15-Year-Old Boy’s T-shirt Printing Company Makes N913 Million in One Year With Investment From Notable Figures
- A 15-year-old boy who started a clothing business at the age of 12 said his company is on course to make over N900 million in annual sales
- Trey Brown founded Spergo, a street clothing business from the money he made at his 12th birthday celebration
- Notable personalities like business mogul, Sean 'Diddy' Combs and FUBU founder, Daymond John are investors in his company
On his 12th birthday, Trey Brown had a brainwave that is not common for children his age.
An idea of buying, customising and reselling T-Shirts struck him. He decided to use the N73,830 he made during his 12th birthday to buy and customise 16 T-Shirts and resell them to the people in his locality.
Source: UGC
A brainwave worth millions
His shirts sold out immediately, Brown said during ABC’s show, Shark Tank.
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He founded his street clothing brand and named it Spergo and said the company is on course to make over N900 million in revenues.
Brown founded the start-up at the beginning of 2018 through the help of his mother, Sherell Peterson who is a retired tailor and now the company’s full-time Chief Operating Officer.
Now, Spergo sells clothes like socks, T-shirts, hoodies and sweat trousers which are priced at N48,980, N18,675, N33,200 and N40,670 respectively.
A deal of a lifetime
During the pitching of his brand, Brown landed a N124.5 million investment deal from FUBU founder, Daymond John in exchange for a 20 per cent stake in Spergo.
John said he could relate with Brown’s vision because when he started his clothing company, his mother was a huge inspiration in his life.
According to Brown, he founded Spergo after becoming aware of violence and drugs in his community. He said if he could successfully sell T-shirts, he could help to encourage his peers to stay away from trouble.
Lifetime goals and ambition
He said he wanted to be the light and an example to his peers in his community.
He sold his first batch of clothes to his friends and family and when he was asked what he would do with the proceeds, he replied that he would reinvest it into the company.
After several months of selling shirts door-to-door at local shops, his business idea impressed a barbershop customer who happened to have the rapper and business mogul. Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ phone number and they spoke on video calls almost immediately.
P-Diddy was awed by the boy’s business acumen and decided to help raise Spergo’s profile with both an Instagram post which highlighted Brown’s story and a grant of N10.3 million. Brown used the money to open three stores in his community.
The investment from Daymond John will go into hiring a fashion designer, boosting the company’s e-commerce technology and investing in production.
John’s investment will go toward hiring a fashion designer, upgrading the start-up’s e-commerce technology and getting further ahead on upcoming production, Peterson said.
The 15-year-old said he wants to become a billionaire by the age of 21.
My brand name was my bully name in school, lady narrates
Legit.ng has reported that converting what once caused pain and anguish to a major source of income is not an easy task.
Not many have had the strength or nerve to rise from the taunts and piercing laughter of schoolmates and use the same object of pain and make a success of it.
That is what Chinonye Jennifer Umeh, an entrepreneur and owner of Blinky Collections, did.
Source: Legit.ng
