Narjas Zatat
Apr 23, 2017
Getty Images/iStockphoto
Seventeen-year-old Brennan Agranoff has been a CEO since the age of 13, when he founded his own custom socks company, HoopSwagg.
Picture: screengrab
While you were completing your simultaneous equations homework or watching an episode of the Fresh Prince, Agranoff was building his business, and in just four years he has managed to amass annual sales of over $1 million (£780,213).
That’s a lot of socks.
According to CNN, in 2013 he had been watching a basketball game when he noticed that all the players’ socks were the same plain white.
He wondered what it would be like if he were to print custom designs on them, and decided to present his plan to his parents, who, after some persuasion, gave him a $3,000 (£2,340).
Following that initial burst of inspiration, he spent six months researching, and eventually set up his business in his garage.
He purchased many pairs of white socks, and used design printing and heat presser machines to create his initial designs.
The tipping point for the business came after its first year when, through the use of social media he and a group of social influencers, he increased his reach – and therefore clientele.
Now, his mother is part of the business, and he employs 17 other part-time employees.
The socks are sold through his website and via Amazon, etsy and eBay, but he hopes that in the future, his socks can be found in retail stores.
He said:
You can't be too young to learn how to be an entrepreneur.
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