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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 running a pair of limited-edition, rare or highly sought-after sneakers. It comes once you crack open the lid about the quality-crafted shoebox, peel back the uncrinkled tissue paper and lay your vision on your fresh kicks (don't even get me started for the glorious smell of new leather, when combined rubber and Velcro!). Pretty near to heaven, right? One person who knows this exact feeling is Noah Vitale, a sophomore at Los Osos High School in Rancho Cucamonga. The 16-year old finds a way to capture that bit of sneaker-heaven and bring it to sneakerheads all over the globe through his upstart company, Vitale Kicks. Not only is Noah an honors student, maintaining a 4.5 GPA and part of the Grizzlies' football team, he's another consummate professional that can be found hours before school starts at his desk filling out orders, answering customer emails and searching for exclusive sneaks for a fanatical subculture of sneaker aficionados. In just half a year time, Vitale Kicks has earned over $250,000 dollars in product sales, because of a low-supply-high-demand market and plenty of hard work and commitment from Noah. Recently I sat down with all the young entrepreneur to chat about how he turned his very own sneaker obsession in a thriving business. Quesiton: I love your small business logo. Who designed it? Noah Vitale: My brother Nick designed it. He's 18 along with a senior at Los Osos. We sat down together some day and just build it. People appear to like it so that it worked out very well. Q: So what exactly is Vitale Kicks? Noah: Basically it's this - Nike and Jordan brands will to discharge series of limited shoes whether its shoes from Air Jordan or Nike Running or anything that way. And because they're limited, you will have a huge interest in them. So we find a means to buy them from retail stores and then mark them up once we have them in our hands. So, say you will find there's shoe that retails for $160 dollars, and sold out in shops all across the United States. We'll take that shoe and then sell on it for maybe $230 dollars on our website. We are able to do this because there's such an enormous demand and also you can't go right into a retail store and buy them. So, the one choice is to purchase it from your so-called reseller, which is somebody like us. Q: So, if Nike drops a fixed edition Air Force 1, and I shouldn't sit before Undefeated for two days, I can phone you up? Noah: Yeah, exactly. We actually have individuals who do sit outside stores on release day and then once they receive the shoes we'll sell them a bit over retail. So yeah, definitely any kind of shoe such as an Air Force 1 we can do the same exact thing. Q: As a consumer, I think that's worth the mark-up right there because who may have the time and energy to sit looking at a store for the days? Noah: Yeah, definitely. Q: So do you employ people to take a seat out facing stores? Noah: Yeah occasionally we all do. I'll pay friends say $20 bucks for starters night to camp out with us. That's just one of the many ways we're able to get the shoes. Q: What are another ways? Noah: We purchase for them online and direct from retailers like Footlocker or NikeTown. We'll enter raffles. They're not the best to get. It's a complicated process. Over time we've accumulated friends and a network of men and women like store managers etc. Q: It actually sounds fun. Noah: It is fun because you're meeting new people and it is thrilling every weekend to try to have as many shoes as possible and at the same time I'm with all of my friends. It's a good experience, as well as making a good profit every weekend. Q: So basically, you've developed a business from a hobby. Noah: Definitely, because it all started with an interest during these type of limited-edition shoes. And then realizing that there is a big potential possiblity to create a business and make up a little money. But all of it originated as a spare time activity of collecting and wearing these footwear. So, it definitely is a business along with a hobby at the same time. Q: When did you start it and the way old were you? Noah: Well I was 15 years old and I started the organization in April of 2013. Q: Do you remember the actual moment the thought sparked? Noah: It started when my pops and I were beyond a Finish Line one night, where these were doing a raffle and we were able to get two pairs of Air Jordans. As soon once we walked out of the store some people stopped us and offered us a massive $150 dollars over-retail for the kids. We were like, 'Wow did that basically just happen'? It motivated my dad too because usually whenever you tell a dad or mom about doing something such as this they would say, 'Nah, there is no way! You can't go buy a shoe that's in a local store and resell it for more.' But as soon as somebody on the sidewalk stopped dad and said, "Hey, I'll take those for $280 dollars right this moment," I think that actually kind of lit the spark for everything. Q: It really helps you to have your dad on your side right? Noah: Yeah it definitely did assistance to have dad on my side. When someone how old irrrve become is starting off they will not have the revenue to be able to acquire 100 pairs of shoes. So having my pops to help me out (with his fantastic credit card) was definitely a major help. But, my parents are always supportive of whatever I do. When I told dad I wanted to achieve this, he was all for this because when I was obviously a younger kid I had another business and he saw how well I did with this. Q: What's the most high-priced shoe you've sold? Noah: Nike carries a foundation with Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland, Oregon. At the first with the year they released a shoe known as the Nike Air Doernbecher that retailed for $250 dollars and that we sold it for $1300 dollars. So that would be a very large profit. It was form of tough to look for a buyer while we found one for your price it had been 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 taking care of that right this moment. We use a shoe referred to as the Nike Air Yeezy that's a collaboration between the hip-hop artist Kanye West and Nike. The shoe retails at $250 dollars and it's really currently reselling while on an average around $4,000 to $5,000 dollars. We have one pair within our hands right now and now we're just waiting to find the right buyer which will pull the trigger. But that's definitely our most valuable shoe that we've had. Q: How do you go about selling a shoe that's worth a great