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The business of sneakers: Q&A with teenage entrepreneur Noah Vitale - Anaheim High School Sports There's something unearthly magical about buying a pair of limited-edition, rare or highly sought-after sneakers. It comes the minute you crack open the lid for the quality-crafted shoebox, peel back the uncrinkled tissue paper and lay the eyes on your clean kicks (don't even get me started around the glorious odor of new leather, when combined rubber and Velcro!). Pretty near heaven, right? One individual who knows this exact feeling is Noah Vitale, a sophomore at Los Osos High School in Rancho Cucamonga. The 16-year old found a way to capture that bit of sneaker-heaven and produce it to sneakerheads around the world through his upstart company, Vitale Kicks. Not only is Noah an honors student, maintaining a 4.5 GPA and part of the Grizzlies' soccer team, he's also a consummate professional who is able to be found hours before school starts at his desk filling in orders, answering customer emails and searching for exclusive sneaks for any fanatical subculture of sneaker aficionados. In just 6 months time, Vitale Kicks has earned over $250,000 dollars in gross sales, as a result of a low-supply-high-demand market and a lot of hard work and commitment from Noah. Recently I sat down while using young entrepreneur to chat about how he turned his or her own sneaker obsession in to a thriving business. Quesiton: I love your company logo. Who designed it? Noah Vitale: My brother Nick designed it. He's 18 as well as a senior at Los Osos. We sat down together one day and just assemble it. People manage to like it therefore it worked out very well. Q: So what exactly is Vitale Kicks? Noah: Basically it's this - Nike and Jordan brands will release a series of limited shoes whether its shoes from Air Jordan or Nike Running or anything like that. And because they're limited, you will see a huge requirement for them. So we find a means to buy them from retailers and then mark them up if we have them in your hands. So, say we have a shoe that retails for $160 dollars, and it is sold out in stores all across the United States. We'll take that shoe and sell it for maybe $230 dollars on our website. We are able to do this because there's such a huge demand and you can't go into a retail store and purchase for them. So, the only choice is to buy it from your so-called reseller, which can be somebody like us. Q: So, if Nike drops a limited edition Air Force 1, and I don't wish to sit facing Undefeated for two days, I can call you up? Noah: Yeah, exactly. We actually have those who do sit outside of stores on release day and after that once they receive the shoes we'll sell them slightly over retail. So yeah, definitely any kind of shoe just like an Air Force 1 we can do the same exact thing. Q: As a consumer, I think that's well worth the mark-up there because who has the time to sit in front of a store for the days? Noah: Yeah, definitely. Q: So do you employ people to take a seat out looking at stores? Noah: Yeah occasionally perform. I'll pay friends say $20 bucks for starters night to camp out with us. That's one of the many ways we're able to have the shoes. Q: What are some other ways? Noah: We purchase them online and direct from retailers like Footlocker or NikeTown. We'll enter raffles. They're not easy and simple to get. It's a complicated process. Over time we've developed friends as well as a network of individuals like store managers and the like. Q: It actually sounds fun. Noah: It is fun because you're meeting new people and it's thrilling every weekend to try to get as many shoes as you possibly can and at the same time frame I'm with all my friends. It's a good experience, in addition to making a good profit every weekend. Q: So basically, you've developed a business from the hobby. Noah: Definitely, since it all started with an interest in these type of limited-edition shoes. And then realizing that there was clearly a big potential opportunity to create a business making a little money. But all this originated as a hobby of collecting and wearing these footwear. So, it definitely is a business and a hobby at the same time frame. Q: When do you start it and exactly how old have you been? Noah: Well I was fifteen years old and I started the organization in April of 2013. Q: Do you remember the complete moment the theory sparked? Noah: It started when my dad and I were outside a Finish Line one night, where we were holding doing a raffle and that we were able to get two pairs of Air Jordans. As soon as we walked out in the store some individuals stopped us and offered us an enormous $150 dollars over-retail for them. We were like, 'Wow did that truly just happen'? It motivated my father too because usually if you tell a dad or mom about doing something similar to this they might say, 'Nah, there isn't any way! You can't go purchase a shoe that's in a store and resell it to get more.' But as soon as somebody around the sidewalk stopped dad and said, "Hey, I'll take those for $280 dollars right now," I think that truly kind of lit the spark for everything. Q: It really allows you have your dad in your side right? Noah: Yeah it will be did assist to have my father on my side. When someone how old irrrve become is starting off they'll not have the revenue to be able to get 100 pairs of shoes. So having my father to help me out (and his credit card) was definitely a big help. But, my parents are always supportive of whatever I do. When I told my dad I wanted to do this, he was all for this because when I would be a younger kid I had another business and the man saw how well I did with that. Q: What's the priciest shoe you've sold? Noah: Nike features a foundation with Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland, Oregon. At the first with the year they released a shoe referred to as the Nike Air Doernbecher that retailed for $250 dollars and we sold it for $1300 dollars. So that would have been a very large profit. It was form of tough to discover a buyer when we found one for that price it turned out satisfying. And we were able to get a couple pairs of people. That was definitely our biggest sale. Q: What's been one of the most interesting shoe you've sold? Noah: We're implementing that at this time. We use a shoe referred to as Nike Air Yeezy that is a collaboration between your hip-hop artist Kanye West and Nike. The shoe retails at $250 dollars and it's currently reselling by using an average of about $4,000 to $5,000 dollars. We have one pair inside our hands right now and now we're just waiting to obtain the right buyer which will pull the trigger. But that's definitely our most valuable shoe that we've ever had. Q: How do you begin selling a shoe that's worth a lot? It sounds almost dangerous. Noah: Right! We've had it within our possession a bit over a month and the challenge with a shoe such as this is you need to be careful