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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 the eyes on your fresh new kicks (don't even get me started on the glorious smell of new leather, mixed with rubber and Velcro!). Pretty close to heaven, right? One one 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 convey it to sneakerheads all around the world through his upstart company, Vitale Kicks. Not only is Noah an honors student, maintaining a 4.5 GPA and an affiliate the Grizzlies' soccer team, he's another consummate professional who are able to be found hours before school starts at his desk filling out orders, answering customer emails and searching for exclusive sneaks to get a fanatical subculture of sneaker aficionados. In just half a year time, Vitale Kicks has earned over $250,000 dollars in revenue, thanks to 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 talk about how he turned his very own sneaker obsession in to a thriving business. Quesiton: I love your small business logo. Who designed it? Noah Vitale: My brother Nick designed it. He's 18 plus a senior at Los Osos. We sat down together eventually and just put it together. People appear to like it so that it worked out rather 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 like that. And because they're limited, you will have a huge requirement for them. So we find a way to buy them from shops and then mark them up even as have them inside our hands. So, say you will find there's shoe that retails for $160 dollars, and it's sold out in stores all across the United States. We'll take that shoe then sell it for maybe $230 dollars on our website. We are capable of doing this because there's such a tremendous demand and you also can't go right into a retail store and purchase for them. So, the one choice is to acquire it from a so-called reseller, which is somebody like us. Q: So, if Nike drops a limited edition Air Force 1, and I wouldn't like to sit before Undefeated for just two days, I can call you up? Noah: Yeah, exactly. We actually have people that do sit outside of stores on release day and after that once they have the shoes we'll sell them a bit over retail. So yeah, definitely any type of shoe just like an Air Force 1 we are able to do the same exact thing. Q: As a consumer, I think that's well worth the mark-up immediately because who has the time to sit in front of a store for days? Noah: Yeah, definitely. Q: So do you employ people to sit down out before stores? Noah: Yeah occasionally perform. I'll pay friends say $20 bucks for starters night to camp out with us. That's one among the many ways we're able to get the shoes. Q: What are another ways? Noah: We buy them online and direct from retailers like Footlocker or NikeTown. We'll enter raffles. They're not the easiest to get. It's a complicated process. Over time we've accumulated friends along with a network of men and women 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 acquire as many shoes as you can and at one time I'm with all of my friends. It's a good experience, along with making a good profit every weekend. Q: So basically, you've created 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 possibility to create a business making a little money. But all this originated as a hobby of collecting and wearing this footwear. So, it really is a business along with a hobby at the same time frame. Q: When have you start it and how old had you been? Noah: Well I was many years old and I started the business enterprise in April of 2013. Q: Do you remember the exact moment the theory sparked? Noah: It started when my pops and I were away from 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 from the store a few people stopped us and offered us a massive $150 dollars over-retail for them. We were like, 'Wow did that really just happen'? It motivated my dad too because usually once you tell a mother or father about doing something such as this they'd say, 'Nah, there's no way! You can't go get a shoe that's in a store and resell it for more.' But when somebody around the sidewalk stopped dad and said, "Hey, I'll take those for $280 dollars today," I think that basically kind of lit the spark for everything. Q: It really really helps to have your dad on the side don't you think? Noah: Yeah it really is did help to have my father on my side. When someone how old irrrve become is starting off they're not going to have the revenue to be able to get 100 pairs of shoes. So having my dad to help me out (and the credit card) was definitely a huge help. But, my parents are invariably supportive of whatever I do. When I told my father I wanted to do this, he was all for it because when I would be a younger kid I had another business anf the husband saw how well I did with this. Q: What's the most costly shoe you've sold? Noah: Nike has a foundation with Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland, Oregon. At the first of the year they released a shoe called the Nike Air Doernbecher that retailed for $250 dollars and now we sold it for $1300 dollars. So that was a very large profit. It was kind of tough to look for a buyer when we found one to the price it was satisfying. And we were able to have a couple pairs of the. That was definitely our biggest sale. Q: What's been probably the most interesting shoe you've sold? Noah: We're implementing that at this time. We have a very shoe referred to as 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 currently reselling while on an average of about $4,000 to $5,000 dollars. We have one pair inside our hands right now and that we're just waiting to obtain the right buyer that will pull the trigger. But that's definitely our best shoe that we've ever had. Q: How do you begin selling a shoe that's worth much? It sounds almost dangerous. Noah: Right! We've had it inside our possession somewhat over a month along with the challenge with a shoe this way is you need to be careful regarding how you market it because