The Day Redundancy Forced A Decision with Timo Mullen

0:00When you do the statistics online, it's billions. let's set our goals high that's what you do hey you don't have to want to be second you want to be number one always and we said necessary goals high and we're gonna be the number one sustainable footwork slash flip-flop brand in the world any entrepreneur either will know that when you go to investors you generally are going to them with an idea and they invest based on an idea but what we We were able to go and go, we've got a really good idea. Here's our idea. Oh, by the way, we've already proven the idea. Here's the pre-orders for hundreds of thousands of pounds.

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1:22Now let's jump into the main conversation. What was the size of the opportunity then or the size of the opportunity now? Well, good question. It's billions of dollar industry. Just the flip-flop category. Now, within that category, when you do the statistics online, there'll be various figures and you have to break them down. So I think the entire industry is about$24 billion or something like that there. But within that, you've got Costco, Walmart, Tesco, you know,$199, like you see on the landfill. But then our part of that industry would be Haviana, Reef, Quicksilver, Billabon, more the lifestyle.

2:17and again, slightly maybe more, you know, a pricier market as well. Yeah, so people are making that specific choice. So we've kind of figured, right, okay, so that part of the market is worth, you know, let's say it's worth$2 billion. So if we could get even just one, 2 % of that market, which we definitely thought we're more than capable of doing, you're into like a 40 50 60 million pound business straight away and we went right let's go after that and let's go let's set our goals high because that's what you do hey you know like you don't have what to be you don't have what to be second you want to be number one always and we said let's set our goals high and we're gonna be the number one sustainable footwear slash flip-flop brand in the world.

3:12Did you give yourselves a timeline that we want these to be in Joe's online? But we'd all already missed the timeline. Yeah. So we would, we'd already missed summer because that's when, if anyone knows, when you go into a store and you see the product in the store like in April for the summer, that was sold to the store the previous April. So you're always working a year ahead or slash behind. And we'd already missed the main selling season. Now, the only good thing that was working for us is where COVID was turning out to be an absolute freak. Yeah, as COVID hit, everyone thought it was the end of the world.

3:51But what actually happened in retail is retail had the biggest boom it had ever seen in 50 years. So all the stores didn't have enough product. So when we were going in then, by the time Quicksilver had been in, Habiano had been in, Reef had been in, sold the product. They were going, you would normally just be shown the door. It got too much. They were going, yeah, we need more. And we need something new. We've got nothing new. So they were very receptive to a new brand. So we hit the goal moment and we brought in all the pre-orders. We smashed it. That's the 10 % luck element. Yeah, yeah, yeah, pretty much.

4:30Well, I think a lot of investment. And I guess any entrepreneur right there, I do hate the word entrepreneur because it's kind of cliched, but any entrepreneur either will know that when you go to investors, you generally are going to them with an idea and they invest based on an idea. But what we wanted, we were able to go and go, we've got a really good idea. Here's our idea. and, oh, by the way, we've already proven the idea because here's the pre-orders for, you know, X hundreds of thousands of pounds. So it was almost like a safe investment because we'd already got the sales. And everybody could see the margin.

5:16Yes, yeah, yeah. So what do you need the investment for to buy the stock? Have you sold any of this stock? We've sold it all, which we did ourselves as well. So again, I think the big thing about the learning experiences was we did it all our way. So we had to because of every job. Well, we couldn't go to a trademark attorney. It's very US, isn't it? But a trademark attorney would charge you 10 ,000 to 20 ,000 vines to register trademarks. And we looked into it ourselves. And I had done this previously. I had a brand previously. I already had done all that myself. and it costs you, believe it or not, about a couple of hundred pounds.

5:58Actually, probably more than that. I'd say about 1 ,200 pounds to revster a trademark. And that's 20 grand. Not 20 grand. And the work involved isn't that hectic. It's like, you know, the government have an agency that helps you and they basically guide you through the process. So we did all that ourselves. And yeah, so boom, product came in, hit the shelves. We got our investment. So that's it for today's bite-sized episode of Screw It Just Do It. Make sure you follow or subscribe for more game-changing conversations. And remember, the only thing standing between you and your business breakthrough is the decision to screw it and just do it.