How A 10 Year Kid Found His Way To Raise Money by Rian Narvekar with Avi Arya

I know that there's so much. Sometimes you could deal with high school stuff, sometimes you deal with after school stuff. How do you motivate yourself to keep going?

All right, so currently I'm running my own small business, which is a sneaker reselling. And like, in the US It's a lot. It's on a much bigger scale, but in India, it's still there. And, yeah, I've made around 5, $5,000 if I convert it into dollars, $5,000 in profit in the last five months. So it's going pretty well. And obviously, the passion for sneakers, I just. It's only been around one and a half years since I got to know about the sneaker culture, and I found a way to monetize it.

Awesome.

Okay.

Evan, do you have a question?

Yeah.

So my first question is, like, when you were doing it and, like, things weren't working out your way, why didn't you just give up? Like other kids, dude, like, they just give up. They're like, oh, this is not working. Like, it's not going my way, so I'm just gonna give up. Like, what was your motivation?

Firstly, okay, for my thing, it wasn't much of a downfall for me at any point of time, but still there were times where I didn't get any sales, so I knew that. So basically, I obviously know that markets at times don't do well, but I knew that later, in perhaps 15 days or 20 days, it will get back to normal, and I just had faith in myself and in the market.

Yeah.

Awesome. All right, so what are some of your dreams for the future with your sneaker company or. Actually, first, I'll go with open up more about your small business and how you've been able to sell. Especially times like this right now, a lot of businesses are struggling to make money. So how have you been able to market or to be able to create leads?

Okay, so basically, the sneaker culture in India is, like, really growing. During the lockdown, during, like, just after Covid started, it really boosted. And at first, before COVID I didn't think of it. Think much of it. But just when Covid started and I didn't have much to do other than online classes, I thought of starting the reselling business. Like, getting into it. And since it's. I don't need to have a physical store for it. I can just use my phone and call up people who might want to pair and. Yeah, so basically that helped me a lot. And for the second part, my dream for this business is to open at least a hundred stores in Asia, at least for the sneakers selling and streetwear clothing. And the other dream would be to bring my own clothing line and this business, I'm doing it with my cousin, so he's actually pretty good at designing stuff.

Awesome. Okay, great. Well, thank you so much. I have a quick class right now, but Aviana is going to take over with her questions.

Okay, so my second question is, what is your message to other teenagers that want to start their business but they don't know how?

Okay, so first of all, I would suggest every person to read this book called Shoe Dog by Phil Knight. It's about how the founder of Nike started Nike. So that's there. And the other thing is obviously have faith in yourself. Don't get demotivated for small stuff. Like if you have a dry month of no sales, it's fine, it'll get better.

Yeah.

Okay, so my next question is like, what are your dreams for the future with your sneaker company? What are your, like, what are your expectations that you want to happen?

Okay, so basically most of us in India, sneaker heads are motivated mainly because of the culture in us. So like LA and New York and like we know that LA has many sneaker stores like Footlocker, Cool Kicks, Nice Kicks and other stuff. And so my dream is to open my own brick and mortar store in India. At least five stores in Delhi, in the capital, Mumbai and Bangalore and other places where it's. Where there's a market for it. And obviously India does not have people who are willing to spend 50,000 or 40,000 on a pair of sneakers, which is about 300 or $400. But still there are people who like, there are a lot of people who are ready to do that.

Yeah.

So my next question is, what were.

Some of the struggles with starting the journey of yours while being in school and managing like trying to have fun with your friends and like school, work, homework. So what were some of those struggles that you faced?

Alright, being very honest, when I started this, I didn't pay attention in school at all. The whole like in school, outside of school, every time I used to think about this business, thinking of the next sale and what else to which new sneakers should I buy and what all to invest in?

Yeah.

Okay, so my next question is, what was the process and how did you crowdsource and, and raise money from like total strangers?

Okay, I don't know the answer that myself, but I guess. Okay, so my dad did help me out a lot because he has a good network of friends. And being very honest, I'm pretty sure that most of them donated because they know my father or something like that. And just to encourage me to become an entrepreneur just like him.

Yeah.