with such a tremendous demand, it's dangerous to satisfy up for a shoe that's worth $4,000 dollars. So you have to be careful. But we're definitely keeping it safe until we find the right buyer. That will be nice even as let that go. Q: Nice payday! What do you generally do with the profits you cash in on? Noah: I'll occasionally buy myself clothes but most from the money is store 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 input it away for college. Q: How amazed are you if you sit back to see 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 efforts pay off. Q: What do friends and family think about Vitale Kicks? Noah: You know my pals are actually those that I'll bring with me to get shoes and I'll pay them back for coming with me at night. I'll text them some nights and say, 'Hey all of you down to head to Los Angeles beside me this weekend to pick-up some shoes? I'm paying everybody so-and-so amount of dollars.' And sometimes, they just don't even want to be paid because it's simply a thrilling experience to go down to these populated areas also to be around these those who are crazy for sneakers. And it's fun simply to walk out in the stores with exclusive shoes and everybody's looking at us saying, "Oh look, look, look, they got a." So my pals have definitely taught me to be be where I am today and still have been a resource of support and have reduced the problem throughout everything. And the best thing about it is, some of my friends have actually started their own sneaker reselling businesses with a smaller level. It's cool to determine that influence spread throughout every one of the group of my girlfriends and to see them have success too with what they're doing. Sometimes they'll ask me for help and I'm happy to help them. Q: Are your customers surprised when they find out you are a secondary school kid? Noah: Well, I only tell people I'm close to but when I do let them know I'm 16, they're very surprised. If anything they think it's really cool a thief younger than them might be doing similar to this. Q: The testimonial page on your website is merely photo after photo of super-stoked people showing off the shoes they purchased from you. How satisfying is always that? Noah: The customer appreciation is fairly cool. That's one in the best parts is to determine the customer testimonials. They're really a big help to our company and its rewarding once we get those back. Sometimes we'll even share discounts if customers post a testimonial because that pulls a lot of other people that haven't purchased from us. People will look at that and say, 'Oh those guys are legit ' they understand what they're doing.' 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 go back home I usually have 3-hours of homework and when I'm playing soccer I won't get back until 5 p.m. Then I'll have 40,000 people on social websites that are emailing and contacting me regarding their order or about the sneakers 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 type of found that balance. I require time out at the certain hour to deal to emails, to obtain back to customers, and also to post up on social media marketing. Then naturally, I sign up for other time and energy to do assignment work and other things which are more important. Q: Time management is undoubtedly a skill don't you find it? Noah: Yeah, it's something I've learned to accomplish. Q: What are your plans after high school? Noah: I don't know what college I want to visit yet, but I plan to go right in to a 4-year school. I also consider hopefully running multiple businesses when I'm out of senior high school. But I definitely will go to college with whether Business or Computer Science Major and hopefully have other businesses on my hands during those times. Q: Who are several of your influences or individuals who have inspirited you? Noah: I would say operator like Mark Cuban. Or if you watch the show Shark Tank, all of the people on the. 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 take into consideration 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 the most important aspect of creating a successful at-home business? Noah: How big social networking is in relation to its how it can help a company. I started this past year 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 just about any business currently. Also the importance of good customer satisfaction is huge. Like I said earlier, because the shoes are so expensive, folks are sometimes afraid to spend so much money. I would be nervous too if I was spending $400 dollars or more. When you speak with a customer, you make them feel comfortable regarding their purchase. So, without a doubt social media marketing and good customer satisfaction are the two most crucial things in having an enterprise. Q: A lot of young people take into consideration starting their particular business or doing something entrepreneurial just like you. What type of advice do you give a young one who has a great idea and wants to go to the next level? Noah: I would tell others to appear around and find out what other individuals are doing. Because when I was starting the organization, I researched to other resellers and learned from them. So one in the most important things is to take advice and study and build upon that. And also, not be afraid of just starting. Get out there and obtain it going. Because you can have numerous thoughts when creating a company and be thinking, 'I want to achieve this and I want to accomplish that.' But you just have to visit and take action. Eventually it all works out. So my advice can be learn and take advice from others and rely on yourself and don't be afraid to only start. Take a chance and merely start. Q: Just undertake it! As the famous shoemaker says! Noah: Exactly! Just do it! To find out more on Vitale Kicks and take a look at their extensive number of limited-edition shoes, try them out at Vitalekicks.com. And connect with Vitale Kicks on Twitter and Instagram. |