They also organise sale events, which their fans like as they can come in and try their shirts on. They get positive feedback and are happy with the way things are going. They are also going to start selling at markets.
First Major Lesson
“When we ordered our first range, we did not organise samples. It was because the site we ordered our stock from had great testimonials of big brands. We were in a rush, we were
“We did not want our name associated with that kind of quality, so we ditched the faulty shirts.”
excited to get our first range out there so we ordered our shipment of shirts, got them printed and they were sub-standard. We did not want our name associated with that kind of quality, so we ditched them. It was not worth putting forward bad quality and not getting return sales.”
They all lost money with their first range. They are equal partners and invested the same amount of money each into the business. They all have part-time jobs to subsidise the business, to keep it going until it starts paying for itself. This has hurt them, but not deterred them. Money is an issue. It is an issue for all of them. They now have to pay upfront for the samples and the new summer range before they can see any money coming back. They are all quite philosophical about the whole experience and take it in their stride.
Managing the “Triangle”
They all have a laugh when I ask them what it is like to work together. They acknowledge there are challenging times but you can see that they love what they do and enjoy spending time together.
When it is time to take decisions, they work as a democracy, whereby the majority rules. If one does not like something they take that into consideration and try to understand why. “It is good having a few people involved because someone will see something that someone else does not, sort out all the problems- Seb picks up everything.” says Jono.
“We pretty much agree on everything and we all fell into our roles really easily. We all gel together. We all have different strengths. Max is doing the web stuff, Seb the designing and I do the talking. It works. We work with each other’s strengths.”
They also see their business as a way to practice what they learn at university. They are all pursuing studies in their respective fields. It makes the learning so much more valuable.
Next
When asked what they want from the business, the first answer that comes is “Money, lots of money,” to which once again they all have a laugh. They won’t discount the fact that it would be nice to grow it into an online international empire. Whatever happens down the track, whether it be a flop and lose all their hard earned money or be a roaring success, they are out there giving it a go, learning on the go and finding their ways.
At the moment, they are all having fun, but they also take it seriously. They are passionate about the brand, what it means to them and the whole buzz they are getting out of it.
These kids have a big future ahead of them... 17
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