Sneakerhead Business by Anthony

Sneakerhead Business by Anthony - February 2024 Scholarship Essay

During the pandemic, I launched a small business and developed a strong interest in how companies operate. This led me to want to study business in college. My small business started with a pair of Adidas Yeezy Onyx sneakers. I’d saved up for months to buy them by doing odd jobs for neighbors. I waited patiently for the much-awaited sneaker release and obtained them on the “drop” when the public could purchase. I couldn’t wait to get them. They were beautiful, a work of art, and I loved them instantly. But during the lockdown, when was I going to wear them?

I mentioned this to my friend, who suggested I sell them. I researched online resources for selling personal merchandise and learned about a huge resale market for select, specially designed sneakers. So I sold them and made a profit!

This inspired me to create a sneaker resale business. I researched which sneakers were being released and might have the highest resale value. I quickly learned how to set up and operate a small business and carefully tracked all important details in Excel: inventory, price paid/sold, and profit. Based on my research, I set the resale price cautiously—too high, it wouldn’t sell, too low, I’d lose profit. With practice and some hits and misses, I obtained many high-valued sneakers and resold most for a profit.

My sneaker business motivated me to enroll in IB Business Management and learn about many business functions. For my IB assessment, I studied the effects of the recall of Similac products and what the company could have done differently to minimize the impact. I enjoyed this class so much and decided to continue my business studies over the summer to learn more about investing. I completed a Georgetown University course, Becoming an Investor: An Inside Look at Finance. There, I learned how to use financial data to study public companies and create an investment portfolio. Also during the summer, I completed the Ronald Reagan Summer Leadership Program. There, I learned how to lead more effectively and created a detailed plan to improve teens’ mental health by forming a community through organized sports, including kick, hand, and wiffle ball.

Through my experiences, I learned that the toughest part of a business is finding a high-demand product or service. Reselling sneakers was easy, but securing enough inventory was challenging. I believe I need to learn more about financial management and strategies to launch and run a successful business. In my business, if a sneaker wouldn’t sell for much higher than what I could get it for, I had to decide if the purchase was worth it. Also, developing a small business is different from scaling an idea for impact. I’m constantly trying to think of new products to create or resell and hope to launch another business in or after college.

I have enrolled in Elon University and plan on majoring in Finance. I believe Elon will provide me with in-depth knowledge and skills for a successful business career and would learn how to expand my ideas launching a business.