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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 when you crack open the lid on the quality-crafted shoebox, peel back the uncrinkled tissue paper and lay up your eyes on your fresh kicks (don't even get me started for the glorious odor of new leather, combined with rubber and Velcro!). Pretty near 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 found a way to capture that little 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 an affiliate the Grizzlies' team, he's additionally a consummate professional who are able to be found hours before school starts at his desk filling in orders, answering customer emails and searching for exclusive sneaks for a fanatical subculture of sneaker aficionados. In just six months time, Vitale Kicks has earned over $250,000 dollars in product sales, as a result of a low-supply-high-demand market and lots of hard work and commitment from Noah. Recently I sat down using the young entrepreneur to have a chat about how he turned his or her own sneaker obsession in a thriving business. Quesiton: I love your business logo. Who designed it? Noah Vitale: My brother Nick designed it. He's 18 and a senior at Los Osos. We sat down together 1 day and just build it. People appear to like it in order 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 prefer that. And because they're limited, there will be a huge need for them. So we find a means to buy them from retail stores and then mark them up if we have them inside our hands. So, say there exists a shoe that retails for $160 dollars, and sold out in shops all across the United States. We'll take that shoe and sell it for maybe $230 dollars on our website. We can perform this because there's such a huge demand and you can't go in a retail store and purchase them. So, the sole choice is to get it coming from a so-called reseller, that's somebody like us. Q: So, if Nike drops a restricted edition Air Force 1, and I shouldn't sit before Undefeated for 2 days, I can contact you up? Noah: Yeah, exactly. We actually have people who do sit beyond stores on release day then once they get the shoes we'll sell them slightly over retail. So yeah, definitely any sort of shoe such as an Air Force 1 we are capable of doing the same exact thing. Q: As a consumer, I think that's really worth the mark-up at that time because that has the time for it to sit in front of a store for several days? Noah: Yeah, definitely. Q: So do you employ people to take a seat out in front of stores? Noah: Yeah occasionally perform. I'll pay friends say $20 bucks first night to camp out with us. That's one of the many ways we're able to receive the shoes. Q: What are a few other ways? Noah: We buy 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 developed friends plus 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 is thrilling every weekend to try to have as many shoes as you can and at one time I'm with all my friends. It's a good experience, along with making a good profit every weekend. Q: So basically, you've developed a business from a hobby. Noah: Definitely, since it all started with an interest of these type of limited-edition shoes. And then realizing that there was a big potential opportunity to create a business and create a little money. But all this originated as an interest of collecting and wearing these footwear. So, it is a business and a hobby at one time. Q: When have you start it and how old were you? Noah: Well I was many years old and I started the organization in April of 2013. Q: Do you remember the exact moment the concept sparked? Noah: It started when my father and I were outside a Finish Line one night, where these folks were doing a raffle and we were able to get two pairs of Air Jordans. As soon once we walked out with the store some people stopped us and offered us an enormous $150 dollars over-retail for them. We were like, 'Wow did that actually just happen'? It motivated my dad too because usually once you tell a parent about doing something like this they'd say, 'Nah, there is no way! You can't go purchase a shoe that's in an outlet and resell it for more.' But as soon as somebody for the sidewalk stopped dad and said, "Hey, I'll take those for $280 dollars right this moment," I think that truly kind of lit the spark for everything. Q: It really helps you to have your dad on your side don't you think? Noah: Yeah it will be did assist to have dad on my side. When someone my maturity 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 awesome credit card) was definitely a huge help. But, my parents will always be supportive of whatever I do. When I told my father I wanted to do this, he was all because of it because when I was a younger kid I had another business and the man saw how well I did with this. Q: What's the most high-priced shoe you've sold? Noah: Nike features a foundation with Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland, Oregon. At the first of the year they released a shoe known as the Nike Air Doernbecher that retailed for $250 dollars and we sold it for $1300 dollars. So that would be a very large profit. It was type of tough to discover a buyer then when we found one for your price it turned out satisfying. And we were able to obtain a couple pairs of these. That was definitely our biggest sale. Q: What's been probably the most interesting shoe you've sold? Noah: We're working on that right now. We have a very shoe known as the Nike Air Yeezy which is a collaboration between your 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 in our hands right now and that we're just waiting to find the right buyer who will pull the trigger. But that's definitely our best shoe that we've ever had. Q: How do you attempt selling a shoe that's worth a great deal? It sounds almost dangerous. Noah: Right! We've had it in our possession a bit over