a very interesting story about a sneaker shop owner who was struggling with getting business. The sneaker shop owner mentioned that his business was struggling due to a bad location. When 50 cent asked what he was going to do with the 100+ stock of sneakers, the sneaker shop owner said he was just going to pack them in the garage until he figured the next move. At this point 50 cent realized that his son Marquise loved sneakers and he planned to send them to a warehouse near him and start selling them online. So, 50 cent asked how much the sneaker shop owner was willing to sell the sneakers if someone was willing to buy them off from him. The sneaker shop owner said that he was willing to sell all his sneakers at cost (the actual price he got them without any profit). 50 cent bought the sneakers, sent them to the warehouse near his son Marquise, posted them online and they sold like hot cakes. Some people might ask why 50 cent didn't just advise the shop owner to sell his sneakers online since he knew that's what he needed to do. But that's the value of information. Information is the game changer. You can be selling the same item but your friend might have better information on target market, cost efficiency, distribution, or marketing strategies. And that information is not cheap. I know some people think information is cheap. Information is not cheap. No wonder Billionaires don't write books. If you think information is cheap, consult McKinsey & Company.

I promised myself I wouldn't let this happen, but it did... [despite the somewhat hopeful/optimistic tone of this post - it's extremely disappointing] Last November/December I started making posts about building an #ecommerce business with my wife on Etsy. Well, after 9 days, I stopped making posts, the brand launch failed, and it was a lot more work to start a business than I expected. I had less time than I needed, and more to do than I was able. When I started, I had every intention to post about it for 30 days, sell lots of products, and launch my business with absolute success. Even as I was failing, I kept telling myself that I/the business would succeed (just because I wanted it to). I failed. It failed (we didn't make a single online sale). But stack enough of those failures on top of each other, and you get success. Not necessary because each failure is a lesson, but simply that failure is on the path to success. Sure, I learned some stuff, but I didn't learn "because of the failure." I learned in the process of failing the same way I'll learn in the process of succeeding - because it's the same process. What deciding factor - patience. Patience to continue with failure until I get success. There isn't a nice happy ending to this story (yet) - we still haven't made a sale online, the brand isn't growing in awareness, and we don't have plans to make changes to allow us to do more (yet). So when ClickUp asks me if I would like to resolve all 21 unachieved items before marking this task completed, my answer is "Continue Anway" because I don't have to make up for what I couldn't do. I "couldn't" do it then, and I "can't" do it now. But eventually, with enough patience, I will be able to, and I might fail again. Yeah this is sure disappointing, but disappointment can breed patience. #entrepreneurship #mindset #failforward

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