Taylor Bembery
Blue & White Flash/Variety Editor
Most college students and young adults are always looking for ways to make money, but many never explore the option of starting their own business. Greg Selkoe, however, did not let age or circumstances keep him from making millions.
Selkoe, a Boston, Mass. native, started his business in his parent’s basement and transformed it into the million dollar popular clothing retail company, Karmaloop.com. His business ventures began when he was trying to sell ads to support a friend’s website. It eventually turned into a way to give popular clothing brands a larger consumer base.
“I thought these guys must have a lot of money because all the celebrities are rocking their clothing line and when I called them up they actually didn’t have a lot of money,” said Selkoe. They didn’t have any money because all of their products were sold in the U.S. and when you don’t live in New York and LA, it was tough to sell their clothing to people who lived in other places.”
The clothing brand companies did not have a reach outside of big cities. With the high demand and low supply of the clothing brands, Selkoe thought that this was an area he could take advantage of by starting Karmaloop.
“It’s truly a lifestyle brand that sells clothing,” said Selkoe
Selkoe stated that he used customer outreach to start his company.
“I reached out to our customers. I didn’t have any money when I first started out. So what I would do is go to people who bought. I was at home with my parents and the whole office was in my parent’s basement,” said Selkoe
Selkoe stated that young entrepreneurs have to take risks.
“I’ve taken a lot of different risks, some of them successful, some of them unsuccessful. One of the risks that I took was basically starting the business because I was working another job so whatever money I had went into the business. I was in a total financial ruin, so starting Karmaloop itself was a risk. The thing about being an entrepreneur is you have to try different things. You can’t be afraid of risks, you never know what the risks are, sometimes they may or may not work out,” said Selkoe.
Through his roadblocks and obstacles, Selkoe has been able to reap the benefits of his hard work and resilience. His dedication to building his business and community involvement has been talked about on several news mediums and documentaries.
“[My greatest accomplishment was] Being invited to the White House, I was selected as one of the top 35 entrepreneurs, 35 and under during President Obama’s first term. Thirty-five entrepreneurs from Facebook, Apple, and other companies we’re involved and it was cool to be a part of a group of distinguished people,” said Selkoe.
Selkoe gives this advice for people who want to start their own business but do not know where or how to start.
1. Make sure your idea is good. Many times people have the same ideas and they are already out there.
2. Figure out where you are going to get the resources to start your business. Resources are not always cash; you can find mentors with leverage. You can also use your dorm room as your office.
3. Never give up. When you start a business it is not always going to succeed. There are going to be a lot of people who doubt you. A lot of people are going to say your idea is bad. You might run out of money, have road blocks, have issues, hiring employees might not work out but you cannot get discouraged.
“I didn’t have a lot of cash when I started. I lived at home. You need to put all your resources into the business and not waste them on material things. People start a business and start flaunting. It should be the exact opposite, you need to avoid that. When the business first started I took the bus, I stayed at the cheapest hotels. I did everything to make sure that it wasn’t for my image, but it was to build the business,” said Selkoe.
Selkoe stated that he is working on more brands, Karmaloop TV and just building and improving Karmaloop. Not only is he excited about doing new things, he is also interested in helping people and influencing more than just clothing but a whole culture.
To keep up with Greg Selkoe, you can follow him on Twitter: @Selkoe and visit Karmaloop.com for the latest eclectic clothing.
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