In the wise words of the late musician Aaliyah, when it comes to launching a successful apparel business, “age ain’t nothin’ but a number.” Just ask the teenager who has already sold $1 million worth of his custom-designed socks — before he’s even finished high school or moved out of his parents’ home.
The 17-year-old CEO of HoopSwagg, an online custom-design sock company he runs out of his parents’ house in Oregon, came up with the idea at a high school basketball game four years ago, reports KATU. After researching the logistics of how to run his own business, and an investment from his father, he started selling socks with wacky designs.
“I taught myself how to code and graphic design and learned as I went. It slowly evolved and I learned more [about the] business aspect,” Brennan Agranoff told the news station.
Today, he receives about 100 new orders every day for the more than 500 sock designs he offers. Some of the most popular items include socks featuring his family’s goats, and a design patterned after the carpeting at Portland International Airport.
“I have enough socks in this warehouse to wear every day until I die,” he says, calling his footwear success “shocking.”
His next steps? Branching into brick-and-mortar stores, and eventually, attending college.
“I’ll come home from school and I work about 5 to 6 hours a day. I don’t necessarily sleep the most. I love it,” he says.
This isn’t the first teen wonder we’ve heard of who has flipped the script on the idea of the traditional entrepreneur: A few years ago we heard about a 12-year-old with a clothing line sold at Nordstrom who made us feel distinctly unaccomplished.
Others have wielded the power of social media to great success, including the teen hat designer who refused to sell his creations to Urban Outfitters in the interest of doing business his own way.
by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist
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