deal? It sounds almost dangerous. Noah: Right! We've had it in your possession a bit over a month and also the challenge with a shoe similar to this is you need to be careful about how precisely you sell it because with such a huge demand, it's dangerous to satisfy up for 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 using the profits you get? Noah: I'll occasionally buy myself clothes but most of the money is store in my banking account and secured for college. Also, I just bought myself an Audi. So, that's one helluva first car personally. But apart from that, I just use it away for college. Q: How amazed are you once 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 triggered me having one of these car.' It's just great to see hard work pay off. Q: What do your pals think about Vitale Kicks? Noah: You know my friends are actually those that I'll bring beside me to get shoes and I'll outlay cash for coming beside me. I'll text them some nights and say, 'Hey all of you down to check out Los Angeles when camping this weekend to pick up some shoes? I'm paying everybody so-and-so quantity of dollars.' And sometimes, they just don't even want to be paid given it's just a thrilling experience to go as a result of these populated areas also to be around these people that are crazy for sneakers. And it's fun just to walk out from the stores with exclusive shoes and everybody's investigating us saying, "Oh look, look, look, they got this or that." So my pals have definitely taught me to be be where I am today and have been a source of support and have helped me throughout all of it. And the best thing about it is, some of my pals have actually started their own sneaker reselling businesses on a smaller level. It's cool to find out that influence spread throughout all the group of my pals and to find out them have success too in doing what they're doing. Sometimes they'll ask me for help and I'm more than happy to help them. Q: Are your customers surprised whenever they find out that you are a high school kid? Noah: Well, I only tell people I'm near but when I do tell them I'm 16, they're very surprised. If anything believe that it's really cool that a person younger than them could be doing something such as this. Q: The testimonial page in your website is merely photo after photo of super-stoked people showing off the shoes they purchased in you. How satisfying is always that? Noah: The customer appreciation is fairly cool. That's one of the best parts is to see the customer testimonials. They're really a big help to us and its rewarding whenever 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 bought in us. People will look at that and say, 'Oh those guys are legit ' they do know what they certainly.' Q: What's the biggest challenge you've faced as a young entrepreneur? Noah: My biggest challenge is maintaining school and the organization at once. I'm taking all AP and Honors classes and hold a 4.5 GPA. When I return home I usually have 3-hours of homework then when I'm playing soccer I won't get back until 5 p.m. Then I'll have 40,000 people on social networking that are emailing and contacting me regarding their order or about these comfortable shoes that are being released and asking if I'm getting certain shoes. So that's definitely hard trying to balance all that. But I think I've kind of found that balance. I devote some time out at a certain hour to reply to emails, to have back to customers, and post up on social media marketing. Then obviously, I get other time for you to do school work and other things that are more important. Q: Time management happens to be a skill is it not? Noah: Yeah, it's something I've learned to do. Q: What are your plans after high school? Noah: I don't know what college I want to visit yet, but I plan to travel right right into a 4-year school. I also anticipate hopefully running multiple businesses when I'm out of senior high school. But I definitely will check out college with sometimes a Business or Computer Science Major and hopefully have other businesses on my own hands at that time. Q: Who are several 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 of the people on the website. It's inspiring to determine how successful they are and just how they're capable of help people out with businesses and stuff. Q. Ever think of taking Vitale Kicks on Shark Tank? Noah: Not really. You know, there's over 10,000 those who do the same exact thing as Vitale Kicks. It's not like we're some unique thing. We've just found a means to be successful. Q: What have you learned is essentially the most important element of creating a successful at-home business? Noah: How big social media is in terms of how it can help a company. I started a year ago with one follower on Instagram and today I have over 40,000 followers. Social media has really helped grow my business and it's definitely one in the most important factors for virtually any business these days. Also the importance of good customer service is huge. Like I said earlier, because the sneakers are so expensive, individuals are sometimes afraid to spend a lot money. I would be nervous too if I was spending $400 dollars or maybe more. When you talk to a customer, you're making them feel comfortable about their purchase. So, without a doubt social media marketing and good customer service are the two most crucial things in having a company. Q: A lot of young people take into consideration starting their unique business or doing something entrepreneurial as you. What type of advice do you give a young one who has a fantastic idea and wants to go on it to the next level? Noah: I would tell others to look around and discover what other everyone is doing. Because when I was starting the business, I researched to other resellers and learned from their website. So one in the most important things is always to take advice and learn from others and build upon that. And also, do not be afraid of just starting out. Get out there and have it going. Because you can have a lot of thoughts when creating a small business and be thinking, 'I want to achieve this and I want to do that.' But you just have to visit and undertake it. Eventually it all works out. So my advice would be learn and take advice from others and trust yourself , nor be afraid to simply start. Take a chance and simply start. Q: Just do it! As the famous shoemaker says! Noah: Exactly! Just get it done! To learn more about Vitale Kicks and also to take a look at their extensive assortment of limited-edition shoes, have a look at Vitalekicks.com. And connect with Vitale Kicks on Twitter and Instagram. |