Okay, so my next question is, we know that you're also into sneakers and buying and selling. How do you start with that? Like, how did you start doing that from scratch?

So in the beginning I thought of buying off other resellers, but of course there's not much margin there. So instead of that, I connected and to other entrepreneurs. This is a must for every person to network. And I got into the network of sneaker heads who get the stuff for retail, and then I get a better deal with them and I sell it to another person who really wants the pair, but at a good rate.

Yeah.

Okay, so my next question is, how did you convince your parents that you wanted to be an entrepreneur or like you wanted to start your business and wanted to sell and earn money?

So my dad is always backing me up on this. He wants me to get experienced and, yeah. Get experiences from everything. So he was fine with it. He in fact encouraged me to do this because when I got into the sneaker culture, he. He obviously made the purchases for me because my first sneaker I got for resale, he was kind of shocked because he thought that sneakers should, like, couldn't sell for more than 15,000 bucks or 150 bucks. And seeing that I can buy pairs worth 480 and there are other people willing to buy it for more, he. He in fact told me that I should start this business. He said that it's a good market and it's going to rise. And my mom, of course said that I need to study and focus on that, but still she backed me up.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So I'm into horses and I'm into like stables and horses. So how should I start my business around horses?

It actually depends on what you want to do.

Right.

Like, there are different parts to. I mean, I don't know much about horses, but probably there's. You can monetize by selling saddles or horseshoes. I don't know. Or maybe horse grooming? I don't know.

Okay.

Yeah.

So my next question is, do you believe in like self education, like educating yourself, or do you believe in like someone that knows how to do it, teaching you?

I believe in self education because that's the only way you learn. And with its self education is basically learning from experiences. Right. So without experience, you can't do much in life.

Yeah.

So.

What, what you do with your sneakers, do you design them, or do you, like. Do just, like, get sneakers and sell them, or do you actually design them?

Yeah, I'll explain that. So sneaker reselling is basically Nike. So, for example, Nike releases a very limited shoe, like the Air Jordan one, and perhaps it's a collab with the artist, like Travis Scott. So that shoe retailed for $175. But in the resale market, the day dropped, it went up to $500 for resale because it was a limited pair and a lot of people wanted it. So the people who managed to get it for 175 bucks, either they decided to keep it for themselves or resell it and make a profit. So now that pair is worth $500, which was for 175, and the person who got it for retail made a margin of $300. But the catch is that this market is ever growing. So the. When the day dropped, it was for 500, the resell, and now it's for a hunt. Like, it's $1,700, the resell. So it keeps on going with time. And basically what I do is I try to get this stuff on detail. If I don't get it, which is. Which happens a lot in India because the Nike website doesn't work as well as it does in other countries. So the network I have, they give it to me for, like, 5,000 rupees, which is $50 above retail. They make their profit, and then I probably hold onto the pair when the market is at its peak, Sell it then, or. I said it. As soon as I. As soon as it hits the amount, I feel it's right. Yeah.

Okay, so my next question is, what was. Have you ever had a day when you thought you were gonna sell sneakers for a price, but someone actually offered it for more than you were expecting?

Every day. That happens every day. But the thing is, I'm good at negotiating, and somehow I managed to crack a deal where the person who's selling doesn't incur a loss and I don't have to pay too much.

Okay.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So how did you. How did you find out that you wanted to do this? Like, were you like, oh, you know, like, I just like sneakers, and I just want to sell them and I want to earn some money or, like, how did you find out that you wanted to do this?

So if you know who Kanye west is, I'm assuming you do. Yeah, he has his line of shoes, which are Yeezys. And to be very honest, India gets the trends A lot later than America. And so basically, Kanye west released his Easy 350s in 2016, and it reached India in 2017. The trend. And it's still going on. Like, still, even though the pairs are in much more quantity, people in India ready to pay. I mean, they really want the sneaker. And so.

Wait, what?

Can you repeat the question? I'm getting off track.

Yeah, sure. So how did you know that you wanted to do this? Like, how did you know that you wanted to sell them and earn money from that?