a month and the challenge with a shoe this way is you have to be careful about how exactly you sell it off because with such a huge demand, it's dangerous to fulfill up for the shoe that's worth $4,000 dollars. So you have to be careful. But we're definitely keeping it safe until look for the right buyer. That will be nice even as 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 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 personally. But besides that, I just put it away for college. Q: How amazed are you if you sit back and see the success you've been 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 ended in me possessing car.' It's just great to see work pay off. Q: What do your friends think about Vitale Kicks? Noah: You know my pals are actually people who I'll bring with me to pick up shoes and I'll pay them back for coming with me. I'll text them some nights and say, 'Hey everyone down to check out Los Angeles beside me this weekend to pick up some shoes? I'm paying everybody so-and-so amount of dollars.' And sometimes, they don't even want to be paid given it's simply a thrilling experience to go into these populated areas and to be around these people that are crazy for sneakers. And it's fun simply to walk out with the stores with exclusive shoes and everybody's looking at us saying, "Oh look, look, look, they got this or that." So my buddies have definitely helped me be where I am today and still have been an origin of support and have taught me to be throughout all of it. And the best thing about it is, some of my pals have actually started their particular sneaker reselling businesses over a smaller level. It's cool to find out that influence spread throughout each of the group of my buddies and to view them have success too in what they're doing. Sometimes they'll ask me for help and I'm more than pleased to help them. Q: Are your customers surprised whenever they find out you're a senior high 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 they believe it's really cool that someone younger than them could be doing something like this. Q: The testimonial page on the website is merely photo after photo of super-stoked people revealing the shoes they purchased in you. How satisfying is the fact that? Noah: The customer appreciation is actually comparatively cool. That's one with the best parts is to determine the customer testimonials. They're really a big help to our organization and its rewarding whenever we get those back. Sometimes we'll even give out discounts if customers post a testimonial because that pulls a lot of other individuals who haven't purchased in us. People will look at that and say, 'Oh those guys are legit ' they know what they actually do.' Q: What's the biggest challenge you've faced as being a young entrepreneur? Noah: My biggest challenge is maintaining school and the business at the same time frame. 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 so when I'm playing soccer I won't get home 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 devote some time out in a certain hour to reply to emails, to obtain back to customers, and to post up on social websites. Then obviously, I sign up for other time for you to do class work and other things which are more important. Q: Time management is definitely a skill don't you think? Noah: Yeah, it's something I've learned to accomplish. Q: What are your plans after secondary school? Noah: I don't know what college I want to visit yet, but I plan to look right into a 4-year school. I also intend on hopefully running multiple businesses when I'm out of high school. But I definitely will go to college with the Business or Computer Science Major and hopefully have other businesses on my own hands then. Q: Who are some of your influences or those 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 view how successful they are and exactly how they're in a position 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 aspect of creating a successful at-home business? Noah: How big social media is in regards to how it can help an enterprise. I started this past year with one follower on Instagram now I have over 40,000 followers. Social media has really helped grow my business and it's definitely one from the most important factors for virtually any business today. Also the significance of good customer satisfaction is huge. Like I said earlier, because these comfortable shoes are so expensive, everyone is sometimes afraid to spend so much money. I could be nervous too if I was spending $400 dollars or more. When you communicate with a customer, you are making them feel comfortable relating to purchase. So, without a doubt social media and good customer care are the two most crucial things in having a company. Q: A lot of young people think of starting their particular business or doing something entrepreneurial like you. What type of advice do you give a young person who has a fantastic idea and wants to go on it to the next level? Noah: I would tell others to take a look around to see what other individuals are doing. Because when I was starting the business, I analyzed to other resellers and learned from their website. So one of 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 have it going. Because you can have so many thoughts when creating an enterprise and be thinking, 'I want to accomplish this and I want to accomplish that.' But you just have to look and take action. Eventually it all works out. So my advice would be learn and take advice from others and trust yourself and do not be afraid to only start. Take a chance and start. Q: Just undertake it! As the famous shoemaker says! Noah: Exactly! Just do it! To find out more on Vitale Kicks also to take a look at their extensive variety of limited-edition shoes, have a look at Vitalekicks.com. And connect with Vitale Kicks on Twitter and Instagram. |