about how you flip it because with such a huge demand, it's dangerous to fulfill up to get a shoe that's worth $4,000 dollars. So you ought to be careful. But we're definitely keeping it safe until find the right buyer. That will be nice once we let that go. Q: Nice payday! What do you generally do with all the profits you cash in on? Noah: I'll occasionally buy myself clothes but most in the money is put away in my bank-account and in the bank for college. Also, I just bought myself an Audi. So, that's one helluva first car for me personally. But in addition to that, I just put it away for college. Q: How amazed are you whenever you sit back and discover the success you're able to create from reselling sneakers? Noah: It's amazing. When I was driving home from buying my Audi, I was just thinking, 'Wow! This thing that I'm doing has led to me possessing car.' It's just great to see efforts pay off. Q: What do friends and family think about Vitale Kicks? Noah: You know my buddies are actually the ones that I'll bring with me at night to pick up shoes and I'll pay them for coming with me. I'll text them some nights and say, 'Hey you guys down to head to Los Angeles when camping this weekend to get some shoes? I'm paying everybody so-and-so level of dollars.' And sometimes, they don't even need to be paid given it's only a thrilling experience to go down to these populated areas and also to be around these people that are crazy for sneakers. And it's fun to steer out of the stores with exclusive shoes and everybody's taking a look at us saying, "Oh look, look, look, they got a." So my pals have definitely reduced the problem be where I am today and also have been an origin of support and have reduced the problem throughout it all. And beauty of it is, some of my pals have actually started their very own sneaker reselling businesses on a smaller level. It's cool to see that influence spread throughout every one of the group of my girlfriends and to see them have success too using what they're doing. Sometimes they'll ask me for help and I'm happy to help them. Q: Are your customers surprised once they find out that you are a secondary school kid? Noah: Well, I only tell people I'm near to but when I do inform them I'm 16, they're very surprised. If anything believe that it's really cool that somebody younger than them may be doing something such as this. Q: The testimonial page in your website is merely photo after photo of super-stoked people showing the shoes they purchased in you. How satisfying is that? Noah: The customer appreciation is actually comparatively cool. That's one from the best parts is to view the customer testimonials. They're really a huge help to us and its rewarding once we get those back. Sometimes we'll even share discounts if customers post a testimonial because that draws a lot of other those who haven't purchased in us. People will look at that and say, 'Oh those guys are legit ' they are fully aware what they actually do.' Q: What's the biggest challenge you've faced as a young entrepreneur? Noah: My biggest challenge is maintaining school and the business at the same time. I'm taking all AP and Honors classes and hold a 4.5 GPA. When I get home I usually have 3-hours of homework so when I'm playing soccer I won't get home until 5 p.m. Then I'll have 40,000 people on social media marketing that are emailing and contacting me regarding their order or about these shoes that are coming out and asking if I'm getting certain shoes. So that's definitely hard attempting to balance all that. But I think I've kind of found that balance. I devote some time out with a certain hour to respond to emails, to get back to customers, also to post up on social websites. Then needless to say, I remove other time for it to do class work and other things which might be more important. Q: Time management happens to be a skill isn't it? Noah: Yeah, it's something I've learned to perform. Q: What are your plans after secondary school? Noah: I don't know what college I want to check out yet, but I plan to go right into a 4-year school. I also intend on hopefully running multiple businesses when I'm out of high school graduation. But I definitely will visit college with whether Business or Computer Science Major and hopefully have other businesses on my small hands at that time. Q: Who are a few of your influences or people that have inspirited you? Noah: I would say a business person like Mark Cuban. Or if you watch the show Shark Tank, all those people on there. It's inspiring to view how successful they are and just how they're capable to help people out with businesses and stuff. Q. Ever consider taking Vitale Kicks on Shark Tank? Noah: Not really. You know, there's over 10,000 people who do the same exact thing as Vitale Kicks. It's not like we're some unique thing. We've just found ways to be successful. Q: What have you learned is essentially the most important facet of creating a successful at-home business? Noah: How big social networking is in regards to how it can help a small business. I started a year ago with one follower on Instagram and now I have over 40,000 followers. Social media has really helped grow my business and it is definitely one in the most important factors for any business nowadays. Also the significance of good customer support is huge. Like I said earlier, because these comfortable shoes are so expensive, folks are sometimes afraid to spend a great deal money. I would be nervous too if I was spending $400 dollars or maybe more. When you speak with a customer, you will be making them feel comfortable relating to purchase. So, without a doubt social media marketing and good customer support are the two most crucial things in having a company. Q: A lot of young people consider starting their particular business or doing something entrepreneurial as if you. What kind of advice could you give a young one who has a really good idea and wants to go to the next level? Noah: I would tell others to take a look around and see what other individuals are doing. Because when I was starting the company, I explored to other resellers and learned from their store. So one with the most important things is usually to take advice and study and build upon that. And also, not be afraid of just how to get started. Get out there and get it going. Because you can have a lot of thoughts when creating a small business and be thinking, 'I want to accomplish this and I want to perform that.' But you just have to go and do it. Eventually all this works out. So my advice could be learn and take advice from others and have confidence in yourself and do not be afraid to simply start. Take a chance and merely start. Q: Just do it! As the famous shoemaker says! Noah: Exactly! Just get it done! To find out more about Vitale Kicks and to take a look at their extensive number of limited-edition shoes, check them out at Vitalekicks.com. And connect with Vitale Kicks on Twitter and Instagram. |