Yeah, so I saw a lot of my friends, not just friends, sneakerheads. I know even they don't manage to get the pair at the retail price. And, like, they have to pay, like, 200% or 300% more in resell. But I managed to help them out and not, like, make their pockets hurt. I got someone, like, I knew someone in UK who got the pairs for retail there, and he shipped it to me for a lot less margin than other resellers. And I gave these pairs to my network for a good price, and they were happy. Happy happily paying for the pair instead of, like, being broke and having the pair.

Okay, so my next question is, do you think, like, the quarantine helped you? Like, because everyone's stuck inside and they, like, want to keep buying things so they, like, have entertainment. Do you think that helped you or did it decrease your sneaker heads?

The thing is, we liked how quarantine turned out, but we don't like it because we managed to get a lot of sneakers, and we had time to look at the whole sneak. How Sneaker. How the sneaker reselling business is going to. Which sneaker is doing well, which is not. And we managed to get a lot of stuff for a good price, but the only problem we have is now we can't wear them outside and show it off. But, yeah, quarantine helped me and other resellers a lot, because in quarantine, we do all the whole day we're on Instagram, we're browsing through our feed, and we see each other stories, and we connect to other sneaker heads, and that's how we build the network. I mean, quarantine helped me build the network I have right now.

Okay, so my next question is, do you think it would be harder or easier in, like, America or Canada or any other, like. Or, like, other countries, or do you think it would be harder than India?

I. I mean, it depends. So for sneakers, it might be harder in the US because you already have so much competition there. You have, like, 30 different stores there. And in India, you have three stores which get you hyped sneakers. One is Veg Non Veg, one is Super Kicks, and the other is a resale store. So India does have a big market for it, and they. There is a demand for it. So it may be easier in India compared to us or other countries.

Okay, so my next question is, did.

You use Instagram or like, like, platforms like Facebook, Instagram to, like, show off your business and telling people, like, to, like, this link to buy them? Like, did you use those platforms to do that?

Yeah, I did. I used Instagram to show off the new pairs I have, but most of the pairs I showed off, I already sold them.

Yeah.

Okay.

It's nice to show off the kicks because then some people get an idea that you're doing well in the business and they get motivated to get into this community.

Okay, so do you have you ever, like, asked your friends or, like, your. As you were saying, like, your dad's friends bought it from you, so have you ever asked them to sponsor you, like, tell all their friends about it or, like, tell them on their, like, Instagram pages, on their Facebook pages to.

Yeah. So when I started my page on Instagram, the first thing I did was I DM'd all of my friends, every follower people who I haven't even talked to yet, and I asked them to put a story to follow my account. But, yeah, I did.

Okay.

So, yeah, my next question is, how did you know you were you just, like, one day your dad was like, oh, I don't have the money to go to football camp. I don't have the money. So were you just like, okay, well, I'm just. I'm just gonna do this, and I'm gonna do my business, and I'm gonna start my sneaker business, and I'm gonna try to make some money. Were you just like that, or were you, like, hesitant at first or.

Okay, wait, I correct you there. So when I got selected for the camp, I was 10. That was five years ago. There was no sneaker reselling, nothing.

Okay.

Yeah.

And, yes, I was very certain that I can do business because my father told me that he's a businessman, but all I saw him do was go sit in meetings, drink coffee. That's all. So I thought it's easy. But when I did the first venture, which was selling cookies, I realized that it's tough. But I still did the paintings thing and the crowdfunding because I really had the passion to go to play football and that was the main goal. It was not about entrepreneurship as per se.

Yeah.

So it mainly passion was what helped me.

Okay, so one day, were you just.

Like, in a, like, thought of decision, were you, like, mad at your dad because he wasn't giving you the money? Or were you like, oh, it's okay, like, I'll start my business, or were you like, oh, no, like, I want first day.

When I told him about the camp and he was joking around saying he doesn't have the money, I was very scared because it was a very rare chance to go to Barcelona for that specific camp. So I was pretty scared for the first few days. But then I thought of a solution, and I'm sure that my dad just forgot about the joke. He was ready to pay the money, but I don't know.

Yeah.

Okay.

So, yeah, those are all my questions. Thank you for coming and thank you for being here.