17-year-old Brennan Agranoff, a colorblind boy, started his custom(定做的)sock business in middle school, with a little money he got from his parents. Up till now, he has sold over $1 million worth of socks online in the last four years.
Brennan thought of the idea for his custom sock company at just 13 years old. He was playing in a high-school basketball game in his hometown, and noticed that many kids of his age were wearing the same white Nike sport socks. The boy told himself if these white simple socks were so popular with kids, then some cool custom designs(设计)would surely be more popular.
But the boy didn't tell his parents about the business idea immediately. He spent six months researching things, like printing machines and technology and writing out a business plan. When he had everything planned out, he asked his parents for some money. "They thought the idea was a little out there," Brennan recently told CNN Money, but he kept pushing, and finally got a $3, 000 from his parents to start his company. Then he began to work on his own designs. Though he was colorblind, it didn't stop him and he has created over 200 kinds of designs now.
Business was slow the first year, but then Brennan started pushing his own brand(商标)HoopSwagg socks on the Internet. Orders soon started coming in in large numbers, and HoopSwagg became a popular brand among custom sock lovers. Right now, people can find his designs on HoopSwagg website, Amazon and eBay.
Four years after starting his business, Brennan has achieved great success while balancing(平衡)school, housework and his social life. And he says he loved every minute of it.